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?

Midoriya Izuku, from when he was very, very young, had always admired Heroes and had imagined a day when he, too, would be able to be one, to help and save people with a smile. The Hero he admired the most was, of course, All Might, the Number One Hero for many years and a man they hailed as the Symbol of Peace. A man capable of changing the weather with a single punch, a man that can save a hundred people in under ten minutes.

A Hero that never lost his smile, that never faltered in the face of evil, that always won in the end.

Izuku and his best friend, Bakugo Katsuki - or Kacchan - had always admired him together, had always spoken of how, one day, they'd be just like him, how they'd meet him out on the streets as Heroes and how they'd all work together to save the day.

For years, even after he'd been diagnosed Quirkless, lost all of his friends, lost his old friendship with Kacchan, when his mother cried over his fate, when people treated him as either a disease or something fragile to be pitied and handled with care or shattered like glass, his admiration for All Might and his determination to keep hold of the dream he'd inspired within his little heart never wavered, never faltered, never lessened. Even when teachers ignored him or kids bullied him or Kacchan told him to take a swan dive from a roof and pray for a Quirk in the next life, Izuku held on, desperately, to that admiration, to that dream.

And then he was saved by All Might, then he learned his secret, about his injury and then he dared ask the man the Question that had always received answers that almost pushed him to listening to Kacchan's advice but that stubborn hope always stopped him at just the last second. All Might, to his crushing disappointment and unspeakable sorrow, gave him the same answer.

He'd thought that was it. That that was the end. His Quirk analysis didn't mean anything in the end, after all. There was nothing he could really do, was there? No one would want a useless, Quirkless Deku to save them, after all.

But then Kacchan was attacked by the same Sludge Villain he himself had been saved from. Kacchan was fighting it. There were Pros all around, all just observing and hoping someone with a more suitable Quirk would come and save his childhood friend, not moving a muscle to help.

Izuku had known All Might wouldn't come to Kacchan's rescue like he had Izuku's. The man himself had told him that his time was up for the day, that he can't do any more Hero work because he can't hold his Quirk.

No one was coming to Kacchan's aid.

Izuku moved before he could think.

And then, when it had all seemed futile, when it had seemed both boys would die right then and there, All Might came and saved them.

And then he'd tracked Izuku down and made him an offer of a lifetime. Ten months fast forward, Izuku suddenly had an amazing Quirk - that he had no idea how to control, admittedly, and actually hurt him when he used it for a good while - was taking the entrance exam at UA and was, somehow, admitted on nothing but rescue points, earning himself a place in Class 1-A of the Hero Course. A few weeks later, he met all his classmates - who were all incredibly friendly, all around, and he actually made a few good friends in the first couple of days, too - he got to see more Pro Heroes up close than he'd ever thought possible and it was on a daily basis, All Might was one of his teachers and he was slowly but surely making his way towards fulfilling his dream.

The things that followed were both good and bad, memories he'll both cherish and keep in mind so he may remember his own naivety and foolishness as he grows so he may learn from them and become better and stronger.

He'd always known that there was no way being in the Hero Course could be easy and 100% safe - training accidents do happen every now and then, after all, even to the best Hero school in the country - but he'd never thought he'd get to face villains in the first two weeks in school.

Nor had he ever thought he'd get to meet Eraserhead and that the man would fight for them with his own life on the line.

Nor had he thought he'd ever get to actually call the man 'Sensei', as the entirety of their class had decided sometime between meeting the man and actually learning his real name and identity.

Eraserhead, truly, was a mystery the likes of which has not been solved for fifteen years. No one had known where he came from, who he might be, if the appearance they see was what he actually looked like, if he had a Quirk and why, for the love of god, someone so talented wasn't a Hero and thankful all the same that he wasn't a villain either. An enigma that was rarely sighted during the day, a Vigilante with the support of two very separate wards, a friend to a good number of Pro Heroes, Eraserhead has been active and avoiding police arrest for fifteen years, seemingly relying on nothing else but support items, gadgets and his own ingenuity.

