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?

It was a long night behind them all, filled with stress and panic as they all tried to ensure that the efforts spent were not to go to waste. The police focused on properly containing the villains, All For One being the main priority. The former Kurogiri went to the hospital along with the children. All Might himself had to be checked over by his personal medical team at one point because he had strained himself, again, when fighting his arch nemesis and Tsukauchi and him had a lot to talk about, first and foremost the fact that Eraserhead's identity came as absolutely no surprise to him.

Eraserhead, Aizawa-kun, who was arrested and had spent the night in an interrogation room, being questioned on and off by different detectives. They tried to keep Naomasa off of his case because he was technically biased towards the man but he was the only one with any power to get real answers out of the man because of his lie detector Quirk.

All Might actually spent the night explaining himself to several different people. Tsukauchi, the students, Principal Nezu over the phone and, eventually, Gran Torino. All required different explanations and Principal Nezu even required an explanation of what Toshinori was hoping the rat/bear/mouse/dog/whatever-he-was could do for him. For Aizawa-kun.

Tsukauchi at least wasn't angry at him for keeping it a secret, not after Toshinori told him about the cat-caring sessions and the way a little traumatized girl wasn't acting quite like it after only a couple of weeks.

The students had been understanding and seemed to respect him even more after learning of his struggles. They didn't look at him as though he was fragile - or pitiful - now that they knew his true form, for which he was immensely grateful, and they'd all promised to keep it a secret.

Gran Torino, though ... Well, the both of them had spent at least half an hour in utter silence as they tried to reconcile with the fact that the boy they'd thought lost to them forever, their one final failure to Nana, was in fact alive and doing relatively well, all things considered. He was alive and he was within their reach ... But they couldn't exactly do more than vouch for the man. Even with all of their strings and connections and the weight All Might could pull, they could not exactly influence what would happen to Eraserhead, not when the government itself wanted him.

Now that the true story has come into light, Yagi didn't know what to do.

As the night passed and more and more aggravated detectives left the interrogation room he'd been observing from afar for hours, he felt more and more helpless and that just made a simmering rage grow within him. At the system, at himself, at the Hero Commission and the very government he'd trusted to keep his secrets safe after his fight against All For One. At the public, as he checked his phone and found hundreds of half-assed articles written poorly about Eraserhead's arrest and how he was 'finally getting what was coming to him'.

People were so fickle, public opinion so unstable ... The press more of a turncoat than anything or anyone else All Might had ever seen. Just two months ago, they'd been ready to call Eraserhead a Hero! (And Underground one at that, which was, in Toshinori's own opinion, the highest compliment anyone could get because Underground Heroes were the most like the noble Heroes at the dawn of Quirks, fighting for the good of all, not money or fame or recognition.) Today, they were ready to tear him apart like sharks.

But there were also people ... People of Tasomiya and Naruhata and from all over that came to show their support to Eraserhead, that came to demand his freedom and for true justice to prevail, as he was their Hero regardless of whether he was a Vigilante or a Pro. The entrance to the police station was swarmed and early in the morning, the live-feed he'd been following even showed his own students coming! Pros were out there, too, not willing to let their friend, a good man, go to jail for no good reason when all he'd ever done was help them and protect the innocent.

Eraserhead had never acted like a Vigilante, and that worked in his favor today.

Eraserhead never imagined himself to have the right to be judge, jury and executioner. He'd always done things by the book.

A lot of the police officers outside were there to, apparently, ensure that the protest can't be discriminated or discarded because 'it was violent' or something like that, their own way of showing their support without losing their badges. Some had even forgone that and were actively protesting with the people!

Toshinori nearly had a heart attack when he saw UA's Big Three show up with a very familiar girl in their arms but that was when another detective and Sir Nighteye left the interrogation room, frustrated and flustered and baffled. Sir Nighteye even outright stomped away, not even looking at him, which was really strange behavior for Sasaki. Then Naomasa exited the observation room and sighed, frustrated and amused in equal measures.

"Nighteye tried to use his Quirk on him as a form of interrogation. Didn't work. Nighteye just used up his one chance to use his Quirk today and it didn't work in the least. He didn't seem to be actively using it ... "

"But?" He questioned when the detective trailed off in some form of uncertainty.

"He said his Quirk defends itself," Naomasa said finally. "My Quirk didn't detect any lie, but it just seems ... impossible."

