Okay, so I lied. This is now going to be twenty chapters, but I didn't want to rush the ending since you guys deserve so much more! I hope you enjoy because now we're really reaching the climax of the story!
To keep up to date on this and so much more check out my tumblr at ibelieveinahappilyeverafter! You can find ways to help me out, buy me a coffee, and even find out how to read drabbles that I don't post to the public. Hope to see you there!
Enjoy!
"And that, listeners, concludes the story of how pro hero Midnight and I managed to level an entire warehouse building together! I feel sort of bad she got stuck with all the paperwork, but we did swap phone numbers! I'll be sure to tell you all about the drama she has to share with me, listeners, but unfortunately that'll have to wait until next week's show!"
Hizashi smiled to himself as he clicked around on his laptop, starting up the end of the night playlist that he had uploaded to his hosting site the night before. It had taken a lot of learning from his mistakes, but Hizashi liked to think that he had his solo radio career down to an artform. The trick was to broadcast from an empty building and then leave before his signal could be tracked down. So far, he had only almost been caught!
"Remember that next week is all about pro heroes! Email us at our website with all your wild stories about your hero interactions. Did you meet your childhood hero? Did they live up to all the hype? Did they not live up to it? Send in your stories and remember to keep those hands up as we end another night and start another beautiful morning! My name is Present Mic and here's to all the heroes and herolets keeping us safe out there! Good night and good morning, Japan!"
Cutting out his microphone volume while slowly increasing the volume of the playlist, Hizashi smiled to himself as the comment wall filled with positive and excited feedback as always. If his villain career didn't work out there was at least the chance he could actually get his own radio station. Then again, he doubted anyone sane would trust a radio station to someone with a voice quirk like his.
Running through his routine of disconnecting his equipment and tucking it away in a messenger bag, it was only ten minutes before Hizashi was walking down the street with his hair down and in a half-bun, his undercover pair of 'normal' sunglasses on, and a brown leather jacket. All of it together made him look like just another civilian among millions.
Feeling his phone buzz, Hizashi dug it out and glanced down, half expecting a co-worker asking him to take on another shift. Instead it was Midnight with a simple message of, 'Great work on your show tonight!'
'Thanks!' Even if it was a lie to try and gain his trust so she could 'turn him good,' Hizashi still appreciated the kind words. 'Shouldn't you be asleep?'
'Um this coming from the guy who just hosted a late night radio show?' 'Lol no I had a late patrol and teamed up with Eraser.' 'He was listening too.' 'Don't tell him but I saw him smile a lot tonight.'
'Of course! My radio show is the absolute best after all!' Even as he blustered through the text with a Present Mic attitude, Hizashi couldn't stop the flush from spreading across his cheeks as he thought about Aizawa listening and enjoying his show. Aizawa…
It had been a little over a week since The Moment and they had yet to see each other since then. Hizashi knew a part of it came from the uptick in villain attacks over the past week, but that still didn't make the separation any harder. Hizashi hadn't even seen him in the coffee shop in the mornings! He supposed a part of that was due to the fact Aizawa lived on the school campus, now, but Hizashi had still seen him from time to time after he had moved.
Maybe… Had he regretted that moment? It was possible, wasn't it, that Aizawa… No. Hizashi knew how bad the world was and how easy it was for the worst to happen, but Aizawa had kissed him first. He had kissed back, and he had been as unwilling to let go as Hizashi had been. Hizashi knew he had problems when it came to hoping and believing in the best, but he wouldn't let himself doubt Aizawa. Not after how far they had come. Not after seeing how sweetly that man could smile.
Right. He needed to get his mind off of all of this. Pausing at a crosswalk, Hizashi glanced around the busy distract. He had wandered towards the edges of his area where the dark parts started blending back into the more middle-class district, the streets filled with indulgent mothers, busy businessman, and laughing students on their way to school. The air was alive and filled with energy and it did more to perk Hizashi up than any cup of coffee could.
It was too easy to let himself get caught up in the flow of the city, only stopping when he saw an open stall of the most recent magazines. Considering his next radio show would be about heroes and hero gossip, it wouldn't hurt to start doing a bit of research ahead of time.
"You look like a man interested in heroes!" Ah, the stall owner didn't waste any time, did he? "I got all the latest issues of the biggest hero magazines - I even have one dedicated to the new rising heroes of the day!"
"Rising heroes?" Hizashi ducked closer and picked up one of the magazines, flipping through it to see that it was one of the larger publishing companies in Japan. They had a high reputation and were very rarely wrong in any of the news they reported. "They seem to multiply every year, huh?" And not always for the right reasons.
"Recent as of just a few days ago," the owner chirped. "There's actually a few familiar names cropping up already if you've been watching the news. You know that Present Mic one, right?"
"What?" Hizashi's head snapped up, the man waving at the magazine and already moving on to a gaggle of girls that had lingered for a second too long at the other end of the stall. "Oi, what do you mean Present Mic!"
