If you all thought I wouldn't include Shinsou and the father-son relationship he has with Aizawa then you were fools. Also, in reference to the current time line, it is some time in May and the events of Hero Killer Stain and the Intern Week have just concluded.

Remember to check out my tumblr at ibelieveinahappilyeverafter for ways to support me, more writing, and posts about what future stories I'll be doing!

Enjoy!

'What do I do when I have a problem I don't know how to solve?' Hizashi stared down at the text he had just sent, a bitter laugh leaving him as he shoved his phone away, not bothering to wait for Suzuki's response. He was a mess… He couldn't even solve his own problems without turning to ask his teenage co-worker. How pathetic.

What might have been more pathetic, though, was how he didn't hesitate to jerk his headphones off to answer his phone when it showed she was calling him. He might have hesitated if he had realized how late it was, though. "Yamada. It is two in the morning and we open tomorrow. Give me one good reason to not find your ass and kick it."

"Because otherwise you'd be the one stuck coming in early and making the cat muffins," Hizashi shot back, trying to force cheer and charm into his voice. It was easier to do when he was dressed in the familiar leather outfit that had become a part of 'Present Mic.' "Suzuki-chan, you didn't have to call me!"

"Yeah, but if I deal with this now, then I don't have to deal with it in the morning when not enough coffee in the world can make your voice pleasant. So, come on, then, let's get it out there. What's this problem you don't know how to solve? Is it something to do with your hero crush?"

Hizashi could never let her know just how right her guess was. Taking a breath, Hizashi tried to sort his thoughts out into words that would make sense, instead of the screams and shrieks that had been filling his head. "It's… It's a bit complicated, Suzuki-chan, but a lot of it has to deal with how I think I made a mistake."

"Wait, are we still talking about your hero crush? Because, I mean, you're making a mistake in how you won't just talk to the guy, but this actually sounds serious. Holy shit, you know how to be serious?"

"It's not as fun as it sounds," Hizashi muttered, managing to barely hold back his bitterness from slipping through. "It's not about my hero crush." At least, not this part of it. "I've been doing some… side work. It was fun, at first, and I thought I was managing to get the attention I needed to do some good with it, but now I'm starting to doubt this was the right plan."

"Uh huh. Is this side work like the type of side work that I need to find some bail money for you? If you're in jail right now, then I'm not covering your shift tomorrow! I'll make sure Jamie doesn't, either!"

"I'm not in jail, Suzuki-chan," Hizashi whined, long and loud and annoying to cover up the skipped beat of his heart. Suzuki was too smart by half, some days. "It's nothing illegal." That part was a lie, but it was for the greater good. "It was just something that was supposed to help, but now I feel like it's only caused trouble."

Hizashi had been careful when he had first planned this. Present Mic had been made to call attention to the shadows where the scum that were monsters, not villains but worse, were hidden. Loud, flashy, and impossible to ignore, Present Mic had been a plan to call the heroes' attention to just what they had let slip through the cracks. He wanted to show the world, through force if necessary, that the heroes were useless at what they did.

The police were corrupted, teenagers were dragged out of their homes and schools and forced into work they didn't want to do, adults were killed in back alleyways for a few hundred yen, and children were abandoned and locked up like they were cattle to be passed around. It was hell. The system had done good, but there were places like this that were abandoned.

There was no way that Hizashi would ever be a hero, and in this world, vigilantes were overlooked as much as the underground heroes. The only way to get attention was to be a pro hero, or… to be a villain. It had been the perfect plan, but instead of capturing the attention of others, it was his attention that had been captured.

"Well, are you sure it caused trouble? You said you were trying to do good, right? You must have done some good - I mean, you're a sickeningly good person, Yamada." No, he really wasn't. "You feed your lunch to the strays outside and I know for a fact you cover the cost of people who have a hard time paying for coffee or food."

"That's just common decency," Hizashi sighed before frowning at Suzuki's scoff. "This job has done nothing but cause trouble." He had maybe helped a few people on accident, but mostly he had just caused so much trouble when he had become more focused on getting Eraserhead's attention over the media. No, it wasn't even Eraserhead he was trying to get to look at him. It was Aizawa who he wanted to look. "A part of me wants to stop it, but I don't know if I can."

