Author's Note: Here we are with a rather unfortunate set of circumstances... depending on how you look at it. This singular event is the catalyst for a LOT of stuff that's been set up for later in the fic, and I am so excited to get there. Next week will be my last update for a bit because I'm graduating and need to get settled after that for a bit. But I will be back!
Also, if you want to get into a place with other lovers of MHA, and specifically IzuJirou stuff, come on and join this Discord server that I'm on:
/eFtmT8cTbY
We're only kind of crazy, and not at all a cult... except, we also kind of are. Anyway, yeah, join that!
I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's cross-posted on Ao3 as well. Leave a review if you want to. I welcome the feedback! See you next week.
Shouta was exhausted. Wrangling these kids was one of many things that could be the death of him. Fortunately for him, though, he had a few hours to relax as his students fought their way through Pixie-Bob's earth monsters. He dropped them off on the other side of the property at around nine in the morning and then drove the bus the rest of the way here. He got here about an hour later, but that's much better than when his students would get here.
"Thank you again for the option to do our training camp here." Shouta said.
"Of course. It's a great opportunity for us to help give back to the future." Tiger said as he brought over several planks of wood for the fire for tonight.
"Now get off your ass and help, Shouta!" Kan yelled as he also carried over several planks.
"Yeah, alright." Shouta said. There were still several hours before the students got there. Kan's students had taken a different path. Shouta had to give props to Pixie-Bob for the range and control of her quirk. It was truly impressive.
Regardless, he still had time. He might as well help out with this. Yes, he still had to teach, but his workload was going to be much less than the kids' these next few days.
And so he helped and waited.
A few hours later, his students managed to burst through the tree line. They looked… Well, they looked like shit. Shouta couldn't deny that. But tonight was their evening to rest and not work themselves nearly to death. That could be saved for the following days.
And so Aizawa was perfectly fine helping with moving stuff and cooking their food. For tonight. The next day, however…
Much like Shouta thought, the day had been met with much complaining, but he quickly silenced their objections and they got to work.
Everything was progressing. His students were making headway with training their quirks. Their endurance was being worked on for sure. Shouta didn't say this much, but he was truly proud of his students this year. Aside from the three he expelled during the first week, he saw a lot of potential. Even Mineta, who he had very much considered expelling, had been getting somewhat close to Kota. And this week was the week that helped that grow even more.
Of course there were some of his students that had less than stellar academic intelligence; however, those students typically had a higher amount of battle sense. Intelligence versus wisdom, he assumed. But that difference was something that they could fix. That's what this program was for. They'd learn how to think with both intelligence and wisdom in their hero work.
It was okay if some of them weren't there yet. They had potential.
These were the two sentences that Shouta kept repeating to himself over and over again as he led the few students that hadn't passed the exams through their summer classes. Over and over again. Sometimes he felt like slamming his head into the side of the wall, but this was his job right now. So he sighed and began his lesson. Tonight, these kids should have been enjoying the Test of Courage, but instead they were here with him. Consequences of their actions. When you fail the final, there are consequences.
No, it wasn't fair to put Ashido and Kaminari up against Nezu of all people, but life isn't fair, and that's something that these kids had to understand.
Aizawa had expected some push back from the students – which he got. He had expected some complaining due to the work that they had been undertaking – which he also got. He even expected people passing out from the strenuous activity – poor Komori. But what he didn't expect was everything that followed.
Right as he and Kan were setting up for tonight's supplementary lessons, Mandalay sent out a message with her 'Telepath'.
"Everyone!"
"It must be Mandalay's Telepath." Kirishima said.
"I like it. It makes me jump!" Ashido said with a smile.
"Yeah, but it's only one way, so it can be kind of annoying…" Kaminari added.
"Quiet." Shouta said, covering his ears.
A few moments later, Mandalay spoke again. "We're being attacked by two villains! It's possible that there are more! Everyone who can move, get back to camp immediately! Even if you come across the enemy, retreat and do not engage!"
Shouta immediately turned towards the door. "Vlad, I'm leaving this place to you." He began to run out of the building as he shouted back, "I'll go protect the other students!" He rushed out of the building to see a massive plume of blue fire and smoke cresting over the treeline.
"Worry getting the best of you, Eraserhead?" A voice sounded from next to him. "Don't get in my way, pro hero." He said as he blasted a massive wave of blue flame from his hand. "You're not the one we're after."