Not getting an answer, Hizashi turned back to the magazine, near ripping it open as he scanned the pages. Half of it was ad space as usual, but there, in the main article, was a picture of him at one of the raids he had helped Midnight on. He was in full costume with a wide smile, the accompanying article talking about the new rising hero that was Present Mic.
Considering he himself was dressed down with his hair half pulled up in a bun and his glasses that were near normal besides a light tint, he didn't feel anything like how he looked in the picture. "This is ridiculous! Don't they get that I'm a villain?"
The article went in depth about the assist he had been giving to other pro heroes and the way he had helped on the Trigger case that had swept the nation. It made him sound amazing, but the truth was that he had just been lending a hand. He hadn't really gone in wanting to be seen as a hero, but… It wasn't like villain was an accurate word anymore.
"Yeah, Present Mic is the coolest new hero!" Startling at the words, Hizashi scrunched up the magazine as he jolted, near hiding behind it as he glanced behind him to see two school age girls talking about him.
"Are you kidding? All Might is still the coolest hero ever." Well, yes, but All Might was All Might. Even if Hizashi didn't agree with the system, he knew that All Might had changed the way the world saw heroes. He had done a lot of good for the country.
"Nuh-uh! Mic is way cooler!" Hizashi felt his heart speed up as he realized that there was someone out there who thought he was a hero - and one that they admired, at that.
"You just like him because he has a voice quirk like you do," the girl's friend laughed, the girl who had first spoken huffing and crossing her arms with a dramatic pout.
"Maybe I do! He may be new, but he's already my hero-! Ah! We're going to be late!" The two girls were gone as quick as they had appeared, disappearing into the crowds of people as Hizashi stared after them with a crumpled magazine, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he was somebody's hero.
People were starting to see him as a hero. It was something he had dreamed of when he was younger and still believed a hero would save him, but he had given up that dream when he realized nobody was coming to save him. Then again… A hero had come to save him.
It was a dream that he had abandoned so long ago, but Eraserhead had told him differently. Aizawa Shouta had told him that he could be a hero - he had told him that as a hurt civilian and as a renegade villain. Everyone said he was a hero, but could Hizashi really call himself something that he wasn't?
There was a reason he called himself a villain and not a vigilante. The system was broken. Hizashi knew how broken this entire system of pro heroes was. The system had shattered long ago, but…
It wasn't wrong of him to still want to help people, was it? If people called him a hero and called him their hero… It wasn't wrong to want to try to be worthy of that.
Right?
::
"Well, Present Mic, I suppose this explains why you were never interested in my offer. Leave it to my luck to try and push my product off on a hero." The words were cultured and smooth and came from a voice and face that could be easily forgettable. It was that easy forgettability that made Hizashi realize just how badly he had fucked up.
"Aw, come on, can't we let bygones be bygones here?" Hizashi spread his hands wide and gave his most winning smile, heart pounding and tripping into overtime as he tried to figure out just how he had gotten into this mess. "I was just passing through!"
"And in passing through I see you managed to break the nose of one of my men." The Trigger dealer that he had dealt with months ago was adjusting his cufflinks and looking a mixture of bored and disappointed. It was that total disinterest that had Hizashi's blood boiling considering he had stumbled upon him and a group of men attempting to kidnap children straight out of an orphanage.
He had been too distracted. Hizashi's thoughts hadn't left that conversation he overheard about a girl calling him her hero and he had strayed too far from his usual route. Now he was in the part of his area that bordered on the more proper areas - which was why this was so horrifying. It was broad daylight and Hizashi had appeared when men were roughing up the caretakers and gathering children up like they were nothing more than some scared puppies.
He had charged forward just as the shield had gone up and he wasn't sure if it was good luck or bad luck that he was stuck, but he at least had his back to all of the children and was between them and the threat that was after them.
Hizashi hadn't expected these people to know him and think he was a hero, though. He hadn't expected there to be a powerful quirk user who could form shields around a large area that, so far, seemed unbreakable. He hadn't expected to be trapped and up against a group of powerful looking men who numbered over a dozen with just as many children behind him.
Fuck, he should have just stood aside and called up the police stations and waited until a real hero had shown up, but… The children had been crying.
"I have to say, Present Mic, your disguise fooled us all, didn't it? You make such a convincing nuisance that no one thought to look any deeper. Seeing as it's just us now, however, why don't you show who you really are?"
None of the villains were charging forward, yet, but why would they? Hizashi was soundly trapped along with the children. He didn't dare use his quirk when it was possible the sound waves would bounce off the shield and hurt the children behind him, and a glance outside showed that none of the heroes were having much luck in getting in.
There were at least two or three heroes outside the transparent jade green shield made of what looked like pure glass, Hizashi recognizing them as high-profile, powerful heroes. It didn't mean good things if they weren't able to get in. He had no doubt that the fact it looked like glass didn't mean it broke like glass.
Not even a dozen feet behind them, though, was what was a veritable media circus. There were too many cameras for Hizashi to count with a glance and, with how quiet the street was at the realization that there was nothing the heroes could do, their voices were loud enough to carry over the whole area.
