Author's Note:
This is the first story I ever wrote. So expect some errors and the like. This was written for Eevee's angst event. You can find her over at author name LifeOfMystery.
"I promise, Eri, that I will never leave you," All Might said to the little quaking mass in front of him. "You'll be safe from now on." He lightly placed his hand on her left shoulder as she lay in a ball on her hospital bed.
"I …. I …. I don't … need … to go …. back," she said in a voice much too quiet and strained for someone so young.
"That's right, young Eri, you don't need to ever go back to that place," All Might said, trying to smile reassuringly at her.
"O …" sniff "…. K," was all she said as she hesitantly pushed her shoulder into his hand. He brought his other hand up to cup hers, stopping every time she flinched until his hand was resting but less than a handwidth away from hers. She slowly closed the distance, a small fragile hand resting in his much larger one. Scars meeting together. She finally looked to have found the courage to look at him through watery eyes, all the pain and fear seeming to lessen just a little as her tears fell.
"I've heard that you have been doing much better, Eri." President Nedzu said, sitting in a chair that made Eri tower over him from her position on the couch. "I just wanted to inform you of your future here." Eri was barely able to meet his eyes before glancing away nervously.
"You don't need to worry, Eri, you'll remain right here at U.A." Nedzu continued with a calm soft voice. "We'll have the teachers look after you and a room all to yourself."
"Wil … will All Mig … All Might visit?" Eri finally responded, worry and a little fear showing on her face.
"You'll get to see him every day." Nedzu said, "He's been quite keen to see you as often as possible." Eri brows scrunched together in thought before finally relaxing. A small fragile smalling replacing it. The first one Nedzu had seen in the last month.
"You will meet the rest of the teachers that will take care of you tomorrow." Nedzu said, "And you meet the rest of the students next week." The only response he got was a small nod.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Eri?" All Might said as the worry started to show on his face, "We can do it another day if you want."
Eri's large eyes widened and shifted around until finally meeting his, a small fire burning in her eyes.
"I … I want to do … this." She said with more strength than she'd had over the past month.
"Ok," All Might said as he pushed open the door of 1-As classroom.
"I'm telling you Mirko is way better than .."
"Hey you have that assignment done ple .."
"Oh, my those look so great on yo .. "
"Ahem," All Might said loudly over the calamity of sound coming from the room. All eyes turned to him as the voices dimmed.
"If you could please take your seats, I have something we need to discuss." All Might said firmly as the students got into their seats. All Might walked into the center of the room.
"This is ..," he stopped as he realized Eri was still hiding behind his legs and wasn't seen by most of the class. He slowly coaxed her out of hiding as a few awes could be heard at her reveal.
"This is Eri. I'm sure that you all have heard of her by now. She'll be staying at U.A. from now on, so please be mindful of her presence." All Might said before turning slightly and softly speaking to Eri. "Introduce yourself."
"I .. I'm Eri." She offered quietly, still unsure and looking prepared to bolt at any second.
"Hey Eri, I'm Ashido," the pink girl said, speaking much more softly than usual and with a wide smile while waving at the little girl. Eri almost took a step back before relaxing somewhat, hand holding onto All Might's trouser leg firmly.
The rest of the class quickly followed suit, Eri seemingly gaining some confidence as the interactions went on.
"Now, she might be popping in from time to time in lessons depending on her schedule." All Might said, looking at the clock. "She'll have to leave for now as she has lessons in 7 minutes. While you are encouraged to interact with Young Eri, please don't overwhelm her."
A chorus of goodbyes followed her as All Might led her back to the staff quarters.
"I know it's been a few days, but she's just so cute I can't stop. And she hasn't been back for any of our classes." Ashido said, voice thick with annoyance. "It's so not fair."
"Quit whining about the brat. It's giving me a god damn headache," Bakugo responded, eyes twitching violently.
"Hey, man, that's totally uncool, talking about her like that." Kirishima said, eyes looking back at Bakugo.