"Hmm," he sounded consideringly. "I'm honestly doubtful that anything is truly impossible. Not after the things I've seen so far. I've lived a long, crazy life, my friend, and I have yet to see an actual impossibility."

"Then try getting this guy to talk about anything but what happened last night," Tsukauchi said with a snort.

"I'd be willing to."

"I was hoping you'd say that, actually," the police officer said, raking a hand through his hair. "I've even got permission from the higher ups. They want answers. Bad enough that they're willing to forego protocol on this one."

"You want ... me to question him?" He asked a bit incredulously, because he'd not exactly hidden how fond he'd grown of the gruff, caring, kind man behind the Vigilante. He's as compromised as Present Mic, Midnight and the students outside! "I'm not too sure that's a good idea, Naomasa."

"I want you to talk to him, not interrogate him. Not even question him! That's what I did and it had no results unless it was questions relating to how he'd found Bakugo-kun and the others last night, though part of those answers kind of scare me, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember that guy we'd had to take down from the building where Eraser had literally left him hanging? Okay, so, he's one of the first Quirk specialists in history and he's also the one to invent the Quirk Singularity concept and theory. Meaning he's well over a hundred years old, Toshinori. He may even be older than All For One! Regardless, that's not the point. The point is that he is a man used to making himself disappear so he can continue on living his life and working like a doctor and Quirk specialist. It's how All For One got some of the most powerful and rare Quirk types from all over the country. Doctor Garaki Kyudai was a part of the deepest levels of the criminal underworld, just like All For One and their secret operations, especially in the last six years. That's why we'd never even had a hint of their activity until we'd started getting Nomu in our jail cells." Naomasa paused, looked a little pale. "The so-called underground of the criminal underworld is the darkest place humanity has ever managed to create. Not even the light of the Symbol of Peace can reach that place, All Might. Human, organ, sex, weapons and drug trafficking, information dealers, pedophiles, rapists, mass murderers, criminals and villains of the worst possible record and rap-sheet ... That's the kind of level of corruption I'm talking about. The most depraved people belong to the underground of the underworld. Villains are disgusted by them, but people who belong there, in those circles of hell ... They hold power and information the likes of which we could never hope to fight against. That's why Hal was so sought after, Toshinori. He was the only one not belonging even to the criminal underworld, let alone the underground, that had the access to the same information, to the same resources. Do you understand what I'm trying to get across, All Might?"

"I think so." The circles Naomasa was talking about sounded more than perilous. It was a type of deep seated corruption that not even five lifetimes would unearth. It was all of humanities depravities gathered in the deepest pits of hell, but only very, very real. To say that it was dangerous would be the understatement of the century. It makes sense that All For One and his greatest associate would hide there and that only there, information about them could be found before All For One felt ready to make his move. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"I've heard that even those of greatest bravery and sturdiest of hearts have faltered and fallen there, my friend. And yet he hadn't."

"... What?" He couldn't help but ask, not quite sure he's getting what Naomasa was trying to tell him. Or maybe he was too busy denying it to realize just how much it all made sense. No, he really must have heard wrong, that's all! There's no way Aizawa-kun would have gone to that pl-

"Think about it, Yagi!" Naomasa almost snapped at him. "He had the doctor, he had the information about all those other factories and hideouts! And while the latter could be attributed to his hacking skills, the former was information he could have only gotten from that pit of filth and depravity! And yet somehow ... Somehow he'd come back practically unchanged. A little aggressive in speech when addressing Endeavor, but he was the same old Eraserhead ... That's ... That's honestly terrifying."

"It's admirable," was what Yagi countered with. "You weren't there, Tsukauchi. You didn't hear the things he'd said, about his life, his past, the things he'd been through ... I think All For One might have even held him captive in this ... underground, once, before he'd been saved. He's unwavering, my friend. And if he'd dived down that deep, he'd done it with a reason and that reason was why he'd come back. Because he had a reason to. Probably twenty something reasons, actually."

The detective huffed, begrudgingly amused. "Yeah, I'd seen the broadcasts. But enough about that. Would you be willing to speak with him, Toshinori? I think he might actually talk with you instead of just listing information and his sources."