After learning that he was Quirkless at the age of four, Izuku had never thought that someone without a Quirk - at all or a big, flashy, destructive one - could be a Hero, could make a difference and then he'd discovered this Vigilante and though it was wrong to revere someone who technically breaks the law like people do Heroes, Izuku couldn't help but look upon Eraserhead as a beacon of hope. Here was someone, doing something, making a difference even if they seemed to have no Quirk and they were accepted.

Years later, when he met the man and even after he learned that he did, in fact, have a Quirk - and Erasure was so freakin' cool, Izuku had never heard of a Quirk like it before; to be able to cancel the effects of someone's Quirk, even temporarily, was an incredible power, an overpowered ability, one might even say, in a society brimming with Quirks of all kinds and people relying on them nearly 90% of the time, be it in a fight or their day to day business - it didn't diminish his respect for the man and the hope he had inspired. If anything, he found he respected the Vigilante even more, as he sat before them wrapped in bandages nearly from head to toe, a visible reminder of what he'd willingly gone through just for them, twenty kids he'd never met before and whom he owed nothing. It wasn't even his job.

Eraserhead had earned the trust and respect and even affection of all twenty students of 1-A in a single afternoon faster than any teacher ever has earned any kid's before.

Facing horrifying circumstances that could have led to more than a single near-death does that, apparently.

Eraserhead never quite left them, even if he wasn't physically always there, though he often was. The Sports Festival had been an eye opener for Class 1-A just what their 'Sensei's' ideals were, though Izuku, personally, had noticed something else during the reward ceremony when he'd gone down and freed Kacchan. Kacchan himself had actually approached him and demanded to know if someone like Aizawa-sensei had possibly ever won the Sports Festival. The greenette had had to pause and seriously review all of his obsessive knowledge of All Might's Alma mater before admitting that he didn't know. Kacchan didn't scoff or yell at him for it. In fact, the explosive blond had demanded that Izuku 'open that nerdy page he obsessed over' right that instance so they can review all of the images and videos from past Sports Festivals and determine if Aizawa-sensei had, indeed, also went to UA but had quit or something.

They'd spent hours just sitting on a random bench in a random park not too far away from either of their homes and it almost felt like they were kids again, like they were friends again. Like ten years of bullying had never occurred. At the time, he'd been too focused on analyzing the Quirks of everyone from the footage - and unlike Kacchan, he actually focused more on the Gen Eds students than the Hero Course ones; Eraserhead's Quirk wouldn't have been suitable against UA's entrance exam, after all, but something like the Sports Festival seemed like something that would be right up Aizawa-sensei's alley! - to notice, but now, when he thought back to it, he could see where miniature changes in Kacchan's behavior started occurring.

Actually, ever since they enrolled in UA and met their classmates, Kacchan had started getting calmer. He yelled a little less and he let off less explosions. Could be that he was saving his energy for the practical classes, could be that he actually got to let off enough steam in said classes so he was automatically less aggressive, like how dogs behave better after a good, long walk or little kids slept better after getting to play long enough to use up their excess energy. Not that he was comparing Kacchan to a dog or a toddler or anything! It was just the first comparison to jump to mind ...

Anyway, after viewing the last twenty years of Sports Festival footage, they ended up concluding that Kacchan may have looked too much into Eraserhead's words on that first place podium. They both doubted it, as that would mean they had both thought wrong and that's actually really rare, but back then, things were still too bad for them to share their thoughts or theories with each other and had simply left towards their own homes to stew over it alone.

It wasn't until weeks later that they got a reasonable answer as to why it had sounded like Eraserhead was speaking from a personal experience of some sort but there was no footage of a time when it could have happened: during the I-Island Incident, they learned Eraserhead was one heck of a hacker. He should have realized it was a possibility earlier, given that the man had told them his name and Hal was both famous and infamous, internationally, and it's something he's kind of beating himself over even now, as he walks from - yet again - the hospital towards the police station, where his mentor was supposed to be and where Eraserhead was definitely being held.