"I don't give a shit. The kid's fucking creepy is what she is." Bakugo said with no small amount of hostility.
"One, rude. And two, how could you come to that conclusion? She's just the perfect little bundle of joy that I just want to hug and cuddle all the time," Ashido said with clear indignation.
"Instinct's telling me she's fucking off," Bakugo muttered defensively.
"Your instincts are crap dude," Ashido said.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO ME," Bakugo said, face positively murderous.
"Oh look there she is now," Kirishima remarked as he looked over to see All Might and Eri coming out the doors of the adjacent building. "Bakugo, be nice."
"Cheh," Bakugo grumbled.
"And that is the last of the hero course classrooms. Never be afraid to go to any of them for help if you need something or get lost." All Might said, waiting until Eri responded with a nod before continuing. "Now just over there are the classrooms for the support students."
"Can .. can we go see them?" Eri asked, interest clear in her voice.
"Those rooms are off limits to a fucking kid," Bakugo interjected as his group got close enough.
"Bakugo"
"BAKAGO"
"Hey man, that wa.."
Bakugo just ignored them as he stared down at Eri. She showed a flash of annoyance before her eyes went wide and she folded in on herself, as if expecting to be punished. Failing to meet his gaze. Scoffing, he walked away from the group, heading back towards the dorms.
"I will be having words with him later," All Might mumbled under his breath. "What put him in such a foul mood?"
"Don't know," Ashido pondered. "He's just been in a bad mood lately. Well, worse than usual anyway. But enough about him. Giving Eri the grand tour, are we?"
"Yes, um, Eri hasn't seen a lot of U.A., and I thought it best that she could at least navigate around the place." All Might said.
"Care if we join you?" Ashido asked, trying to make the biggest puppy dog eyes she could.
"Well, Eri, what do you say?" All Might said while looking down at Eri. She met his eyes before giving a nod of the head.
"Yes, yes, yes, You won't regret this," Ashido said, doing a little celebratory dance.
"And that ends the tour," All Might said, waving his arms at the entirety of U.A.
"It's pretty great isn't it Eri?" Ashido said, looking down at Eri who finally stopped trying to hide from her midway through the tour.
"It's big," Eri agreed, looking a little unsure and uncomfortable.
"That it is, but this is you're home now, so I hope you like it," All might said with his hands on her shoulders
"So long, as you're here," Eri said, innocent eyes looking up at him. Ashido was trying to keep her squealing down in the background.
"Of course," All Might said, his signature smile present.
"Hey, All Might, we really haven't welcomed Eri properly, and I have an idea," Ashido declared after the moment passed.
"Ashido," All Might warned.
"Relax, relax, I just want to throw a little party in the 1-A dorms next week," Ashido said with arms up in a placating manner, "So, what do you say Eri, sound fun?"
"A party?" Eri said with uncertainty.
"Yep," Ashido responded.
"A party?" Eri repeated, eyes going slightly moist.
"Eri, what's the matter?" All Might said as his full attention went back to Eri.
"I've never had one," Eri said, tears slowly going down her face as Ashido looked stricken at the sight of them.
All Might crouched down to her level and pulled her into a hug that she quickly reciprocated. Several snaps of a camera could be heard in the background.
"So manly," Kirishima could be heard saying in the background as he snapped off pictures.
"Too pure," Ashido added in a whisper.
The moment passed quickly before Eri looked back at Ashido and nodded with a smile. Ashido's response could be heard all the way on the other side of campus.
Eri was quietly humming to herself as she walked down the halls. She didn't ever see the hand before it grabbed her shoulder.
Recoiling in fear, she didn't get far as the solid grip kept her in place. Two pairs of red eyes met, one wide with emotion and the other determined.
"Eri, what the hell are you doing here?" Bakugo said, annoyance clear in his voice.
"I … I … wa …. was ….. exploring." Eri said, eyes growing moist as she ducked her head away from his gaze.
"There's only one fucking thing the way you came and off fucking limits even to students," Bakugo said, "So. What. Were. You. Doing?"