"I don't know why you even felt the need to ask. You know what my answer will be." Besides, he'd been hoping to have a proper talk with the man. There were things he noticed missing or not addressed enough in their interactions and the things he'd said last night. In short, Toshinori had questions. And he needed to buy time,for the both of them. Nezu was amazing but even he couldn't make something happen with the snap of his fingers. "Anything specific you'd like to know?"

Naomasa grinned. "Nope. Just get him to talk about anything other than last night. Literally anything about his past." Anything that can help us play him off as a victim of the system is what was left unsaid and Toshinori felt a swell of warmth from within that his friend already knew what he was trying to pull with Nezu and was already setting him up to help himself and this whole screwed up situation.

"I'll get to it, then."

The interrogation room was nothing special, almost identical to what you'd see in the movies. A bare room with a light hanging overhead a simple table in the middle of the room, one chair on one side, two on the opposite side and a big one-way glass window mounted on the wall. The man sitting in there alone was much more fascinating. Eraserhead had been stripped of all of his gear, though Naomasa had made sure that it was being guarded by Officer Sansa so there'd be no funny business with the incredible capture weapon or whatever else Eraserhead had had in his utility belt, including his phone. But Aizawa-kun himself seemed unbothered by having been left bare in nothing but his jumpsuit and boots, casually sipping the coffee they'd tried to bargain with him over. They probably thought that a man that looked that sleep depraved would be desperate for it, but Aizawa-kun had held out very well and still ended up giving zero information but with a coffee cup in his hand. They'd yet to offer him to eat, as far as he knows, and he'd never been allowed to have the one phone call he had rights to as a citizen, accused of a crime or not. That made Yagi frown but he decided to dwell on it later.

Instead, he focused on the black eyes that were already boring into him from the second he'd entered the small room.

Almost imperceptibly, Aizawa-kun relaxed. "All Might-san."

The taller of the two offered a small smile. Small, but very much genuine in its affection for this peculiar man. "Come now, Aizawa-kun, I thought we'd gotten past that."

The ravenette tilted his head like a curious cat. "Perhaps. Then again, until this very moment, I was unsure if you'd known about my true identity the last time we'd spoken. And now I am certain. Tell me, Yagi-san, how long have you known?" The Vigilante that'd caused such a stir leaned onto the table, gazing at Toshinori, indeed, like a big cat ready to pounce. "And what gave me away? You better not have started spying on my students in an attempt to get to me-"

"Goodness no, Aizawa-kun! I swear!" He quickly denied, waving his hands in front of him as if in an attempt to ward off such accusations. Incredibly, the ever cautious Vigilante that had remained uncaught for fifteen years simply took his word for it. Toshinori felt something thick lodge into his throat at that show of trust. He swore he'll treasure it and never betray it. "It's actually a few things that clued us in."

"Detective Tsukauchi."

He nodded. "Our first clue came after the Sports Festival fiasco. People started seriously talking about you having a Quirk-nullifying Quirk of some sort and Nezu and Present Mic were kind of dragged into it. That's the first time I heard your name: Aizawa Shouta, UA student in General Education who had been the first and only one from that course to win the Sports Festival. We learned that you'd been kidnapped shortly after and never seen again, the last to have actually seen you alive being Kronos. We visited him with Yamada-kun with a piece of your capture weapon that had been ripped off and found in USJ and he gave us his side of the story. During that whole thing, Tsukauchi said at some point that he could have sworn he'd heard the name Aizawa before and he ended up looking into it, connecting it to, of course, Hal."

"Tsukauchi is an impressive detective," Aizawa-kun said with a nod of his head and Toshinori felt proud for his friend. "Did you visit the old man?"

"Yes. He explained that you weren't his by blood, only in name, but we went to him only after your little raid on Shie Hassaikai."

"There's actually something that's been bothering me since I realized you might have known who I was when you met Eri-chan," Eraser cut in before Yagi could say much more. "I get the feeling you knew who she was. Who I had to be if she's with me. Why didn't you turn me in right then and there?"

