Oh hey, I'm on the tv tropes fanfic rec page in AU, awesome! Sorry for the wait, it's been a hard choice. Onto the story!
Eri didn't know what to think. After she found a small opening in the attention of her "caretaker", she had managed to run. She only rounded a corner when she heard them shout after her, and soon Overhaul was gaining on her. She didn't want to go back, didn't want more scars; she wanted to be away from them.
When she ran into someone coming out of an alley, she was terrified. Even if they didn't work for Overhaul, he was good enough at acting to have them give her back.
Then she felt warm.
There was no other way to describe it. The man holding her made her feel warm, safe, as if nothing could hurt her in his arms. It was such a new sensation, having someone hold her and not feel cold, that she had to see who he was.
His smile was like a beacon.
He asked her if she was alright, like she mattered, more than for being material. She felt like even with her curse, his warmth would never go away. She wanted to bury herself in this new comfort, but the cold words of Overhaul made her shiver.
"Come now, you shouldn't interrupt the heroes on duty, Eri." he said with a false kindness that gripped her heart. She didn't want to go back to that coldness, especially now that she knew what real warmth was.
"It's alright sir, a hero's duty is to the public." the hero responded softly, but she could feel his warmth wrap around her like a blanket. He was getting protective of her, a cursed existence. She hadn't even said a word, but he was putting a front up to keep her from going back to that cold.
"We still shouldn't give you a hard time, with how much you have to do anyway." Overhaul tried to reason, but Eri's hero was still firm.
"Don't worry about it, I like helping people, even if it's a little." the green hero responded before looking at her arms. "It seems her wrappings are getting dirty, how about I re-apply some of mine? I'd hate for her to get infected."
Eri felt Overhaul looking at her with veiled irritation, but she knew that he hated germs almost as much as heroes. He would have asked Chronostasis to replace her bandages when she was brought back, but maybe he would-
"You are right, diseases should be prevented." her tormenter agreed, but she knew the hidden meaning behind the words; Overhaul called everything he didn't like a disease.
Her hero pulled a small bag from his belt that had a green cross on it and started to pull out wipes and new bandages for her. As her hero carefully replaced her wraps, he continued to talk. Eri learned he liked to help people, and that he practiced something called martial arts, but the most precious thing she learned was the warm hero's name; Deku.
His partner in yellow, who was called Lemillion, looked concerned but was refraining from acting too brashly. She could tell he knew of Overhaul, and she didn't blame him from trying to steer Deku away.
"Those scars look really bad Chisaki-san." Deku commented after a while. "She really should see a doctor. If you'd let me, we could go down to the one a few blocks from here."
"It's fine, we don't have a referral, so I couldn't pay right now." Overhaul said as he hid his contempt. Eri knew that was a lie, but didn't say anything. She didn't have to.
"That's alright, I can cover the cost; insurance for heroes is a bit loose, so I can at least get her checked out. These scars are pretty new." Deku smoothly cut off, and Eri didn't know what to do with how much his warmth was coiling around her. She wasn't scared of Overhaul right now, because she was in Deku's arms; nothing could touch her right now.
"Fine, if you insist." Overhaul said in mock defeat. "How 'bout we take a small shortcut; I wouldn't want to inconvenience you heroes any further."
"Alright, lead the way." she heard Deku respond before switching from hugging her to holding her hand, but there was something black in between their hands. She was starting to panic as her tormenter started to slide his left glove off. Just after getting out of sight, she felt her hand being tugged upwards as Deku barely dodged Overhaul.
"Lemillion, Get Eri out of here!" he shouted to his partner, who grabbed Eri in mid-air before riding along the wall higher than Overhaul could grab them. He responded by turning the walls around into spikes, trying to catch or kill Lemillion and Deku. The blonde simply moved through the new obstacles as if they weren't there while her hero dodged by a hair's breadth of the spikes surrounding him. As they landed on the roof, Eri's breath caught in her chest.
Overhaul had Deku by the neck.
To say Chisaki was pissed was an understatement. The little disease he was holding had just had his partner take his Eri away. He had played the caring card and managed to let her escape. The worse part was that it worked.
"Give me one reason I shouldn't turn you into a pile of ash right now!" the obayun ground through his rage. It would be so easy, there was just a thin glove between his right hand and the green heroes throat.