"I … I … just ….. please let me ….. go." Eri quietly said, trying to lightly tug her hand out of his grip.
Bakugo stared at her for another minute before finally releasing her. She bolted while she had the chance, leaving Bakugo standing in the middle of the hallway looking after her.
"Class is about to begin." Iida said, glancing back at the two empty seats. "Now where are Ashido and Kaminai?"
"They were there during breakfast, but I haven't seen them since," Momo responded, before the door opened again, revealing Aizawa's presence.
"Class, get to your seats. You're wasting time." Aizawa commanded while walking into the room at the last second before the bell rang. "Where are Ashido and Kaminari? We have to review your results from yesterday's exercise."
"We are not entirely sure sir." Iida groused, his eyes starting to twitch.
"Of course it would be those two," Aizawa whispered as he rubbed his tired eyes. "Tell me when you find them. I'll speak to them later."
Iida's face morphed into a deep frown as they failed to show up.
"You know like as good of an idea as this is, should we really be skipping class right now?" Kaminari asked, heaving the bag of supplies over his shoulders as he followed closely behind Ashido and hoping not to get caught.
"You worry too much!" Ashido exclaimed, grinning back at him. "This'll be great. Sure we might get in a bit of trouble, but what is life without a little danger?"
"Besides, you're not usually this cautious," Ashido continued, eyeing him critically, "Who has you spooked?"
"Um, Yaoyorozu might have said something to Jiro about our recent exploits and she...wasn't too happy," Kaminari admitted, eyes trying not to meet her gaze."
"Wow dude, not even dating and already whipped," Ashido teased, shit eating grin fully in place.
"HEY, have you ever seen Jiro angry? It's scary-is what it is-damn scary," Kaminari said.
"Hhmmm, can't say I hav-," Ashido tried to respond.
"Then shut it," Kaminari said as his eyes kept darting around for the teachers or Iida.
"Hey, rude. And be careful with the party supplies. I can't find more till after school," Ashido admonished. The pair tried to be as stealthy as possible unaware of the camera's following them.
The teachers we were supposed to be helping to teach Eri, but having her lessons in the teacher's lounge was really a terrible idea.
"I'm telling you that Coke Seven is so much better than Coke Three," said Mic, indignation clear in his voice as eye started twitching at his companion.
"And I refuse to believe how you could possibly drink that poor excuse of soft drink," Midnight responded.
"Ladies-"
"HEY."
"-Ladies, lets all agree that the best is obviously coke 10," Cementoss chimed in.
"LIKE hell!"
"HELL NO!"
Unseen by the bickering adults, Eri quietly slipped out of the room.
Eri was quietly walking down an abandoned hallway, yet she couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching her. Quickly looking around, shifting from one foot to the other, she saw nothing. The nervousness never left her posture as she continued. Eyes remained alert and wary for all movement.
There. A brief flash of shadow to her left. She picked up her pace trying to move away as quickly as possible without alerting her pursuer. The shadow, though, refused to leave her trail and got closer and closer.
Now she was moving as fast as her little legs could carry her, trying to get to her destination.
She ran right into a dead end.
The shadow descended upon her, forcing her back all the way up against the wall as his hand grabbed her to hold her in place
"So, kid, we need to fucking talk," Bakugo said.
"So far, you've done quite well. You've really taken to teaching like a duck to water," Nedzu said, peering up at All Might while stirring his jasmine tea. Who knew the skeleton man could blush so hard with so little blood in him?
" I .. I wouldn't say I was all that great. Pretty terrible if I'm honest," All Might said, looking away and rubbing the back of his head, more embarrassed than he'd felt in months.
"But you got better and, in the end, that's what counts. You'll have plenty of practice, with One for All safely in the hands of your successor and gone from you. I'm sure you'll have a long future here," Nedzu said, smiling at him.
"No offense, Sir,but what is it that you actually called me here for. I doubt it's simply to embarrass me," All Might said, regaining his composure.