Toshinori considered how to word his answer. "She's happy with you, isn't she? We'd managed to get the whole story out of Overhaul." Aizawa-kun leaned even further forward. Apparently, he didn't actually know the whole story of the little girl he'd so generously taken in. Truly, this man was a marvel, a one of a kind. "Her mother left her with her grandfather, Chisaki's adoptive father and the true leader of the Shie Hassaikai who abhorred drugs, after her Quirk came in and she accidentally rewound her father, who'd been holding her, out of existence. Not long after she'd been left in his care, he'd in turn left her in Chisaki's because they had 'relatively similar Quirks', only Overhaul started experimenting on her. When he'd brought his findings to his father, a way to maybe one up even the kingpin All For One himself, the grandfather had tried to shut him down and, in turn, Chisaki had left him comatose, took over the yakuza and continued experimenting on Eri. Their first products hit the streets pretty soon, along with Trigger, which is, I'm guessing, how they garnered your attention. My point is, that little girl has known nothing but pain and suffering in her short life. And yet, when I met her, besides being a bit jumpy and overly shy, she seemed ... Happy. She smiled and laughed and played. For a trauma and abuse victim ... She'd been very well taken care of and she'd clearly come to care for you as much as you did her. To take you away, when I already respected Eraserhead so much to begin with, would be cruel and something I could not swallow down. Heroes are meant to make a better society. How can I do my part if I bring in such a kind and caring man?"

Aizawa-kun blushed and had to look away. He seemed to be fighting back both tears and a smile. Toshinori smiled to himself even as he wondered just why the man seemed so unused to genuine praise. It didn't sit well with him. Eraserhead had done so many good things for so many people, surely he'd received praise and thanks befo-

Except this was different, wasn't it? This was't just Eraserhead receiving praise for his Vigilante work. This was Aizawa Shouta being praised for being a good person. As himself. As the man, not the shadow in the night.

And that's not even mentioning that Eraserhead had never been one hunting for recognition. He'd probably left more often than not before those he'd saved could thank him.

Truly, one of a kind.

"How is he? Hal, I mean. I ... send him emails every now and then." Yagi almost arched a questioning eyebrow before he remembered what his arch nemesis had said last night about the infamous hacker. Technopathy did not need technology in immediate reach of the user. Aizawa-kun had known that and had kept in touch with Aizawa-san over the years. "But I haven't seen him since I'd turned him in."

"He seemed fine," Yagi reassured, smiling when the other seemed to relax at his words. "Vibrant as ever." That earned a snort. Probably because Aizawa-kun was all black and Aizawa-san was all color. "They'd wanted to bring him in on the security footage you'd tempered with from your raid. He took one look at the code and politely told them to fuck off, in not so many words. I spoke to him in private afterwards. By then, I'd already met you, you know, in that alley, with the cats." They both chuckled at that. "So I got him to talk by mentioning you. Learned that he wasn't your biological parent but had always seen you as his own child. That he was proud of you." Aizawa-kun lowered his gaze to the floor at that. Whether in regret or sorrow or embarrassment, it was hard to tell, but he soon looked back up, composed as ever. "I learned, sort of, how you met."

"He told you I kicked ass for him? That's new," commented the black haired man and Toshinori grinned.

"Not quite, actually. He said you saved him and always wanted to be a Hero. He also warned me not to be in cahoots with the Hero Commission if I want to approach you. Why did he think you'd manage to earn their attention for the third time?"

"You heard me last night, didn't you?" The younger cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I'd like a proper explanation, I should think."

Aizawa-kun sighed but indulged him anyway. "You no doubt realized, at this point, that I am the kid you, Nana-san and Gran Torino-san have saved from All For One on the night she died." Yagi nodded, not having expected the other to cut straight to the chase like this. Then again, he'd learned so far that the man before him was very, very blunt. He should have known this was how this would go. "Well, after Gran Torino-san left me with the government agent on the scene with only a brief 'description' of my Quirk, they had me sent to one of their research facilities, where I stayed for several months. I don't know how long, but by the time I'd escaped, seasons had changed. That was the first time. The second time was after the Sports Festival, fifteen years ago. All For One was the one that had ordered my kidnapping, but the government has been suspicious that 'Aizawa Shouta' was the same person as 'their Shouta', only having finally learned control. They came to 'lend a hand' in the investigation but ended up calling it all off sooner than UA would have otherwise and had continued their own search of me by themselves. I couldn't return or else they'd take me back and make another 'Hawks case' of me. And I refused to be a tool."

"But you had to give up your dream for that."