Shouta barely managed to dodge the blast and clung to the outside of the building. He activated his quirk on this man, which now that he was staring at him, he could see what the man looked like. Dark blue hair, heavily burnt skin with staples along the burn lines, and a relatively ragged jacket.
"Well, I guess you are a pro hero after all." The man raised his hand at Shouta, but no fire came out due to his own quirk.
"Nothing's coming out." Shouta said as he threw his capture scarf at the man. He pulled his scarf, leaping towards the man. He grabbed his head and kneed the attacker in the face. As the assailant fell to the ground, Shouta grabbed his hand and pulled it behind the man's back into an armlock. "Tell me your purpose, number, and positions."
"Why?" The man growled out.
"Otherwise this will happen." Shouta pulled his arm further, breaking it. "Your right arm is next. Let's do this logically. If we get to your legs, it'll be annoying to transport you."
"Are you in a hurry, Eraser?" The man displayed a coy smirk. A blast of fire erupted over the treeline once again.
"What is that?"
"Aizawa-sensei!" A voice yelled from the trees. He saw Iida, Koda, and Ojiro staring at him.
The man wrested himself out from underneath Shouta. As he stood up, he began to mumble something to himself. Finally, he spoke. "Hey, Hero."
Shouta pulled his scarf, and as he did, the man's body fell apart in a brown goop.
"Are your students important? I hope you can protect them all until the very end." As the man's form fell apart, Aizawa looked to his students. "Get inside. I'm going out to find more students."
He dashed into the woods. A while later, he came across Mandalay, Tiger, and an unconscious Pixie-Bob. Around them were two villains: a lizard-like man with a huge sword (made out of other swords strapped together) attacking Mandalay and a burly looking person that was blocking and dodging the attacks that Tiger was assailing upon them. As the lizard man swung the sword, it put him off balance quite easily. Shouta took advantage of this as he grabbed the sword with his capture scarf and wrenched it. The leather straps holding the swords together were loosened, and it soon fell apart.
"Mandalay!" Shouta yelled.
"Yes?"
"Tell all the kids that in the name of the pro hero Eraserhead, everyone is granted permission to engage in combat!" Shouta then dashed off deeper into the woods.
Soon enough, Shouta heard the message in his mind as well. Soon, a massive glacier pierced heavenwards. That was the direction he needed to go. About a minute later, he came across both Todoroki and Bakugou hiding behind blocks of ice as a man in a straight-jacket moved towards them with massive blades coming out of his teeth acting as monstrous legs.
With a simple look, Shouta deactivated the villain's quirk, and the man fell straight down to the ground. He was quickly encased in Todoroki's ice which immobilized him immediately.
"Good work. Bakugo, Todoroki, get back to the main camp area. Other students are already there, and more will be on their way." Shouta quickly yelled before running off again, ever-vigilant for more of his or Kan's students.
A massive cloud of dust exploded on the mountainside, and Shouta knew where he had to go next.
This wasn't supposed to be like this! He was supposed to get popular! He was supposed to have fun with women! This… This wasn't supposed to be like this!
Minoru Mineta stood on the mountainside, the small boy Kota shielded behind his back. He may not offer a lot of protection from the hulking man in a cloak in front of them due to his own small stature, but some protection was something.
"Kota, get out of here!" Mineta yelled, pulling off a few of the balls from his quirk. "My sticky balls will make it so that he can't get to you!" He threw an exorbitant number of instances of his quirk on the ground in front of him. Kota dashed away, tears in his eyes as soon as the man accidentally stepped on one of them.
Mineta was happy that Kota was running. This child must grow up and be able to know the wonders of a woman, just like he himself must.
The man raised his foot only to have it be stuck to the ball. "What the hell?" He asked, dumbfounded.
"You can't move now! You're stuck!" Mineta yelled. He approached the man, staying out of harm's way. After all, he was stuck. Who could move ten feet fast enough to get to him without being pulled back by the ball?
The answer was this man, apparently. The cloak fell off the man as muscle fibers began to wrap around his arms and legs.
With an explosive burst of speed, the villain had managed to stretch the ball that he was stuck to enough with such force that the man's fist could impact Mineta's skull. Mineta could feel part of his skull cracking as his body was punched into a crater on the ground. Dust flew everywhere. Mineta felt his consciousness start to fade as the man took his shoes off.