"Well, you see ….", Nedzu said before being interrupted by soft creaking of his office door.
"Oh, um, Eri, is that you?" All Might asked the slight figure barely peeking into the room. "What are you doing here? You should be in your lessons. Here, I'll walk you back." Rising from his chair and turning fully to face her,"All Might remembered the principal. "Nedzu I'm going to have to meet with you later."
"Of course," Nedzu said, looking completely unbothered by the interruption.
"And, Eri, we are going to have a talk about you skipping yo … ," All Might trailed off after getting a good look at Eri. Her clothes were all dirty and torn in places. Her hair was a mess. And long trails of tears snaked down her face.
"ERI!" All Might shouted as he rushed to her side. "What happened!? Are you ok!? Are you hurt!?" All Might asked in quick succession, softly grabbing her shoulders and gently turning her to fully him. Eri barely was able to meet his eyes before darting away wordlessly bringing up the burned mangled remains that had once been her left arm. "NEDZU, CALL RECOVERY GIRL NOW! MAKE SURE SHE'S IN HER OFFICE BEFORE I GET THERE!"
He barely heard Nedzu's reply as he raced down the halls, Eri tightly held in his arms.
"Um, guys, is that normal?," Kaminari asked, looking at the crowd of heros currently blocking the hall outside of Recovery Girl's office.
"I don't remember any of the hero classes having exercises today. Maybe it's from a secret exercise?" Ashido offered, cocking her head at the crowd.
"You can ask about it later. We have to get to class promptly!" Iida remarked, looking back between the two trouble makers.
"You got it, Prez," Ashido responded with a cheeky grin remaining plastered over her face while making her escape out the nearby window and shrieking "SHORTCUT."
"Ashido!" Iida shouted in hot pursuit of her rapidly escaping ass. Her laughter echoed throughout the courtyard. Iida was so caught up in chasing Ashido that he forgot about Kaminari.
"Are you absolutely sure that she is going to be alright?" All might asked, worry and a bit of fear thick in his voice.
"For the last time, All Might, yes she will be fine and make a complete recovery," Recovery Girl huffed, holding her glasses in her hands and glaring at the rapidly pacing man. "The wounds looked much worse than they appeared. She can leave as soon as she wakes up."
"Stop worrying about if she will be alright and start thinking about more important things. Like how this happened." Recovery Girl continued. " She is safe here but we have no idea where she has been or what happened."
"I might be able to help with that," Nedzu said as he entered the room. "This definitely happened in U.A."
"U.A. has been breached again? How were they able to get past security this time?" All Might questioned with no small amount of dismay.
"We have a recording of her wandering around, seemingly at random until she goes into a blind spot and comes back out again hurt and stumbling along. Unfortunately, she didn't meet anyone in the halls until she came to my office." Nedzu looked between the two of them, collecting his thoughts before continuing. "This blind spot was created by a routine maintenance program running on the server, cutting out several cameras in the area and leaving us completely oblivious to the dangers. That check is done randomly for each camera so as to not let this happen," Nedzu said giving a meaningful look to all might "Several of these events happened at the same time and in the same area. 654AEW."
"So this was preplanned," All Might remarked, anger clear in the inflection of his voice.
"Exactly." Nezu said "And we have just the person to help us figure that out."
In the bed behind the three adults, Eri's still form started to stir.
"Eri", All might said softly making his way to her side and reaching his hand out.
Red eyes flashed open as Eri physically recoiled from the touch, her trembling form forcing itself as far away from the hand as possible without falling off the bed and making her vulnerable. Fresh tears slid down her cheeks as whimpering was heard from her quaking form.
"Eri, it's me, All Might. It's safe, you don't have to be scared," All Might tried to sound soothingly. Little eyes peeked out of the trembling mass before a blur of motion slammed into All Might, almost knocking him over. "Mister … Mister All Might," was all she was able to get out as he held close as he could within his embrace.
"I'm here, Eri. I'm here." All Might said as he rocked her back and forth.