"If it's causing you this much stress then I say drop it." From the mouths of babes, hm? Everything was so simple to someone like Suzuki who was young and bright and had grown up in the age of All Might. "It can't be worth it, can it?"

"I think it is." Hizashi had grown up without the Symbol of Peace. He had been nineteen when All Might had made his debut and Hizashi remembered the darkness that seemed to cover all of Japan. Even with All Might now around, it seemed like all that darkness had only bled into the places that were already saturated with it. "Or at least, I thought it was." No one had looked, though, and now after everything that was happening in the world…

"Well, if you think it's good, then keep doing it. I mean, you've seen the news. I think we could all use a little good after those Nomu creatures and that Hero Killer," Suzuki's voice near faded out at the end, Hizashi hearing the tremor in it. "My sister was there, that day. She told me how terrifying those things were. They weren't human, she said."

"No, they weren't," Hizashi muttered, feeling agitation push him to walk faster. It wasn't like he had planned on going anywhere when he had gone on his 'patrol,' but it had become too much of a habit after Aizawa's disappearance. At least now it was a good way to burn off steam. "The Hero Killer wasn't much of a human either, though."

He could understand the man's ideals - Hizashi had the same ones, after all. Shine a spotlight on all the fake heroes out there and force them to see just what was happening behind the flash of the cameras that were trained on them. The way Stain had gone about it, though, had been horrifying.

Hizashi wasn't innocent. There was no way to be innocent after growing up the way he had, bounced around from one house to the next and often escaping into alleyways and dark buildings in the dead of night to try and pretend he was anywhere else. He wasn't innocent, but he had never let himself become a killer.

The system was broken, but there were good heroes in the world. Maybe they had the wrong ideals, some days, but none of them deserved to be killed for doing a job that involved helping and protecting people. The Nomu, on the other hand… Hizashi didn't know what to think about those. There was no doubt a connection to the 'league' he had been hearing about, but that didn't answer the question of what they were.

"Hey, you're not walking around the streets this late at night, are you? You know that's dangerous - especially with all this stuff going on!"

"Aw, are you worried about me, Suzuki-chan?" Hizashi cooed, amused that she knew that many swears. "I'm just getting some fresh air, no worries. I'll be in at work bright and early tomorrow. I'll even sing for you, if you want!"

"I would rather face off against one of those monsters." Suzuki was silent for long enough that Hizashi was starting to wonder if she had hung up before he heard a soft sigh. "For what it's worth, I think you're a good guy, Yamada. Whatever you're doing, well…" Suzuki fell silent, voice soft and childish as she finished, "I bet it's pretty heroic."

A quick goodbye and the call ended, Hizashi left staring ahead as he slowly lowered his phone, insides feeling like they were squirming around like snakes. Heroic. She had called him heroic. It was the greatest joke that he had been told throughout his life.

Such a villainous quirk… Who would ever make you a hero?

He'd be a fine hero… But that quirk- It's just so destructive.

It just scares me. That voice of his is so loud. He never listens. It's such a problem. Really, how could he save anyone when all he seems to do is hurt people?

So clumsy.

He has no control…

He won't shut up!

Let's make sure that nasty quirk of yours can't harm the other children.

No, Hizashi had never been heroic, and yet here was this seventeen-year-old girl who thought he was. It was the worst joke of them all, and yet the words wouldn't stop playing through his head, warm and soft and stubborn and sounding as if they could be true.

"Heroic, huh." Tucking his phone away, Hizashi slid his headphones back on and took a moment to suck in a shuddering breath. "Then what was the point?"

"-just muzzle the damn kid, already! The Boss could make a fortune with a quirk like this one." The words were on the edge of his hearing, but Hizashi heard them anyways, direction changing at once to one of the alleyways that had a near hidden entrance.

It was one of the alleyways that no one wanted to be caught in at night, a straight line to a dead end that couldn't be climbed or passed. It was a wall that had a kid pressed against it, entire body tensed and coiled and ready to fight back. His eyes, though, had nothing but fear as a man stepped forward with a muzzle.

"Yo, yo, what kind of party do we have going on over here!" Hizashi projected his voice and gave a beaming grin as all eyes turned towards him. Good. That meant they weren't looking at the kid.