Last night had been haggaring, for more reasons than one. From seeing All For One decimate the team of Heroes - lead by the Number Four Hero, Best Jeanist himself - sent to deal with the Nomu factory to seeing All Might exchange blows with All For One to seeing Kacchan standing off against the League of Villains to finally seeing Eraserhead arrive to the scene and deal with the entire situation with such ruthless efficiency that Deku praized whatever higher power that the man was on their side, even if it's only as a Vigilante. Eraserhead would be a seriously too scary villain.

Then they learned about the man's past and learned to admire him even more, if it was at all possible at that point. With the kind of backstory the man came from, it's a pure miracle that the man hadn't turned to the dark side and started ravaging the world for his own pleasure. Between his Quirk, his intelligence, his strange brand of charisma and his hacking skills - and connections the name Aizawa would no doubt bring him, as the successor to Hal, Aizawa Ashou - it would be almost too easy, especially when the Symbol of Evil couldn't even stand up against him in a fight. Izuku was determined to find a way to thank the retired Kronos and this new Shirakumo person who had been Kurogiri but was actually a mind controlled Nomu for keeping Aizawa-sensei on the side of light despite his tragic story. If it hadn't been for them, Sensei would have never become their Sensei. Hell, they probably wouldn't even be alive today, Class 1-A. Not all of them, at least.

Actually, a lot of Pros wouldn't be alive today if not for Eraserhead, now that he thinks about it. Ever since he met the man, he'd actually done as much research as he could with the limited information available online on the Vigilante. A lot of Pros and a lot of civilians owed their lives to the man. A lot of police officers, too. So many people would have been gone or lost forever, had it not been for him and yet he was being thanked by being put in a cell?

It didn't sit well with Izuku, which was why he was heading towards the police station. Surely he could talk All Might into vouching for Sensei and pulling a few strings? All Might himself had clearly expressed his displeasure with the treatment the Vigilante was receiving.

Another reason last night had been rough was because All Might had had to explain to Kacchan, Kirishima-kun, Iida-kun, Todoroki-kun and Yaoyorozu-san the truth about his Quirk, injury and current condition. It had started off merely as informing them that it was a secret and that, sometime in the near future, he'll have to retire once and for all from Hero work because he simply can't hold his Quirk for much longer than an hour and that even that timespan was growing shorter by the day. He'd explained it was due to an injury he'd received the first time he'd fought All For One. He'd slipped about it all coming to a head just before the school year started and Kacchan caught on to it, probably recalling their conversation from after their first practical lesson, Todoroki-kun soon following, finally having found an adequate answer to his theories and questions of why All Might was so invested in him.

So All Might and Izuku fessed up and the Symbol of Peace swore them to secrecy. Not even their parents may know. Not anyone. They were now in the now and all the more endangered for it, even if the greatest threat to One For All is, for now, behind bars.

Since All Might had been so forthcoming with information, Kirishima-kun had asked for a more detailed explanation of his relationship with Aizawa-sensei, which brought on some more surprises, even beyond the vague explanation of how the two actually met for the first time. To learn of this gentler, caring side of Sensei ... Not that they had ever been all that blind to it; they were probably the rare few exceptions who got to see him actually express concern and care and affection, but to hear about his generosity and charity, to find out he had saved a random little girl from the yakuza and had taken her in, in order to protect her and give her a proper childhood where she would want for nothing ...

Well, they may have been a tiniest smudge jealous that she got so much of his time, attention and affection before feeling overly guilty for it once they remembered what she must have all been through.

They'd been told to stay in the hospital for the night until their parents/guardians may pick them up and so they can be checked over for injuries. But with the chaos caused by last night's battle, transportation wasn't working as it should be and taxis were overbooked in turn so none of their parents - save Endeavor, whom Todoroki-kun refused to leave with - could pick them up until later today, when the police manage to get things back into control.

Which worked out fine for Izuku, as this allowed him to sneak out and head towards the police station to fight for Sensei's freedom in whatever small way he can without outright breaking the man out of jail. That would only get them both labeled as actual villains and he knows Aizawa-sensei would feel guilty for ending his career before it had even begun.

