Shouta stared at his phone, his eyes distant.

Ever since the news of Spitfire's death was announced on the news, Shouta had felt an odd disconnect from the rest of the world.

He felt like he was drowning, struggling to rise to the surface. As he imagined his problem child alone and afraid and dying, he could feel himself sinking even deeper beneath the tide, never to touch or feel sunlight ever again.

For the last few days, he still went out on patrol, still did his duty as Eraserhead, the Underground Hero that forged fear into the hearts of criminals and fellow heroes alike. Yet, it was all done out of habit, a range of motions he truly had no control over. Even as he fought villains, saved the innocent and continued to make the streets a safer place, Shouta was not truly there .

No, Aizawa Shouta was still in his dingy apartment, the buzz of the television loud in his ears as the vigilante Spitfire's death was televised nation-wide, vilified and smeared as a criminal and villain of the highest degree.

The news spoke of his deeds as Spitfire, they spoke of his uncontrollable temper and his merciless violence against criminals. They spoke of his rage and ambition and hate. They spoke of his defiance against the Hero Commision.

They knew Spitfire, the fearsome emerald flame-wielding rebel, but not one of them knew the man behind the mask. Nobody knew the kid, the Problem Child, nobody knew Akatani Mikumo.

Akatani Mikumo who smiled like the sun. Akatani Mikumo who fought for justice and for the little people. Akatani Mikumo who cared and was more broken than anyone when a villain committed atrocities against the innocent.

Nobody knew Akatani Mikumo who had a family, a mother and brother, who he did his all to love and protect.

It was the reminder of Mikumo's family that woke Shota up for the first time since his protege's death was announced.

The Little Flame.

Shouta had almost forgotten. If he was broken like this, he knew that his protege's brother, his Quirkless little brother who Mikumo loved more than his heroics or himself would be devastated at this loss.

Fate, it seemed would, intervene as his phone rang concerning that very topic.

As Tsukauchi tells Shouta what has transpired, Shouta has to suppress his trademark and incredibly unnerving grin and he feels a sense of purpose fill his being knowing that even though his problem child is gone, this problem child, this wild little brother of Spitfire…needs him . He does not have the luxury to be distant and broken.

The Little Flame would not share the same fate as Spitfire.

"...I'm coming."

Tying the villains up and handing them off to the Police, Shouta disappears from view, racing towards Musutafu Police Station.

Izuku is frozen as the door to Tsukauchi-san's cracks open where Eraserhead, the Erasure Hero stands, looking disheveled, breathing deeply.

Eraserhead. Eraserhead. ERASERHEAD!

Oh shit. Oh my god. It's fucking Eraserhead. So cool! Izuku tries his best to keep his cool, saying nothing as the man enters the room.

Tsukauchi sits behind Izuku, an amused smirk curving at his lips.

"Well, that was rather quick." Tsukauchi commented, sorting through some files at his desk, muttering something about 'mother hens' under his breath.

"I…was close by." Eraserhead said, sweat dripping from his forehead.

Izuku doubted that was the truth.

Izuku felt his panic rise as his favourite hero approached him.

"So…you're the Problem Child." He said, leaning down on his knees so that he could be face to face with the seated teenager.

"Uh, yeah, my name is Akatani Izuku." He introduced himself shyly, staring deep into the Underground Hero's eyes.

"Akatani, huh?" Eraserhead smiled, but it was a sad thing. "Mikumo always said you would take on your mother's name one day."

"H-he did?" Izuku's face burned at the way his voice squeaked.

Eraserhead simply nodded.

"So, you ready, kid?"

Izuku blinked.

"Ready?"

"To go." Eraserhead said, nodding his head towards the door. "We need to go see your mother, tell you about the apprenticeship that you will be doing with me."

"W-wait! Really!? You're going to train me?" Izuku gasped, his eyes filled with stars at the idea of being trained by the Eraserhead!

"Bright." Eraserhead blinked before smiling. "Yes, kid, I'm going to train you. Who knows, if you listen and work hard, you might even make it to U.A one day."

Akatani Izuku's eyes hardened.

"I swear it."

Eraserhead arched an eyebrow.