"Except not really," Aizawa-kun countered with a shrug. "My dream was to help and save people the way you three have helped and saved me, temporary as it had turned out to be. It's why I'd turned Ashou in. He'd wanted to introduce me to his scene and I'd rather not become a criminal. So when my only legal option was destroyed, I'd opted for the less legal one. I trained myself, I learned the proper protocols and did things by them, I saved people. I ended up making friends. I ended up making a difference. It was small and I changed people's lives one step at a time, but it was worth it. I'd never wanted attention. I would have probably become an actual Underground Hero had I stayed and graduated from UA. I've had enough attention to last me a fucking lifetime, thank you very much. I ended up liking it. Yes, it would have been easier with a license, but a license would have kept me from Eri for who knows how much longer when she'd already desperately needed help. That, if nothing else, is enough of a reason for me to prefer my current lifestyle than what could have been."

Toshinori supposed that made sense. It's not exactly applicable to every situation, but in this one, it was very, very true. "You'd have made a great Hero. Hell, you already are! And don't you dare let anyone else tell you otherwise."

Aizawa-kun snorted, looking away with a faint blush dusting his cheeks. "You're talking about the little crowd outside, aren't you."

"How did you-"

"I already told you, Yagi-san. I can see Quirks. Physical obstacles mean nothing to me. Yes, I have to look directly at someone in order to erase their Quirk, but I can see and assess Quirks regardless of obstacles in between me and others. Well, if I'm using Gold, that is."

"Why call it 'gold'? Is it just because of the color?"

"One of the reasons is the color," the younger male replied with a shrug. "The other is greed."

"Greed?"

"Gold causes greed. My Quirk has, in others, caused nothing but greed and fear, but greed has somehow always been the dominant reaction and emotion. And Gold is a unique metal, precious. It has a unique color, is rather meldable, as is my Quirk, is quite literally 'out of this world' - another thing that might as well be attributed to Erasure - and has often been associated with godhood. And in a world full of Quirks, what is more dangerous and powerful than something that takes them away, permanently, with only a glance? Erasure is the first and only of its kind, Yagi-san, and it has opened my eyes to a theory none have been aware of until it and I came along."

"And what theory might that be, Aizawa-kun?"

"Simple, really. Quirk evolution. Much like the evolution of living creatures, Quirks evolved greatly from the first ones that appeared. First, they spread, turning from a minority to a majority of the population being Quirked. Today, a little under 20% of the whole world is Quirkless. Even some animals have Quirks, like Principal Nezu. Second, they started getting stronger, more versatile, more complex. Auxiliary, secondary and composite Quirks came into being. This part, though, can't go on forever. Surely you have noticed how the younger generations have fairly strong Quirks, much stronger than even some of our students."

For some reason, that our greatly pleased Yagi.

"The little doctor I'd gifted you, Garaki, made a Theory that's widely known today as Quirk Singularity Doomsday Theory, saying that, eventually, Quirks will become so strong and complex that people will be unable to control them. We're very close to that point that I think we might have already reached it. Just look at Eri or 'Dabi'. Eri has some sort of time Quirk that pushes time through the body of whoever she touches, rewinding them to a previous state of existence. It will be probably years before she can properly control that power. Dabi's Quirk is on the other end of the spectrum: it hurts him. He has excellent control, but it's simply so strong that it burns his own skin. Might be a side effect of having a body suited for an ice Quirk he'd inherited from his mother, but the fact is that Endeavor had achieved what he'd originally wanted: a child with a fire Quirk that didn't overheat. Dabi doesn't overheat. He just ... burns. Twice, too. It's his Quirk's cloning ability that has created schizophrenia in him. Hell, if my guess is right, I'd say he'd spent a lot of his time cloning himself before the clones eventually developed a sense of self and tried to kill him in an attempt to be the real one."

"Shit."

Aizawa-kun just snorted. "Garaki made a good, sound theory that would have probably been true, but he forgot one major factor that would be the key variable in this equation."

"Oh?" Yagi couldn't remember the last time he'd found what sounded like a lecture this interesting.

"Nature, as in everything that it is and that it creates, is all about balance. The second a population of any species reaches over sixty percent, it starts playing natural selection roulette. Humans may think it was them that had, through their choices in spouses in the early days, when Quirk marriage was allowed, caused the new Quirks that are present today to develop, but they forget they can't account for how and which genes will combine. It took four tries until a 'perfect' Todoroki was born, right? One that can't overheat, but in a safe way. What I'm saying is, one part of this little roulette game was nature going its course and deciding which Quirks will stay, develop or disappear altogether. It lead to the current world, as we know it. The other part, well ... Food Chains exist for a reason."