What he hadn't expected, though, was the mob in front of the station, the cops doing their damned best to keep order but the mob was louder, if not aggressive. And he definitely didn't expect to see it being lead by all nineteen of his classmates, Shinso-kun from Gen Eds, three other, older UA students, a small girl with white-bluish-gray hair and red eyes and a small horn or that Shirakumo guy who had been the Nomu Kurogiri from last night!

"Oh, look! There's Mido!" Ashido-san was the first to spot him, waving him over excitedly.

"Hey, man, c'mon! You're late!" Sero-kun called, also waving him over. The rest of his classmates gave him similar greetings and Izuku was even more surprised to see that the rest of last night's adventurous quintet was there, too, plus Kacchan!

"What's going on?" He asked Todoroki-kun when he came to stand next to him but it was Uraraka-san that answered.

"Haven't you heard, Deku-kun? As soon as the news got out that it had been officially confirmed that Eraserhead had been arrested, a peaceful protest was immediately organized!"

"It's a joint effort of Tasomiya and Naruhata wards," Shoji-kun supplied, one of his arms turning into a mouth and moving closer to Izuku to be heard better over the noise.

"Even people of Kamino ward pitched in!" Hagakure-san added, enthusiastically waving around a sign that demanded Eraserhead's release despite her being one of the students that had been affected by the gas and having been unconscious until last night.

"There are even a few Pros strewn around!" Kaminari-kun said, pointing over to where Fat Gum, Ms Joke and even Kamui Woods were standing with the civilians, holding their own signs that asked for justice for Eraserhead or some such message.

"So we thought we'd join the protest," Jirou-san supplied with a small smile and a shrug. She was a little pale in the face but her breathing was regular and she was standing strong, so at least the gas hadn't had any lasting negative effects.

"If not us, then who else?" Aoyama-kun said with one of his usual dazzling poses and a smile.

"My whole family came to support this protest," Iida-kun stated with his usual robotic arm-chops and Izuku could see them, from the older Iida brother in full Ingenium costume even as he sat in a wheelchair, to a woman that looked like an older, female version of his friend to a man who had slightly darker hair and the exact same face-shape as Iida-kun.

"So far, only lower ranked policemen have come out to try and talk to the crowd, but no one's budging until we get results!" Kirishima-kun said excitedly.

"I didn't know Sensei knew so many attractive women," Mineta-kun said a bit enviously as he looked around, no doubt ogling what looked like Ryukyu in street clothes and the complete Wild Wild Pussycats group, even their two injured members and Kota-kun, a few doctor-like women, a middle aged daycare teacher and a bunch of twenty year olds and many more that were all probably at some point saved and/or assisted by Eraserhead. A mother with a very upset son stood somewhere towards the front of the mob, along with two guys that looked like they were brothers and owned a cafe - or a pound, given how many cats were hanging off of them - with two big mutant-type guys and two twenty year olds that looked slightly familiar. The boy seemed to be an All Might fan, judging from his limited edition All Might hoodie he wore. He and the brothers were arguing(?) with a police officer. A female police officer with crab-like styled hair soon joined their group from where she'd been protesting with Fat Gum. She and the other girl started chanting a demand for Eraserhead's release, which was soon picked up from the people from Naruhata.

"Shirakumo-san was the one that had taken us from the hospital early this morning when the protests started," Todoroki-kun finally spoke up, pointing to the man with the mist/cloud like hair and blue eyes that flashed yellow whenever he seemed to lose control of his Quirk and his hair started swirling. Funnily enough, while his hair was the same color as Kurogiri's body-encompassing mist had been, his eyebrows were a light blue that really looked a bit like they were made out of clouds. The man was still dressed in Kurogiri's clothes, though he seemed to have ditched the tie and the vest was left unbuttoned, the top two buttons of his shirt also undone and the sleeves rolled up. He seems to have gotten a metal pipe or poll from somewhere. "My brother and sister are also coming and bringing my mother. I don't know how they pulled that off, though."

Was it Aizawa-sensei?

"What about Endeavor?"

"What about Endeavor?" The two toned boy replied with a shrug and Izuku couldn't help but grin.