"Well, this was really anticlimactic. I hope they've found the explosion boy by now… I got stuck with the pervert, of course. I'm leaving." And with that, Mineta's vision went dark.
By the time Shouta got to the scene, there was blood absolutely everywhere. Mineta's body was laid out on the ground. Shouta dashed towards the kid and gently shook his head. In a word, he looked… mangled…
"Mineta, wake up. Please wake up."
"A-Aizawa… s-sensei…"
"Mineta, we're going to get up and we're going to get you to the hospital, okay?"
"They're going… after Bakugo…" Mineta mustered. "Make sure… K-Kota… is safe…"
"Mineta, you were a hero today."
"Tell everyone… I'm… Sorry…" With that, the last bit of breath escaped the lungs of the small child, and Aizawa laid him back down on the ground. They'd get him buried later. Right now, he had kids to save. He couldn't fail again. His heart was heavy, and yet he trekked on.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't here sooner, Mineta…" Shouta said as he scaled back down the mountainside. He had to get to Bakugo. Now. Before it was too late. He saw an ice spire pierce the sky. That must be where he had to go.
He took off in that direction, sprinting as fast as he could. He could see a figure leaping over the ice multiple times. Said figure was wearing a yellow trench coat, a red top hat, andblack pants. As of now, that was all that he could see, but as he got closer, he'd be able to determine more.
He used his capture scarf to pull himself forward through the trees and get to his students faster. He made his way into the clearing as the man in question held his hand to the side of his head and spoke. "Vanguard Action Squad! The target has been successfully collected! It was just a short while, but with this, our show has come to a close! As arranged, head to the retrieval point in the next five minutes!"
Shouta gave chase to the man, as did some of his students. Shouta did have to give props where it was due: this man was fast. But Aizawa could catch him. He was chasing after the man for a good minute or so before he saw something shoot by him in a flash. Shouji and Todoroki had slung themselves towards the man, and they were going much faster. Shouta let loose his capture scarf, wrapping around the two students.
"Aizawa-sensei!" Shoji yelled from one of his dupli-arms. "Help us get Bakugo back!"
The group collided with the villain. Using the change in momentum, Shouta pulled himself to the three other people. Once he had situated himself, he held on as the group tumbled to the ground.
He stood up from the crumbled ground and faced the villains that stood before him. He saw the burned man from earlier. Said man stepped forward. "Mister, get out of the way."
The masked trench coat man responded. "Roger!" He then glowed blue and turned into a small ball that managed to get out of the way of the plume of blue flame that came at them. As Shouta and his two students dodged out of the way of the fire blast, the man referred to as "Mister" was released from the ball he had turned himself into.
He walked over to the burned man and reached into his right pocket.
Shouji looked at Todoroki and Shouta and spoke. "We've got to run away now!" He turned his head back to 'Mister' and spoke again, holding up one of the orbs that the man could create. "I don't know what your quirk is, but inside that right pocket of yours that you kept flaunting was this, right, entertainer?"
"That didn't take you very long. For someone with six arms, you sure know how to feel around!"
Todoroki put up a wall of ice between them and the villains, and the three of them took off in the opposite direction. Shouta, while not necessarily thrilled about letting these villains go, put his priority towards saving his student first and foremost, so he accepted the retreat. A nomu came out of the woods right where they were heading, so the three of them turned and kept running only to be stopped by a purple mist.
Shouta slid to a halt. This… He was at the USJ…
The mist spoke. "It has been five minutes since the signal. Let's go, Dabi." Portals appeared by each of the villains that had gathered, and one by one, they each jumped in.
"Wait, we haven't accomplished our goal yet." The one now known as Dabi said.
""Oh, that? They seemed so happy that they rushed away. I thought I'd give them a present." The one known as 'Mister' said. That got everyone's attention. "It's a habit. One of the basics of magic. When I flaunt something, it's because there's something I don't want you to see." The man took off his mask and stuck his tongue out. On it was a single blue orb like the one that Shouji held. The man snapped, and the orb exploded into ice. Todoroki's ice to be exact.
"Now, with that, my show here is over." The man bowed briefly before turning around and walking through the portal.
Shouta shot into action, sprinting towards the man, but a blast of blue fire stopped him in his tracks. "We have our target. So sorry about that." Dabi said with a manic smirk. He stepped backwards into the portal and was gone as the portal closed behind him immediately.