"You lost me," admitted the older of the two.

"When a species starts closing in on overpopulation, Yagi-san, nature throws in an obstacle. A virus, a parasite, a natural disaster or a predator."

"You," the Hero said in a fit of realization. "Nature throws in you."

The Vigilante just nodded. "Not me specifically, but Erasure, yes. Something that could very easily wipe the slate clean, take out a lot of the population, bring the status quo back to fifty-fifty, to balance. Nature is all about balance and Quirks happened by nature of human evolution. Hence, an 'Anti-Quirk'. Or rather, the theory I'm writing my paper on ... It is only a matter of time before nature decides it is time to throw in these 'Anti-Quirks' into our society as a part of the natural progress of the world. My existence, the things other scientists have found out about me, the many texts I've read over the years, the things Erasure allows me to see ... It all lead to that conclusion. It may seem obvious once it's stated plainly, but then you look back on the past two centuries or so and realize no one else had ever thought these Quirks will ever disappear, ever go away. There were Quirks that could be called a prelude, a premonition to 'Anti-Quirks'. All For One and its ability to take away Quirks, leaving someone Quirkless. Dr Quirk's Quirk, before I'd accidentally erased it when he'd tried to block mine, could technically also count as one of those preludes, as he was able to cut off genomes in the DNA chain, including the one that holds the Quirk factor. Eri's, too, could be a variety of it, if she learns how to target specific things and not the whole body. Erasure was just the first Anti-Quirk. It will probably be the only one like it, but there might come more in the future."

"Why do you think others won't be like it?"

"Erasure evolves, develops, learns," the wielder of said Anti-Quirk explained. "It wasn't able to do nearly as many things in the start as it can now. I couldn't see Quirks, I didn't have auxiliary Telekinesis, it didn't heal my eyes nor did it allow me to not blink, like, ever except if I wanted to or forgot not to. It defends itself, Yagi-san, it is as close to having a mind of its own as it can come. And it defends me. It also cannot exist outside of my own living body. The second it leaves my body, it is undetectable. Even if I were to have children, to be cloned or something, Erasure will not go to them. It will die with me."

"How is that even possible?" He couldn't help but ask, because that sounded like fantasy to him.

Aizawa-kun only shrugged. "Hell if I know. It just ... Is what it is. Now, are you going to actually ask me something or is this just a chat to satisfy Tsukauchi's secret vanilla voyeurism kink?"

Yagi spluttered at that, coughing up blood in his surprise as a blush crept up from his neck to his hairline. He was sure his friend was having his own fit of a reaction to that comment, but he kind of couldn't focus on imagining usually cool-headed Naomasa falling out of his chair in a fit of flustered shock. He was in here for a reason and should be asking very specific questions! Questions that will, hopefully, help them in ensuring freedom for this man. And maybe even something more.

"Okay, can you just ... Start from the beginning? On your life story? What happened to you, Aizawa-kun? How did you become Eraserhead?"

Aizawa Shouta regarded him with guarded eyes for a moment, seemingly assessing him and trying to figure out his intentions and Yagi did his best not to squirm. It was a very intense stare that he was on the receiving end of. But then Aizawa-kun sighed and relaxed and started talking. And talking. And talking. Wow, Aizawa-san hadn't been kidding when he'd said his adopted son's story was a long and complicated one.

By the time the younger man was finally finished, Yagi realized just how lucky they were that this man kept to his morals, to his beliefs. That he didn't hate the society that had nearly lead to his death or disability several times over. He admired him for not turning dark and bitter and vengeful at the things done to him. He was surprised to hear that a criminal and villain had treated him better than those who supposedly worked for the government meant to serve the people but had instead condoned the torture of a number of their citizens and children, no less. It was a wonder Aizawa-kun had trusted Hal and Kronos as much as he had. Recovery Girl, too, from what he'd implied. He finally understood why the people of Tasomiya and Naruhata were willing to go to such lengths to defend him. He finally understood how and why Aizawa-kun had been able to better train Midoriya-shounen in using One For All in a single night than Toshinori had in half a semester. He finally understood how he befriended Present Mic, Midnight and so many other Heroes. He finally understood a lot of things.