"Hey, what's eyebags doing here?" Kacchan asked, but for once he wasn't yelling or complaining. Looking over to where his childhood friend was pointing - which was childish and rude but Izuku valued this temporary peace between them too much to aggravate the ashy blond - he found the purple haired Shinso. More importantly-

"Is that Sensei's capture weapon!?" Tokoyami-kun exclaimed and they all zeroed in on that thing hanging around the mindcontrolorer's neck.

"Yes, it is. or one like it," a new voice said and that had their attention turning to what appeared to be a blind man walking without help or a stick, dressed in civilian clothes except for one very telling feature that had Izuku instantly entering Hero-nerd mode because holy shit he'd recognize that lime green watch anywhere!

"OH MY GOODNESS, YOU'RE THE TIME HERO: KRONOS!"

"Wow, what a pitch! You could give Zashi a run for his money!" Shirakumo-san said, grinning at Izuku before turning towards the retired Hero. "It's good to see you again, Tsukihino-sensei! Too bad you retired so soon after I started school: I always wanted to have a specialized support item made by you!" He then turned to Shinso-kun. "Lucky~!"

"Wait, you made Sensei's capture weapon?" Yaoyorozu-san asked and the old man nodded.

"Some of my finest work, though this young man's needed some adjustments to help him control it, given that he doesn't have an auxiliary telekinesis Quirk."

"What brings you here?" Sato-kun asks and Kronos scoffs.

"I'm here to finally fully get my boy back! If I have to, I'll kick the ass of anyone and everyone who dares to stand in my way!"

"Yeah!" The blond of the three older UA students cheered, the raven haired boy beside him seeming to melt into his shadow when attention was turned their way while the only girl in their group waved at them with a friendly smile. "We need to get Eraser out of there, ASAP! Eri-chan misses him."

"Wait, you're Eri-chan?" Izuku asks the cute little girl held securely in the blond's arms. "Sensei's new ward?"

The girl perked up adorably at this. "You know Zawa-san, too?" And Izuku just felt his heart melt all over again because that shit was cute!

"Yeah. He helped me a lot with my Quirk a little while ago! Aizawa-sensei is really good with Quirks, it seems," he said with a small laugh before beaming gently at the girl. "My name is Midoriya Izuku, or I guess it would be easier to just call me by my Hero name, Deku. It's nice to meet you, Eri-chan!"

"Enough chit chat," Kacchan exclaimed, though he thankfully wasn't nearly as loud or explosive as he usually was, probably in consideration of Eri-chan and any trauma she might be suffering from that could easily be triggered by such shows of aggression, even though Kacchan's wasn't villainous in the least, just a part of how he expressed himself. "If we don't get any information on Sensei soon, who's going in with me to beat it out of the fucking lazy cops?"

"I'm not sure Sensei would want us to become villains, Bakugo-chan," Asui-san - or Tsu/Tsuyu-chan, as she prefers - stated, a finger by her mouth as it usually was when she makes her blunt observations.

"Wow, this year's first years are so fun!" The female of the three older students gushed with a big, happy smile on her face while the other boy was still trying to hide himself.

"I'll go with you," Shinso-kun said casually towards Kacchan. "But we try my method first."

"Whatever, eyebags."

"Hold it, you two," Kronos said, a hand reaching out to snag Shinso-kun by the black shirt he was wearing. "You're seriously underestimating Sho-kun if you believe he needs rescuing of any kind. You think he is where he is today because he waited for someone to save him?" That got everyone's attention and they turned to look at the old man. "Hell no. That little brat took his life and fate in his own hands and steered them in the direction he wanted. The day someone like him needs saving is the day you know we're all doomed. Besides, if you two hotheads, or anyone else for that matter, were to just break him out of here, he'd have to really leave Japan for good and while he's set for life, he really does like the name Aizawa for some reason. In other words, he wouldn't want to change his identity and he wouldn't want to leave, either. Who else would watch over his idiot friends, proteges and students?"

"Hey!" More than one group of people grumbled in offense but none could exactly contradict him.