"I swear I will make it into U.A, Eraserhead-sensei." Izuku declared. "I will ace every test and challenge thrown at me. I will rise to the peak of U.A and then the peak of the Hero World. All Might will be a mere footnote compared to me." His voice was fire, all fury and ambition. "I'll make you proud."

Tsukauchi suppressed his laugh at the sight of his husband's unnerving grin.

"Not bad, Problem Child, not bad at all."

Master and Student shared a grin, vermillion and viridian in their eyes, the glint within them filled with a defiant sort of ambition.

It was a connection that meant ill for any who would stand in their way.

"By the way, kid, call me Aizawa." Eraserhead said. "Only among people who know my identity, of course."

Izuku's eyes sparkled.

"Okay…Aizawa-sensei."

Midoriya…no, Akatani Inko was more than a little worried when her usually bright youngest son returned home with a dark-haired stranger who seemed more like he frequented the homeless shelter in the town over, instead of walking the streets of this middle-class neighbourhood.

Still, Inko never was one to judge people at face value, so she smiles at the two and tries to contain her uncontrollable curiosity.

"Welcome back, dear." She kisses her son on the cheek. "Your friend?" She asked her son, smiling politely at the man.

Izuku's eyes move to the man unexpectedly, as if asking for permission.

The man smiles and nods.

"Ma, guess what!?" He suddenly shouts, his grin blindling.

Despite her reservations, Inko is willing to forgive anything to see that bright smile on her baby's face after how despondent he has been since…since Mikumo's passing.

God, she is pathetic. She can't even think of her baby's name without almost breaking apart into a million shards of glass.

Inko hums, listening.

"This is Eraserhead!"

Eraserhead? Ah, a hero. She is unfamiliar with the name, though.

"He's an Underground Hero!" Her son beamed. "Which is basically a vigilante but funded by the government. How cool is that?"

Inko nodded, but felt herself fear at what this was building up to. She knew her son loved heroes once. She had assumed their utter oversight that led to her eldest son's death would break him of the notion of taking that path.

That did not seem to be the case.

"And…Eraserhead trained Aniki!"

Inko froze, her eyes turning towards the Underground Hero who wore an expression of shared grief she witnessed on Izuku's face every day. It was a look she saw all too much in the mirror.

Ah. So this man loved her eldest. He also lost someone incredibly important to the negligence of his coworkers.

Wait, Eraserhead?

"Ah! Aizawa Shouta-san?" She asked suddenly, the memory finally coming to her. She remembered Mikumo telling her about the man who had taken him under his wing. He couldn't reveal any hero names, but she did remember him mentioning his civilian name was Aizawa Shouta.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Akatani-san." Aizawa bowed his head. "I'm visiting concerning Izuku's future."

"Izuku's future?" Inko blinked.

"Hm." He agreed. "As you know, justified or not, Izuku assaulted a civilian."

Inko felt dread well up within her.

"Usually, he would have been automatically sent to a juvenile detention centre." Aizawa explained and Inko felt a sense of hope in her heart.

"What's different about this case?"

"Izuku was given a choice." He said, Izuku grinning brightly behind him. "Either he would spend three years in the juvenile detention centre or he would spend the next three years being closely monitored by a Pro Hero." He explained. "I offered to take the job to watch over him and train him so that he knows how to appropriately use his abilities."

Inko nodded, motioning for him to continue.

"I understand he recently activated his Quirk?"

"Yes, just this month."

"Activating a Quirk in your teenage years, well that's bound to make your Quirk much stronger but also incredibly volatile." Aizawa explained. "I would like to take him in as my student and teach him to master his Quirk and assist him in his goal to enter U.A High School." He said. "Of course, if you also agree to this." He added.

Inko opened her mouth to argue before her eyes landed on her son's face. Her son who was smiling bright and wide for the first time in such a long time.

It was a smile that obliterated all of her arguments and hesitation.

"I trust you will train in a responsible manner, Aizawa-san." Inko said finally. "I will accept it if you swear to properly raise him into a great hero."

Inko and her son gasped as he bowed deeply.

"I swear it, Akatani-san." His voice was deep and serious. "I swear it upon my honour as a Pro Hero."