"Yo, man, no need to sound so crazy. C'mon, ya gotta know by now that not all villains are for the whole kidnapping children thing! I mean, really, they're cute kids, you gotta admit! Besides, what's the plan here, even? The second you drop that shield the heroes are going to swarm ya!"
"Oh, I think there's enough shields behind you for us to go free." What a sick, twisted bastard. "From what I've been assured, a bullet travels faster than things such as Midnight's quirk." Behind him, Hizashi heard one of the girls burst into tears, a quick glance back showing a precious little girl with ram horns and pigtails being held tightly by a boy beside her. They were hardly old enough to even have quirks.
"Damn, you're darker than I am!" Hizashi laughed, wild and loud and so fake. "C'mon, man, you're just a low-time dealer, ain't ya? Let this go now and you'll probably get a pretty low sentence."
"I thought I asked you to show me who you really are." Yes, well, that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon, now was it- "Yamada Hizashi." For a second, Hizashi was impressed that the man knew his name.
Then he realized there were cameras on them and broadcasting to so many news networks that Present Mic's true name was Yamada Hizashi. Even if he were to turn around and leave right now, everyone would know. His name was a common one, but yellow hair, glasses, a mustache, and so many other little clues? It wouldn't take a genius to put it all together and everyone who knew him would know.
It was the realization that Aizawa would know who he was that really made it sink in. The public may have thought he was a hero, but the other heroes and the police… They would know the truth. They would know the truth that he had managed to hide in plain sight and now there was no going back. His saving grace before had been the fact that the police station had never cared about a nobody that never used his quirk in fights. As it was now, though, there were people who knew how dangerous he and his quirk were.
"You do your research, I see." Hizashi dropped his hands that had been held up in a pacifying gesture, staring at the plain, nicely dressed man in front of him. He could have been one out of millions. That was what made him dangerous. "You don't seem the type to take part in trafficking. What is the League paying you for this job?" Hizashi could see the surprise and the shock, but one of the men behind him was near roaring before anything else could be said. It was the one with the now broken nose.
"Why don't we just kill him already?! He's in the way and we're on a time limit!" So, there was a time limit to the amount of time this shield could be up, was there? That was good. Hizashi could delay them until it fell and then the other heroes could take care of this mess. If it was one thing Hizashi could do, it was draw out the time.
"Patience, Kirin. We have time enough. This is the man that has so many of ours locked behind bars, after all. That radio show of yours was quite useful, wasn't it?"
"I was never a big fan of drugs, myself, and yours are just nasty." Judging by the lack of a black tongue, this man knew that, too.
"Perhaps, but they're oh so useful." The tone told him all he needed to know, and a single look showed just how many Trigger uses were a part of the group. "You really think a single hero can stop us? Perhaps it's good that you're here. We can use you to show these children that death is not outside the realm of-"
"I'm not a hero." Hizashi didn't let his words be soft and lost to the wind. He glanced back at these terrified children, all so young and new to their quirks, and then he looked to the cameras that were trained on him. The world was still so silent. "I'm not some hero or vigilante or silent do-gooder here to help people."
"Your record seems to say otherwise, Present Mic. You've been quite busy, haven't you? Patrolling your streets, stopping muggers and thieves, teaming up with pro heroes, and my, oh my, does the list just go on and on."
"I'm not a hero, but I'm not a villain, either." Just admitting that he was no longer a villain… He had known - of course he had known - but saying it seemed to release a weight off of him that he hadn't even known was there. "But I am someone trying to make a point."
"A point that you'll be making with your death, I hope." The Trigger dealer looked behind him, nodding at the dozen men behind him. The one near the back, far away from danger, was no doubt the one causing the shield to be active. "I'd say it was a pleasure, Present Mic, but it really wasn't."
"Don't fight them." The voice was almost whisper soft and Hizashi startled at realizing it came from the little girl with the ram horns. "If you fight them, they'll kill you. I don't want to see anyone else die in front of me. Just let them take us, Mr. Hero."
"Yeah, we'll be okay! We're tough!" Just like that, the children were all agreeing and chiming in that they would be fine and that Hizashi should just step aside so he didn't get hurt. It made him want to cry. These children who had been through so much were telling him to step aside because they didn't want him to get hurt. It made him want to break.
"You'd do well to listen to them, 'Mr. Hero.'" Head jerking back up, Hizashi swallowed as he saw the group advancing. These were villains. People who craved and celebrated bloodshed and who had no qualms using their quirks against someone else.
"Yeah, I probably should." Hizashi tightened his stance, taking a few deep breaths. He couldn't scream, but he could use short range attacks and follow it up with hand-to-hand. He just had to hold them off until the shield broke, after all.
Hizashi took one last glance to the cameras that were trained on them, the entire world seeming breathless for a moment. Well, Hizashi mused, at least he had finally gotten what he had wanted since this all began.
The eyes of the world were watching.