"Just leave it to Sho-kun. That boy has never let anything stand in his way and he's not about to let something knock him down and stay there when he now has so much to do, to strive towards, so many people to return to. Maybe, a few years ago, he would have been content if he were to be sure All For One was taken down for good, but not today. He has friends and family and he still doesn't know this idiot," he said while pointing at Shirakumo-san, who squawked in offense and indignation. "Is completely okay. Trust me, there's no way that one's going to jail anytime soon, if ever."

"But how can you be so certain?" Kaminari-kun questions and Shirakumo-san is quick to answer.

"Tsukihino-senei's Quirk allows him to, by touching a person or object, gaze into the timeline of the same, thus seeing the past or future of said person or object. He has limitations, of course, but he sees every possibility based on choices, which means that he sees how every choice impacts the future and so he can lead people towards better options. He used it mostly in his craftsmanship so he can immediately create flawless support gear for Heroes and the items he's made are marked as some of the best in the entire world!"

Izuku opened his mouth - to ask one million questions about the man's Quirk that have always been bugging him; Kronos had not been an active fighter for long and rarely was it obvious when he was using his Quirk, so he hadn't really had much information to base his analysis on - only to have Kacchan put his palm over it, preventing him from speaking. "Ask all your nerdy questions later, Deku. We need to decide what to do. The fucking vultures are multiplying."

Indeed, what had started off as three or four news crews was now fifteen to twenty and they were all shouting questions, at the police, at the Heroes, the other protesting citizens and there were even a few approaching towards the UA students. he Pros supporting the protest saw and moved to intercept them but new crews were arriving by the second and there were now microphones being thrust in all of their faces, demanding answers.

"You're all from Class 1-A, right? What are your thoughts on Eraserhead's arrest!?"

"Is it true Eraserhead kidnapped a yakuza boss' granddaughter!?"

"Was Eraserhead part of the rescue operation plan or has he come to sabotage it?!"

"Bakugo, how's it feel to be rescued from the League of Villains!? Will your parents sue UA?!"

"Are you really Eraserhead's 'class'?"

"What are your thoughts on the Vigilante finally facing justice for his many crimes!?"

"How did Eraserhead know where to be at just the right time, twice already? Three times, if one counts Hosu? Isn't that suspicious? What are your thoughts?"

"Do you think Eraserhead is just hiding the fact that he works for the League of Villains by pretending to protect you?"

"Do you think Eraserhead's bravery deserves to be punished?"

"Hey, isn't that the Time Hero: Kronos? I thought you were retired, sir! May we know why you're here?"

"How does it feel to have been attacked by villains three times in as many months as UA students!?"

"Can we get a reaction?!"

"Do you trust All Might and UA to keep you all safe after they have failed twice!?"

"Who's the little girl? I'm talking to you, blond guy!"

"Bakugo, why are you always targeted by villains?! This is, what, the third, fourth time?"

"Does Eraserhead have a Quirk?!"

"Do you know Eraserhead's true identity?!"

"Todoroki Shoto, what are Endeavor's thoughts on this!?"

The questions were coming from all sides, overlapping each other and were far too loud for any of their hearing, let alone for people like Shoji-kun and Jirou-san with their sensitive hearing and poor Koda-kun was doing his best to hide behind Sato-kun, shy as ever. Izuku himself was too busy trying to keep Kacchan from doing something stupid and blowing up at th reporters while Iida-kun, Kirishima-kun and Yaoyorozu-san were trying to mitigate the chaos, unsuccessful as they might be. Shinso-kun seemed to be doing all the glaring for Kronos while Shirakumo-san was trying his best to keep the reporters away from them both, only to be, in turn, accosted by an observant one that noted that his hair looked similar in properties to the images released to the public of Kurogiri, the warpgate villain. The rest of his classmates had surrounded the three older students - and the little girl in the blond one's arms - and were giving a variety of 'No comment's and stoic silence. Kaminari-kun even went as far as releasing low levels of electricity to mess with the media's equipment so they'd leave them alone but then the cameramen moved to the back and the reporters started yelling even louder.

It was pure and unadulterated chaos.

And then-

"Oh, so you want a shouting match, is that it?" A voice said, a voice that was loud without any effort and 1-A immediately put their hands over their ears because they knew just how loud the owner of said voice can be. "Begone THOT!"