"H …. he found me. I … I … I just wanted … to explore on my … own. Be a …. big girl like ... Mina said." Eri barely made out in between sniffles. "He said … such … mean things. Then he said … that he … would end me." Eri once more broke into tears.
"It's okay. It's alright. Nothing is going to happen to you while I'm here." All Might said, eyes alight with determination.
"I didn't …. Ba … Baku … Bakugo would …. " Eri trailed off, unable to finish.
Meanwhile, the eyes of the three adults widen considerably.
As All Might dealt with Eri, Nedzu pulled Recovery girl aside. "While I don't think Bakugo did this we need to find him," Nedzu whispered "He's been acting erratically around Eri from the start. Either he's under the influence of a quirk or is an imposter."
"And if it was him?" Recovery Girl's voice wavered with uncertainty.
"Then we do what is required of the situation," Nedzu responded. Turning back to All Might and Eri, who had calmed down considerably, he said,"All Might, take Eri to the safe house on campus til after class 1-A, that will throw off any potential pursuers then get her to the 1-A dorms. She will need the support and having a multiple of eyes on her will make her a lot more difficult target. She should be safe there and out of the way of any danger. Additionally, we must tell none of the students of this, we can't have them interfering"
All Might looked ready to protest before Nedzu cut him off. "She needs you right now, and you'll be of little use to the investigation." All Might looked down at the bundle in his arms before silently agreeing. Nedzu got them moving within the hour to head back to the safehouse.
It really wasn't all that bad a day. In fact, it would even have been great to be out enjoying the sunlight in any other circumstance.
Eri was trailing a half pace behind All Might, eyes darting around rapidly as if looking for danger. All Might noticed, but thought better than to press the girl. She had a terrible day and didn't need any more stress.
He, however, did notice when she stopped altogether in the middle of a deserted hallway in the outer part of the school where they hid the safehouse.
Turning back he quietly asked her, "Eri, is something wrong?" He was trying to sound as comforting and unthreatening as possible.
"Miste … Mister All Might … you won't disappear, right?" asked Eri, eyes moist with new tears.
"Of course not, for who would I be if I didn't keep my promises!" All Might exclaimed, moving closer to place his hand on the shoulder of the obviously distressed girl while flashing his signature smile. "You won't be left alone as long as I live."
"Be … because?"
"Yes, Eri?", All Might encouraged keeping his eyes on the trembling girl.
Eri reached hesitantly for his other hand, which he obliged, cupping it gently.
"I much prefer that you disappear." Longer arms locked his wrist in a vice grip he couldn't break out of as his vision spun.
"What? WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH ERI!?" All Might shouted at the tall figure, her shadow completely enveloping his entire form.
"Oh, so admirable of you. Even an inch from death, all you can think about is saving your little bundle of trauma," the dark shadow taunted, tone thick with biting mockery, "Don't you recognize me Mis … Miste …. Mister All Might. I'm your little girl, little helpless Eri, completely lost and alone before I met you."
"I REFUSE TO SUFFER YOUR LIES, VILLIAN! RELEASE ME AND TELL ME WHERE ERI IS OR I WON'T HOLD BACK!" All Might shouted in a voice much too high, small muscles straining for all their worth against hands of solid iron.
"Oh my, what a cute little boy you were. So utterly full of righteous purpose ill-fitting your stature. I almost want to wisk you away to my doll house and keep you all to myself. We could play all that I wanted," Eri said, leering smile trailing along her captured prey. "Alas, master wants you completely gone way too much for you to be my perfect little toy. And I'm a good little girl that always does what her daddy wants."
"WAI …" All Might tried to say, his last sound echoing through the empty corridor.
"Such a waste," Eri sighed, looking at the empty space in front of her. "Oh well, better get back to my friends. They made a party just for me and everything. We get to be together all night."
She did a little twirl before skipping off in the direction of the student dorms, shrinking back down again. "I bet they will want to play with me."
Anyway thanks for reading and I hope you like it. See you next time.