"What the hell do you want?" One of the men activated his quirk, fingers stretching and narrowing into sharp talons that looked sharp as knife tips. Hizashi couldn't tell in the dark, but it almost looked like there was dried blood on them. "Get out of here if you know what's good for you."

"Oi, oi, there's no need to be so rude," Hizashi laughed, the sound edged with as close to a cackle as he could get before he shoved his hands into his pockets and strolled forward like he didn't have a care in the world. "And you had better put your little claws away before you find them broken off."

"What did you say you fucking-" One of the others, this one with a bull mutation quirk, stopped the guy and narrowed his eyes at Hizashi.

"You're Present Mic." Mm, that was more like it. "You helped take down some of the Drake gang, didn't you?" Ah, rival gangs. How boring.

"They were annoying me," Hizashi shrugged, motions loose and wide as he kept himself balanced even as he walked, ready to run forward or backward depending on what happened. "You never answered. What's the deal with the kid? Looks a little scrawny for you all."

"It's none of your fucking business," the one with talons snarled, the third member of the little group quickly shaking his head.

"Be chill, man, this is the guy that's always going up against Eraserhead and coming out alive from it." Behind them, Hizashi saw the kid straighten, eyes widening the smallest amount. Interesting.

The kid looked young - no older than fourteen or fifteen. He was dressed in some sort of jumpsuit that didn't look like the average clothing choice for someone his age, and he had wild purple hair and deep bags under equally purple eyes. He seemed to know Eraserhead, though. Hm. This was turning out to be interesting.

"No need to worry, Present Mic, we're not gonna hurt him much." The last word had Hizashi tensing up at the same time as the kid. "He's just a random to get that hero scum you're always dealing with off our back." Yet they were talking about selling the kid- Wait.

"Eraserhead?" Fuck. This kid seemed to know Eraserhead, so that likely meant that Aizawa knew who this kid was. Hizashi was starting to get a knack for stumbling into trouble, it felt like. "Well, now you got my attention."

"Thought we might." The man with the bull mutation laughed, loud and overpowering, and Hizashi caught a glimpse of a black tongue that was the calling sign of a Trigger user. He felt like punching himself because now he really had gotten himself into trouble, but, well… The kid looked scared. "We just need to put a muzzle on him and then we'll be on our way."

Eyes darting to the muzzle, Hizashi's mind worked quick before he was throwing out a mocking laugh, "I know your gang's style and subduing people isn't your MO, is it? You probably don't even know how to use that thing." The silence was all the answer he needed and he thanked whatever gods were listening. "C'mon, then. Hand it over and I'll muzzle the kid."

"And how do we know you aren't just gonna take him? Kid has a good quirk and we could get some money out of him." What a suspicious little bastard. Hizashi hated that he had to wait before kicking their asses.

"You think I care about some kid with, what? A type of voice quirk?" The quick nod by one of them had him fighting off a shudder of revulsion. They wanted to muzzle a fucking kid. How fucked up did they have to be?

There we go. All nice and silent. Isn't that better, Hizashi?

"Please," Hizashi scoffed, striding forward and snatching the muzzle with a smirk. "It's Eraserhead I'm after. We have some… unfinished business. If this kid can draw him out, then what's the harm in hanging around for a while?"

"Be my guest." This guy was getting kicked the hardest, Hizashi decided. Still, he gave a winning smile as he walked over to the kid, noticing the shaking coming from his shoulders. The poor thing had shoved himself up against the wall as far back as he could go, eyes angry and terrified as they narrowed at him. He didn't look like he was bleeding, but he certainly looked banged up.

"Yeah, yeah, glare all you want, kid, but you'll sit still if you know what's good for you." Crouching down, Hizashi glanced back at the men, raising an eyebrow. "Oi, oi, keep an eye on the fucking entryway and rooftops. Eraserhead isn't going to be announcing his presence." As soon as the three glanced away, Hizashi dropped the muzzle as silently as possible, swiping his headphones off and holding them in front of him so only the kid could see them.

"Alright, kid, stay fucking still if you know what's good for you," Hizashi laughed, loud and flashy just as he needed it to be. The second his laugh ended, he dropped his expression and looked the kid in the eyes. "Stay quiet, okay? I'm going to get you out of this, but you need to do what I say. Nod if you understand." There was a second where the kid looked shocked before he was quickly nodding.

