Chapter 3: Shota "Eraserhead" Aizawa

Aizawa quickly ran up the stairs, his heart racing from exertion but also the excitement of the upcoming battle. He had surmised that Tortura, the Pain hero of Golden Time Agency, was on campus to recruit him. Her quirk, Pain, caused anyone she touched with skin to skin contact to feel pain so immense they were immobilized and would pass out if she held on to them for more than a few seconds. He already had formally turned down all offers he had received from various hero agencies. He had decided months ago he wanted to be a solo hero working mainly underground. He wondered why Golden Time Agency was wasting their time continuing their efforts to have him join their ranks. It was an exercise in futility and completely illogical. Seeing Timeswapper show up suddenly surprised even him, however, and he couldn't help to feel a second of awe despite himself and his negative views of the celebrity status of heroes. As impressive as Tortura was, Timeswapper was a much higher ranked hero. Golden Time was his Agency, he was one of the top 5 heroes, and his celebrity status made him a household name. You couldn't escape seeing him on billboards, seeing kids playing with his actions figures, and see his merchandise worn by citizens all around Japan.

As Aizawa ran through the rooftop door at the top of the stairs, he found the pro hero waiting for him. Timeswapper, his proper name Goro Kimura, was ranked #4 on the Hero Billboard chart. He was a tall, muscular, and imposing figure. He had a shock of platinum blonde wavy hair he kept short and bright blue eyes that lit up his good-natured face. He was attractive and had an approachable countenance which made him a fan favorite. His uniform was form fitting, a striking purple and yellow striped affair that made it impossible to mix him up with any other hero. It was quite gawdy and eye-catching. There was a large golden yellow hour glass symbol on his chest which also was the symbol of his agency. Timeswapper's quirk was multi-faceted and had endless capabilities in combat. He was able to bend time spatially. This was limited to just his own body and any non-living items he was wearing or holding. With this quirk his body was able to jump ahead in time or back in time by up to 5 seconds. This caused him to teleport or "warp" as he liked to call it which made his movements very hard to predict in battle. He also could travel long distances quickly by using his warp ability back to back to jump into the "future" so to speak. When he did this it was almost hard to see him, he moved so quickly. It was as if he was blipping in and out of existence.

"You can leap from here correct? By using your binding cloth?" Timeswapper asked.

Aizawa nodded.

"Do you have a specific path you take? We need to head towards Musutafu Medical School northeast of here."

"I know where the Medical School is. I've travelled that way via my binding cloth by rooftop," Aizawa answered calmly. Timeswapper looked at him slightly amused.

"Well, let's meet at the park south of the Med School's campus. The villain group is west of there. I should have an update by then, too, and we'll move in. You fight mid distance correct?"

Aizawa nodded.

"How long will it take you to get to the park?" Timeswapper asked.

"13 minutes," Aizawa answered quickly.

Timeswapper grinned. "Well now, Aizawa, that's pretty fast for almost 9 kilometers."

"I've done it before," Aizawa answered matter-of-factly.

"Tell you what. I'll make a bet with you. If I can beat you to the park, will you come to my agency so I can give you a tour and you can listen to my spiel? I know you said you aren't interested in joining any agencies, but I'd like the opportunity to try and change your mind."

"Aren't we wasting time right now? Shouldn't we be moving." Aizawa replied slightly annoyed.

Timeswapper grinned. "Point taken." He disappeared into thin air. Aizawa looked towards the ledge and noticed a flash of light, if you blinked you would have missed it. It was Timeswapper blipping in and out of space and time. He had seen footage of this blipping on the news so knew what it looked like. He was already ahead of him. Aizawa made an irritated noise. He ran full speed on the rooftop, leapt onto the ledge, and jumped high into the balmy air. He let his loosely coiled binding cloths around his neck fly up above his head as he fell. Without taking his eyes off the top of the emergency staircase of the building adjacent, his fingers intuitively grabbed his cloth a few inches from the end. He brought his arm across his body and then deftly flicked the cloth towards the emergency staircase. As the cloth shot quickly away from him he watched intently until the end he sent wrapped around an exposed rung of the staircase. He swung through the air, in a flash, passing by the staircase and then flicking the cloth again, causing it to loosen from the rung. He continued this maneuver, making his way from building to building, through alleys, and then at times swinging up to rooftops to run the length of the top of these buildings only to leap off the ledges and quickly assess his next hold for his cloth. It was like an intricate dance, so many details had to be calculated like his position, what his left arm did, then his right, and the status of his binding cloth in respect to himself, how he turned his body mid-air, the strength of his core keeping him balanced and his cloth acting like an extension of himself. He calculated every movement, knowing what the outcome would be every time. Cause and effect. Energy exerted and the motion emitted. Completely logical.

After several minutes he found himself at the park. He waited still and silent at the entrance. He turned westward and saw smoke rising above buildings about five blocks away. The traffic was backed up and people were milling around outside of their cars while others were leaving their vehicles and walking, or running, away from where the loud noises of destruction could be heard. Aizawa's hand twitched in anticipation to leap into action, but he realized he needed to wait for Timeswapper. He was eighteen and had his hero's license so legally could fight villains independently, but it was frowned upon by UA. They still wanted their fledgling heroes to have a mentor with them when they fought until after graduation. Only a few weeks and he could be completely solo. Independent and calling his own shots. Timeswapper suddenly appeared out of thin air next to him. He did his best not to jump from surprise, but he did despite his best efforts. Knowing that Timeswapper would warp in at any moment set him a bit on edge.

"How long have you been waiting?" Timeswapper asked.

"About thirty seconds," Aizawa replied in a low tone. He tried his best not to have the ends of his mouth curl up slightly in a smug half-smile, but he had failed. He had won a race against a pro-hero that had a warping quirk. And a head start. Definitely something he had every reason to feel a little smug about.

Timeswapper must have read his smugness because he replied, "I knew you were a serious, no-nonsense person from intel that was gathered, but I didn't know you were cocky. That's a nice surprise. Means you won't hesitate."

Aizawa sighed. He had never been called cocky before. Maybe arrogant, definitely off-putting, but cocky wasn't something he felt described him. That reminded him way too much of celebrity heroes, which were the last thing he wanted to be. It didn't seem logical to judge someone until you met them and had adequate interaction, even heroes that came across as vain and full of themselves. But now that he was interacting with Timeswapper his own personal opinion was beginning to form. It wasn't positive. It was as if Timeswapper was trying to become 'buddies' with Aizawa and trying to impose his own personality on Aizawa to relate to him. He wasn't cocky, but Timeswapper definitely was. Aizawa reminded himself, however, that he was letting his feelings towards Timeswapper affect his impression of him and that wasn't a fair assessment. Feelings often weren't logical. He would hold off on his opinion of Timeswapper until he had more information.

"What's our course of action, Sensei?" Aizawa asked bluntly.

Timeswapper grinned. "Very well, then. Let's get a better vantage point." One minute later they both were on a nearby rooftop overlooking three villains. One was the villain with the gigantification quirk. The other seemed to have a quirk that gave him the attributes of a bull. The third had two arms that were canons. This looked like it would be pretty straight forward. They laid out a battle plan.