Shouta dropped to the ground. He slammed his fist into it multiple times. "Damnit! Damnit, damnit, damnit, damnit, damnit!" A single tear fell from his face onto the dirt ground below him.
Shouji and Todoroki collapsed to the ground as the adrenaline wore off and their legs gave out. A single thought went through each of their minds.
They had lost.
The cleanup had gone as smoothly as it could. The ambulance came and retrieved Mineta's body and took it to the hospital, and then, likely, the morgue. Shouta had to call his parents and break the news to them. By himself. As the last person to see him alive and as his teacher, he had to. That was… difficult for him. They had chewed him out, and he had to accept it because they were right. He let more tears fall during that conversation. After that, he called the Bakugo family, and that kid's mother really let him have it.
Shouta would typically consider himself a logical person, but the recent days had been taxing on his emotions. He had… felt things. And it all tied back to him and his actions.
Other students were taken to a hospital as well. Some had gotten seriously hurt.
Shouta was now seated in Principal Nezu's office next to Kan. All Might stood against the wall, staring out the window the entire time.
"So… We're going to have a lot of trouble with the press and the media moving forward. If this were a pro hero, it would be met with tragedy and solemn acceptance." Nezu said. "The problem with this one is that the child, this hero in training is… was… under our guidance and protection. And we failed him. We also failed Bakugo Katsuki. He has been taken by the League of Villains if what you say is true. We will be working with the police to figure out where these villains are. We are prepared to use every resource in our arsenal to rescue these students. The police, other pro heroes, and more. I will, of course, be involving All Might here. Kan and Shouta, you will be joining me for a press release. It is imperative to show the public that we are willing to make amends and improve ourselves for the sake of our students. We were unprepared for this attack, but we must be vigilant."
"We've seen ourselves as untouchable for too long." Shouta said. "It's our fault that we are in this position. Our hubris."
"That's one way to put it." All Might said. "I will retrieve young Bakugou. I will make sure that he is safe."
"As I said before, we are prepared to use every resource in our arsenal." Nezu said. He stared directly at Shouta, who definitely took notice. "If there are any resources that you're aware of, I would recommend that you start working towards employing them as well."
"You read my report, then?" Shouta asked.
"I did, yes. If you can contact them, do it." Nezu said.
This caught Shouta completely off guard. "Is this you giving permission, sir?"
"It is. Do it. Use whatever you can to save our student. We've failed one already. We can't fail another one." Nezu nodded.
"What is he talking about, Aizawa?" All Might asked.
"Societas Requiem." Shouta responded. "The vigilantes."
"I… I see…" All Might said. "If Nezu has given permission, then… I cannot say anything."
"Alright. I will contact them and ask for their help. Thank you, Principal Nezu." Shouta nodded and stepped out of the room. He took his phone out and dialed a number.
"Wonderful to hear from you, Eraserhead. What can I do for you?" The voice of Snake Eyes said from the other side of the phone.
"UA needs your help." Shouta responded.
"And why should we help UA?"
"Because we've now faced a problem that needs some work that we can't do as well as you can. A student was kidnapped. A student by the name of Bakugo Katsuki."
The phone stayed silent for about twenty seconds before Snake Eyes responded. "We're in. Tell me what we need to know for this, and we'll get it done."
As soon as Izuku hung up the phone from talking with Aizawa, he quickly got another message from Shouto Todoroki.
Todoroki:
A classmate of mine, Bakugo Katsuki, was kidnapped at the summer training camp. One of my classmates placed a tracker on a monster called a Nomu, and we have the coordinates of said monster's location, which is attached below. Saving our classmate should put you guys in some good graces with the media, who will probably be attacking UA.
Snake Eyes:
It will be done. Thank you for this information.
"Izuku?" Kyouka asked.
"Yeah?" Izuku didn't look up from his phone as Kyouka's arms and jacks wrapped around him.
"Are you alright? Your heart rate went up as soon as Eraserhead mentioned his name."
"I will be. We'll all be alright. I just have to deal with this feeling again. With him."
"It'll be okay, Izu."
"I know, I know." Izuku stood up and turned to address everyone in the group. "We're getting ready to save someone that most of us have interacted with before. Typically on rather negative terms. But we want to help people. So we're doing this. Get ready. We have coordinated. We're heading out soon." He walked off and began getting his gear ready.
"The ties of fate have not yet unraveled from him. Ties that bind his past to his future." Fumikage said as he, too, began to get ready.