In an instant, everything fell quiet and practically all of the reporters' equipment fried or short circuited as they were not meant to take the power that was Present Mic's voice even at 10% of his full potential. They all turned to look at the source of the noise, only to find Recovery Girl and Principal Nezu quickly sneaking into the police station while, apparently, Midnight and Present Mic had been sent out here as a distraction.

"Wow! Loud as ever, Zashi!" Shirakumo-san with an elated and relieved grin and whatever Present Mic was about to say actually died off into utter silence as his glasses nearly fell off of his face.

"... Oboro?" They'd never heard the man be this quiet in all the time they'd known him, directly or not. Beside him, Midnight looked like she had seen a ghost and there were actual tears gathering in her eyes. "This is not a dream, right?"

"Nope!" Shirakumo-san said while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, an equally sheepish grin in place on his mouth. "I didn't get much of an explanation as it seems no one quite knows what happened to me, but this old guy called Gran Torino told me I'd apparently died or something and was turned into this brainwashed thing called Nomu to serve some great evil villain overlord or something and then Shouta saved me last night." Then the happy switch seemed to be turned off as seriousness took over the man's features. "Listen, Hizashi, I have no fucking clue as to what is going on besides that Shouta's finally been caught and, quite frankly, I don't care but you have to help me get him out of this mess-"

"... Shouta?" If at all possible, Present Mic looked even more stricken and was even more hushed in whispering Aizawa-sensei's given name.

"Yeah! You remember that guy that clocked both you and me at the Sports Festival in our first year, right? The one that was kidnapped? Check it out, the dude had escaped by himself but had to run for it when he returned to find that the government was looking for him! Became a Vigilante instead!" Izuku and Kacchan exchanged a look at that. Seems they finally had an actual answer, even if it wasn't exactly detailed. They could guess, after last night, why the government would want Sensei; Erasure was a one of a kind Quirk and probably the most powerful ability in a world full of them. "He's the one that's been helping me and hanging out with me during my patrols! Come on, I've told you about him!"

"Oh my god," Midnight said, a shaking hand before her mouth. "You're talking about Eraserhead?"

The blond Voice Hero looked ready to keel over. "All this time ... " He spent another moment shocked before a scary sort of determination settled over his eyes. "Well, we'll just have to make him our friend officially now, won't we."

Shirakumo-san grinned at that and Present Mic finally returned it with one of his own more sunny expressions. The entirety of Class 1-A had no idea what was going on besides the fact that their Sensei was about to get hounded by two overly friendly, determined, tenacious, Hero extroverts.

"Poor Sho-kun," mumbled Kronos and Shinso-kun nodded along. The dark haired boy of the three older students seemed to agree, though he seemed really shy - or socially anxious and boy does Izuku feel for him; he knew exactly how that felt and it was only since getting into UA that he'd started feeling more comfortable around people. A life of Quirklessness would do that to you, but he wasn't sure that was the case with his senpai - and didn't indicate it in any way, instead trying even more to hide behind the blond one. Was that even possible? Well, Plus Ultra and all, he guessed.

"Guys, I think we'll have to catch up later," Midnight said and pointedly jerked her head towards the reporters. Izuku looked over to see that they seemed to have adjusted the pieces of equipment that were still functional and were getting a second wind in their sails.

"Fucking vultures," Kacchan, Shinso-kun and Kronos all said together and Present Mic prepared to shout again by inhaling a long, deep breath but the press had seen that and were already shouting their questions or complaints at the treatment they were being given. More police officers came as if to prevent having everyone's eardrums explode while the UA group just placed their hands over their ears. Yaoyorozu-san even went as far as making noise-muffling earphones for Jirou-san and Shoji-lun, who were most sensitive to all that noise. Their English teacher had to hold back his Quirk unless he unintentionally hurts the police officers just doing their job but that just meant they were, once again, bombarded with even more questions and all of them were all the more degraditory towards Eraserhead, UA and even the students and All Might!