"Good, okay, you're doing fine. You're doing great." Hizashi lifted the headphones, carefully fitting them over the other's ears as he kept talking. From the angle he was at, it would look like he was using the muzzle. "You're going to be okay. I promise you that I won't let that fucking muzzle touch you, okay? I have a voice quirk, too, and I'm going to use it on these guys. I need you to hide behind that dumpster, though, okay? The one right beside us to your left. I need you to hide there and not come out until I give you a signal, got it?"

This kid definitely knew Aizawa with the way he calmly nodded, shifting just enough to not draw attention, but ready to leap behind the dumpster at a moment's notice. Hizashi smiled, feeling anxiety clawing at him as he started taking deep breaths.

"Hey! You got that muzzle on him or not, yet!" Looking at the kid, Hizashi gave him a wink as he flipped his hearing aids out, sucking in a deep breath as he did so. As soon as his lungs were filled to the brim, he nodded. The kid scrambled away the same moment Hizashi jumped up, turned on his heel, and screamed.

Hizashi didn't bother giving them the chance to try and fight back. All three of them collapsed at once, clutching at their ears and no doubt screaming as they started twitching on the ground. One of them threw up, but Hizashi didn't stop until he was certain all three of them were unconscious and unlikely to move again anytime soon. His ears were ringing and the walls that made up the alleyway looked a little more crumbled, but Hizashi was at least satisfied that they wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

There was bleeding coming from the ears of all three gang members, Hizashi kicking the muzzle towards them as he put his hearing aids back in. If they were lucky, they might even have some hearing left over after this.

Hizashi usually tried to hold back on his quirk and keep it from causing any permanent damage, but they had just tried to muzzle a fucking kid, so he could probably be forgiven for that one.

Glancing to the dumpster and fiddling with his hearing aids, Hizashi tensed and spun on his heel when he heard footsteps. He didn't even manage to fully suck in a breath for a scream when he saw Aizawa staring at him and looking as startled and surprised as he felt.

"Mic?" Aizawa looked like he was going to say more before he sharply shook his head, stepping over the collapsed bodies. "Have you seen a teenager? Fifteen, black clothing, purple hair and violet eyes, pale skin, bags under his eyes." The words were still a little muffled, Hizashi frowning as he fiddled with his hearing aids. "Mic?"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you. Give me a moment." Fuck, it would probably take all night for his hearing to return properly.

"Where are your headphones?" Aizawa frowned, Hizashi almost cooing when he saw the man's worry over him. "Why did you use your quirk without your headphones?"

"They were already in use, hero," Hizashi chirped, walking over to give the dumpster two quick kicks. A moment later and the kid poked his head out from the small space he had crammed himself into, tugging the headphones down to rest around his neck as he gave a smirk.

"I didn't know you were into screamers, Sensei." A million emotions seemed to cross over Aizawa's face, but it seemed to freeze on annoyance. That was probably Hizashi's fault for bursting into laughter, but that was hilarious.

"Don't forget I can give you detention, brat." Aizawa looked at them both before turning to look at the unconscious gang members. "What the hell happened?"

"Just a couple of assholes-"

"Language, Shinsou."

"Just a couple of assholes, sir," the kid, Shinsou, shot back, tension in his shoulders starting to drain as Aizawa walked over to them. "I'm okay, though. Your vigilante friend or whatever helped me out."

"Oi, kid, I'm a villain, not a vigilante," Hizashi frowned, catching his headphones with a little tsk when Shinsou threw them at him.

"No, you're really not." This little brat. He was like a clone copy of Aizawa. Actually, they really did look alike…

"Eraserhead." Hizashi shot his gaze to Aizawa, the other startling at his sudden volume. "Why didn't you tell me you had a child?!"

"I have a what?" Aizawa stared at him with pure and honest shock and panic. It was the most open expression Hizashi had ever seen from him and it was the most amazing moment of his life so far. "In what way does this brat look like my kid!"

Hizashi shot his gaze to Shinsou, the teen looking like he wanted to say some cheeky remark before he thought better of it, biting his lip. It was a familiar gesture that had Hizashi giving a loud laugh in his place, "C'mon, Eraser, don't be so cruel to your son. You can trust me!"