Inko looked between the bowing Hero and her grinning son, and sighed deeply.

"Well, I guess this was bound to happen sooner or later." She said, fondly patting the side of her son's face. "Come in, Aizawa-san, dinner is ready."

"Uh…dinner?" The man, so serious and brooding, squeaked of all things.

Inko suppressed her laugh.

"Yes, dinner." She took no for an answer as she opened the door and entered without looking back, the excited footsteps of Izuku and the hesitant footsteps of Aizawa following in after her.

And that was how Aizawa Shouta met the Akatani family.

Yamaza Hizashi found his best friend brooding on the school roof.

"Yo, Eraser!" He greeted in his usual jovial fashion, a wide grin curving at his lips as he clasped his hand over his friend's shoulder.

"Mic." Shouta grunted, barely turning his attention away from the wide, blue sky. "I guess Naomasa told you."

"About the Little Listener?" Hizashi arched an eyebrow before nodding. "Yeah, I heard what happened." There was a solemnity to his smile now.

"It is an oversight that never should have happened." Shouta's voice trembled with the fury he had been attempting to hold at bay since the news of Spitfire was released. "How could Japan's Top Heroes make such a foolish oversight?" He sneered. "A child fucking died."

"Yeah, it's bad." Hizashi sighed deeply. "Real fucking bad, to be honest. Activists are up in arms about the whole thing. The Hero Commision and the Media is under heavy fire."

Shouta arched an eyebrow but said nothing.

"You know the Society Against Quirk Discrimination?"

"The guys that fight against the discrimination against supposedly evil Quirks?" He asked. "Yeah, of course I do." Shouta grinned. "The only organization with a lick of sense."

Hizashi smiled before the smile dropped.

"That is one facet, but they are also fiercely defensive of the Quirkless." He said. "And well, news came out that Spitfire's little brother grew up Quirkless."

"Shit." Shouta grunted.

"Right." Hizashi nodded. "Now that they have an angle to attack from and more than enough reason to attack, even if the little listener has a Quirk now." He continued. "It's also going to be a fighting point amongst these groups that Akatani Izuku is proof that the toe theory is utter fucking bullshit."

"Which means there is going to be no determining factor of whether someone is Quirkless or if there Quirk is merely late to come in." Shouta realized. "Well, this is bound to make those conservative in their views of Quirks displeased."

"That's exactly right." Hizashi was serious now. "As a result of this, there is a large chance that those that hold prejudice to the Quirkless will target the little listener. He is essentially the face of the fight for Quirk equality these days." He continued. "Even those supporting equality between the Quirked and Quirkless are bound to sway him to their side, uncaring of who he is as a person."

Shouta's eyes narrowed sharply.

"Not on my fucking watch."

Hizashi laughed, bright and loud.

"Yeah, that's what I thought as well." Hizashi said. "Doubtless to say we are all on the little listener's side, but I'd just thought I would warn you of what is coming."

"Yeah, thanks, Hizashi." Shouta grunted, but his smile betrayed how grateful he was to his closest friend.

"So, what do you think of the little listener, personally?" Hizashi wondered, leaning against the wall behind them.

Shouta was silent for a moment.

"He's…excitable." Shouta said. "But he's got a temper on him. He is angry at the world, righteous in his conviction…he's the model hero, really." He continued. "Yet, he has a darkness within him that is hard to tame. He is like the flames he controls. Warm and ready to defend, yet just as able to consume with a terrifying fury."

Hizashi hummed.

"He's the mirror image of his brother. Just as reckless. Just as self-sacrificial." Shouta sighed. "He's an idiot and it's my job to make him less of an idiot."

"Ha! Good luck!"

Shouta gave his friend a dry stare.

"It sounds like…" Hizashi hesitated.

"Hm?" Shouta arched an eyebrow.

"Shirakumo would have liked him."

Shouta stumbled a bit at that name being spoken aloud after all these years before maintaining his posture and turning his back to his friend, beginning to walk away.

"Yeah, he would have." He said before exiting through the door on the roof, heading towards U.A Staff Room.

Hizashi sighed deeply.

"What am I going to do with that man?"

Hizashi followed after his friend.