"Murder of a minor, and federal agent, is a hard thing to keep quiet. Evidence of child abuse even more so. You can't take on the government by yourself, and few allies would lend a hand." Deku responded calmly. It grated on Chisaki that he was right. He felt that air of calm weight fall over him harder than before, dulling his emotions as he rationally parsed through how best to deal with the nuisance in his grasp.
'Heroes have an annoying history of fucking up the best plans just by being in the damn area, not to mention when they decide to involve themselves.' those damnable words from the leader of the League passed through him, and now he knew what he meant; this just became insanely complicated and messy.
"Fine, but you are not getting away from me. You are going to follow me back to base, and you'll be a bargaining chip for me to get the girl back. If you don't resist, I won't use the civilians as hostages. Deal?" Chisaki explained, and the virus nodded his head.
"Fair, but if you go back on this, I will knock your head off, even if you unravel me as I do." the kid responded with steel in his voice. Chisaki could at least appreciate balls if nothing else. They were both holding a gun to each other's head, and they knew it. The worse part, Chisaki knew the brat would make true on his threat; he could feel it like the blanket of calm that covered them.
"Noted," the oyabun replied as he pulled his burner phone out with his ungloved hand before calling his chief advisor. "Chrono, pull the car up in front of the laundromat nearby; things have become complicated."
"Understood. Have you retrieved Eri at least?" the time-manipulator asked as the sound of a car engine starting hummed in the background.
"That's the complicated part. She was taken by a hero with information to prosecute us, but I got his partner instead. Bring Nemoto, I want to see what he knows." Chisaki answered before turning to Deku. "let's go."
Lemillion was in a little bit of a panic. His partner was in the hands of the yakuza, he had the leader's daughter who was covered in scars, and because of the last fact, he was reluctant to go back to the Nighteye agency. Where else could he go though? He was holding a major target, who would even try to shelter them?
"I swear to god Deku, if you don't start talking, I am going to send the summer hounds on your tail!" the blonde hero looked down to who that was to see Eri holding a phone, Deku's phone, with someone on the other end. Landing on a relatively safe rooftop, he gently took the device from the little girl.
"I'm sorry, My name is Lemillion-" he started, only to be interrupted.
"You're Deku's sempai, right? He said that he was going on patrol with you today." the voice responded, and he could now tell it was a woman on the other end. He really hoped it wasn't his mother calling.
"Yes, but Deku… he's in some trouble right now." the Phaser responded. There was a pause before she responded.
"Well fuck." she responded bluntly. "He called me just now, so how about you fill me in. I'll see what I can do on my end."
"Well, um, I don't think a civilian should get involved in something like this." Lemillion answered. He didn't know why his partner called this woman, but she seemed to be acting as if it was natural. On his side, Eri was shuffling on her bare feet. It was risky to think, but he desperately needed a place to hide until he could contact Nighteye.
"Cariño, I've been married to a hero longer than I haven't. If you can't tell me what you're involved in, then tell me what you need." those words gave the phaser pause; he had to get Eri off the street and safe until a hero could take custody.
"Can I ask for shelter for a bit? I have the daughter of a yakuza with me, and we need to hide."
"Of course, how old is she, and does she need anything?" the blonde was surprised at the quick response, but gathered his bearings.
"She looks to be around five or six, and she needs food and clothes. Deku and I suspect she may have been abused." the hero responded professionally. The air around him suffused with a palpable rage, and he had a sinking suspicion that the person on the other line was rightfully pissed.
"I'll text the address to the phone; I'll be ready for you when you get here. The door is open." she responded succinctly. Lemillion was curious how she could calmly respond when he could feel her anger through the phone.
"Thank you, ma'am. I didn't get your name." he now had something of a plan.
"It's no issue dear, and my name is Jesse Cacciatore. I hope to see you soon." the woman hung up, and Lemillion heard a text pass through not a minute later.
"Come on Eri, let's get you off the streets." he said, holding his arms out to the little girl. She gently went into him as he picked her up and he started running to the address he was given. Now all that was left was telling Nighteye what happened.
I think this is a good stopping point. Choosing how to handle this arc has been rough. As I said in the last chapter, I was debating whether to have Izuku with Eri captured by the Eight precepts, or escape with her and have the yakuza attack the heroes. Then, at 1:45 in the f***ing morning, my mind goes "why not both?" and I made this. Started it then, and finished it in the morning after. Anyway, thank you for reading, I hope to read your comments about what you think. Till next time!