There was a long silence where Aizawa seemed to be contemplating the best way to murder him before Shinsou was giving a small, quiet laugh, "I'm really not his kid. I'm more his… mentee, I guess? Sidekick? Intern? We're kind of doing a late intern week thing."

"He's my student," Aizawa rolled his eyes, setting a hand on Shinsou's head. The teen seemed to lean into the contact, Aizawa's lips twitching into a smile. "This is Shinsou Hitoshi."

"Nice to meet you, little listener! I'm the one and only Voice Villain Present Mic!" The two gave him the same deadpan stare, Hizashi trying not to laugh. "Are you sure you two aren't related at least a little?"

"Sensei is training me to get into the hero course at U.A.," Shinsou said, looking like he wanted to roll his eyes. Hizashi was honestly surprised he could resist since he seemed to carry the same uncaring attitude as Suzuki did. "Apparently I 'have the motivation but lack the necessary skills.' I think that was his way of saying I suck, but I have promise."

"Which you do," Aizawa said. He did roll his eyes, looking as if he was used to the self-deprecating tone Shinsou had. "It's no small feat to make it to the one-on-one battles in the Sports Festival, especially as a first year."

"You were in the Sports Festival?" Hizashi wracked his brain, thinking back to the event. That had been when he had first caught a glimpse of Aizawa on the news when they had been broadcasting. He had not only learned that the school the man worked at was U.A., but he had also learned that Aizawa had looked near death and that had only caused Hizashi to worry more, but he remembered the students who had made it to the final battle rounds. Shinsou Hitoshi… Oh! "Right, right! You were the one with the brainwashing quirk!"

Hizashi saw both of them tense and he knew exactly why. There was more than one person in the world who had grown up hearing that they had a villain's quirk. Softening his smile, Hizashi looked at Shinsou without any trace of fear. It was hard to be afraid when looking into a mirror, after all.

"Your quirk is amazing, Shinsou-kun." There it was… The teen looked at him with wide eyes and a hitch of his breath. "You did great in the Sports Festival, too! It's not an easy thing to make it that far, I bet. And you could do so many good things with that quirk!" Because it was his quirk. Not a villain's, not a hero's, not a vigilante's, but a quirk that belonged to Shinsou and Shinsou alone. "You're going to be an amazing hero one day."

Hizashi was almost afraid that the teen was going to end up crying, because he knew that he would start crying if he had been told that at fifteen. Instead, though, the kid gave him a bright, beaming smile with wet eyes, "I'm going to be the number one underground hero."

"Those are some big shoes to fill, but you seem to be well on your way since you have the current number one training you," Hizashi grinned, giving a wink at Aizawa. For a moment, Hizashi could almost fool himself into thinking that the man had blushed. "So, then, Eraser. Off to jail with me?"

"Hm? Why? I didn't see you do anything against the law." Aizawa took out his phone, looking bored. "I do need to call the police to pick up these three, though."

"Yeah, kind of weird they collapsed out of nowhere," Shinsou nodded, the two of them having the exact same grin. Hizashi was certain that they had to be related at least a little bit.

"You might want to get out of here, though," Aizawa said quietly, face going back to being blank, but amusement hidden in his eyes. "That police captain seems to have it out for you."

"Alright, alright, I'm going," Hizashi pouted, glancing to Shinsou. Hm. He would have tried to flirt with Aizawa a little more, but he didn't want to traumatize the kid too badly. "See you later, hero. And I expect you to be out kicking ass one day, herolet!"

"That's not a word even in English," Aizawa complained, unable to keep the sour attitude up in the light of Shinsou's laugh. Hizashi couldn't blame him. The kid looked like he didn't laugh very often.

"See ya later, Voice Vigilante." Cheeky brat. He was going to be a great hero.

It wasn't until hours later, long after Hizashi had climbed into bed under ratty blankets with Snowball purring loud enough that he could hear even with his hearing aids out, that Hizashi realized what he had done.

Somehow, against all odds, Hizashi had used his quirk and had ended up saving someone. A quirk that was destructive and dangerous and meant for a villain, and he had used it to protect a kid and keep him safe. It…

It felt good.