"You're really very amazing, Aizawa-kun," he praised, ready to refute the man's rebuttals at the very true compliment, but a new, different voice coming from the speakers cut them both off and caught them by surprise, too.

"I very much agree!"

"Principal Nezu?" Damn, that rat moved fast.

"Hello Yagi-san, Aizawa-san. It is a pleasure to be talking to you two again, especially you, Aizawa-san. It's truly been such a long time." The black haired man nodded towards the one-way glass, as though in greeting, though he seemed warily confused. "You may stop now."

"Wha-"

"Your mission is finally over. Well done, Eraserhead. It was thanks to your diligent work that we've finally caught the nefarious villain, All For One, and put him under lock and key once and for all! You can finally rest now. You'll need it, before you can go back to your Hero work again."

"What are you-" A new, unknown male voice - to Yagi, at least; Aizawa-kun, on the other hand, seemed to stiffen upon hearing it, which made the blond unconsciously clench his fists as though he's about to Detroit Smash who- or whatever was causing his companion discomfort - started but then a recognizable female voice, the one belonging to the President of the Hero Public Safety Commission, spoke up, cutting him off.

"He is indeed right, Eraserhead-san. I suggest you rest up until your next assignment. Good work out there. We need more Heroes like you." The way she said this was a bit tight, her words terse and tense, especially the 'more Heroes like you' part, but what was most important was the fact that she admonished the other speaker and apologized for whatever difficulties her employees may have caused to Eraserhead during these last few months of this 'very important mission'.

Yagi turned a baffled stare at his friend, but found that while the Vigilante was keeping a straight, impassive face, the look in his eyes was just as confused and shocked.

Toshinori knew what he'd asked of Nezu - to somehow procure a Hero License for Eraserhead or something that would help keep him out of jail - but he's not sure what the mammal overlord of UA had actually done.

Not until the HPSC President spoke up again. "I hope this finally makes us even, Nezu-san. Please don't ever contact me ever again unless it has to do with direct business of UA and nothing else. Have fun with your pet Hero."

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, as always, madam!" Chirped his boss and Toshinori shuddered at the overly cheerful voice. That voice never meant anything good. Oh god, what has Nezu done this time!? "Thank you for clearing my dear friend's name and lessening the burden placed on my staff! Have a nice day!" They heard the distinct sound of heels walking off and then the doors opening and closing. The silence, before Nezu spoke up again. "Well, well, well, you truly are a hard person to find, Aizawa-kun! How long has it been? Fifteen years? It's a good thing UA finally has its lost Sports Festival Champion back."

Aizawa-kun barked out a laugh. "You're crazy! Just how the hell did you manage to make me a Hero of all things?"

"Very easily," came the rat/bear/dog's reply. "Let's just say that the dear President owed me and your conduct over the years has been more than Hero-like, so we didn't have to bend the truth too much. The recent rumors of you being an Underground Hero already helped. Also, Ashou-san told me he expects a call soon."

The former Vigilante turned Hero snorts. "Figures. Between the two of you and possibly with Kronos-sensei's help, I wouldn't be surprised if you take over the world in an hour, let alone manage to create a whole fake Hero work history for a single Vigilante."

"But it's not fake, Eraser," came Tsukauchi's voice and Toshinori could clearly make out the grin in it. "I have every single one of your reports to prove it and back it up, as well as testimonies of over fifty cops and ten other detectives. The mayor vouches for you, too, as do several Heroes, most prominent among them, of course, being All Might."

"Welcome to the Hero world, Eraserhead!" Chirped Nezu again and Toshinori couldn't help but break out into relieved, delighted laughter, which only grew as he saw the stupefied, elated and disbelieving look on Aizawa-kun's face. Oh, how precious this was! How unbelievable! Nezu had surely taken his request and gone well and truly above and beyond, Plus fucking Ultra! "Please come to conference room six and have a brief chat with me and Shuzenji-san before going out to meet with your students and friends and stop them from killing off the reporters. Welcome to the team!"

"Indeed, Aizawa-kun," Toshinori said with warmth and affection, gazing down at the still disbelieving man as he stood up, walked around the table and offered him his hand. "Welcome to the team."

And with no hesitation whatsoever, Aizawa Shouta took it.

It felt like a victory as big as the one against All For One.

It would seem that the times were changing.

In the best way possible.

Plus fucking Ultra.