After a particularly nasty comment that practically declared Eraserhead a villain that had Present Mic going "So you have chosen death" - both literally and figuratively; the man even said it so all can hear and for once since the second wave of irritable questions had descended on them, Midnight and Shirakumo-san looked ready to not stop him but rather help him in a second's notice, as did more than half of the Heroes here to support the Vigilante - Deku just couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Is this how you show appreciation and gratefulness to someone who's been keeping your streets safe at night for fifteen years!?" His shouting actually made the reporters shut up and tune in on him, as this was actually the most reaction anyone had given outright besides showing irritation towards the 'fucking vultures'. "Do you have any idea how many cases Eraserhead helped solve or solved for the police outright!? Who do you think stopped half the drug or human trafficking rings plaguing Musutafu and surrounding areas?! How very hypocritical! What kind of message do you think you're sending out there with the kind of implicatory and accusatory questions you're asking!? It is people like you that create the atmosphere suitable for crime rates to rocket and for there to be more criminals and villains on our streets! Eraserhead had acted as more of a Hero than any of you could ever understand!"

"You go, Deku-kun!"

"Show 'em who's boss, Mido!"

"Tch, finally grew a spine, did you, shitty nerd? About fuckin' time!"

"And what about the Pros!? Huh? What about all of you!? I only see a few here but it's practically common knowledge after all these years that Eraserhead does more than half your job for you and then just lets you take the credit! Is this how you repay him!? Not very heroic of you, or is he right and all Heroes care about these days is reputation?"

The media cries out in outrage and they immediately turn on him, shouting at him that he is clearly a Stain-follower and supports the very villains that had been arrested last night. Some even went as far as accusing him of being the one to have leaked the information about the Training Camp, which nearly had Kota-kun punching scrotums and the Wild Wild Pussycats scratching faces off. Ms Joke was just cracking her knuckles when Endeavor, of all people, dared step forward, the media parting way for him, either from fear of getting burned by the flames of his costume or simply to document whatever drama was about to unfold.

Izuku held his ground and felt Kacchan and Todoroki-kun flank him immediately.

Endeavor glared down at them, eyes lingering on his own son, before refocusing on Izuku. "Children who do not understand the severity of the crimes Eraserhead has committed should not speak up in defense of a known criminal. Hell, after his behavior last night, he can safely be classified as a villain."

Kacchan immediately started letting off small explosions and both sides of Todoroki-kun's Quirk came to life in his outrage. Hell, even Izuku felt One For All wake up and flare up as his anger soared. Their classmates behind them also roared their rage and indignation while the press seemed to be all just eating it up.

And then-

"Stop saying such mean things about Papa!"

Silence.

Absolute and stunned silence as they all turned to focus on the little girl that was no longer being held in the arms of the older blond student, but was instead standing there just behind the troublesome trio, her little hands clutching with white fists onto her little red dress. She was frowning and her lips were trembling as tears streamed down her face. Hell, she was shaking all over but she wasn't backing down.

The weight of her words and their exact meaning hadn't even begun to sink in yet when she dared speak up again, voice shaky but loud and sure. "Papa is the nicest, kindest person in the whole world and he saved me when no one else would! Y-you can't c-call him a vi-villain after what he d-did for m-me! Y-you can't take him from m-me!" She was outright sobbing but still glaring down the adults that stood opposed to the UA group. The police officers that were trying to keep order between the press and them looked so guilty Izuku almost pitied them. Almost. They, too, had a part in making this child cry. "He's t-the only one t-that's ever o-offered me w-warmth and h-hugs and he takes c-care of kitties a-an-and ... I want my Papa!"

The weight of her words, the implications behind them, breaks Izuku's heart and he can see he's not the only one. Fat Gum and Ryukyu especially look heartbroken. The blond senior student, too. Like they knew something. (Probably about who Eri actually was and what she must have been through before Eraserhead came for her.) Looking at his classmates behind him, Izuku saw Yaoyorozu-san and Kirishima-kun crying and Iida-kun biting his lip in rage. The others looked heartbroken even with just that little information.

"Eri-chan-" he begins, moving towards the girl to try to comfort her, but then another voice speaks up from behind the officers, Endeavor and the press.

"I am here."