BenchBeYolking here! With a Valentines day update for everyone's most-loved heartless hero!
(Yeah I know I'm a day late for regular updates! Sorry!)
Someone pointed out to me the fact that this story is 100,000+ words long, and I still haven't hit chapter 12 in the Manga. Which is very valid. I am very slow with my plot progression! Sorry again everyone for that! Good news though! After this chapter, the plot can finally start moving faster! Maybe! If I don't get sidetracked with more asides!
As always, I love all of you and hope you all enjoy the chapter! Feel free to leave a review! I read em! And try to reply if people ask questions! Thanks all!
Without further ado, I'll let the story speak for itself...
Lazarus stood, frozen in abject terror at something worse than death itself, a confrontation with a former social faux pas.
Izuku Midoriya, for his part was frozen in equal terror, but obviously going through a very different thought process then Lazarus was. Lazarus darted his eyes across the hallway, taking in everything and anything he could use to avoid having to deal with this situation. Suddenly, he saw his escape route.
"Ah, you know Midoriya-kun? There is no need to be frightened! I am-" The boy, Ilda, began speaking, but Lazarus had already decided and committed fully to his plan.
"Death before social dishonour!" Lazarus cried, taking two long strides before leaping up into the air. Tucking his legs into his chest. He watched with passive apathy as the three student's shocked expressions morph into terror as he passed through the glass-less window and out into the open air.
"NO! I'M SORRY FOR CALLING YOU WEIRD!" Izuku shouted, running towards the window, even though Lazarus was already far past saving.
"Wait! You have so much to live for!" The girl cried, reaching out in panic, again, quite pointlessly because of how far Lazarus was already gone.
Lazarus said nothing, maintaining his neutral expression as the students left his view and he descended into free-fall. Their faces fading quickly.
"That could have gone better." Lazarus mumbled, the wind rushing by his ears as he untucked himself from his position, spreading his arms and legs to slightly slow his fall as crossed his legs lazily and placed two hands behind his head.
"Damn, I'm out of regenerations too, guess I'll be stuck in my cube all night in the UA courtyard, honestly, probably still safer then my place. At least I'll have a good nap." Lazarus sighed as he looked over his shoulder, he figured he had another ten seconds or so, he had underestimated how far up he was and how much of an updraft he had jumped into.
Lazarus reflected, momentarily, on the fact that this event would probably cause a little bit of a fuss, the only person who really 'knew' about his power was Hanta and the nurse. Hanta was probably already off campus, and if they couldn't find his cube, then the nurse wouldn't realise it was him. The students would most likely report a suicided, they'd shut down the school, be unable to find his body (obviously) and everyone would throw a fit until he could regenerate the next day and explain.
Without warning, Lazarus felt something connect with his back and head, but instead of instantly losing concousneses and finding himself in the nothingness, instead he felt his neck be forced up as it was cradled in the nook of someone's arm. Lazarus's eyes flickered up to see a massive form of a man that had caught him, a tower of a man that could only be one person; All Might.
The hero didn't say a word as he carried Lazarus up in an arc, before coming down with a seismic slam onto the ground, shaking the earth around them. Lazarus blinked as the dust obscured his vision for a moment before it cleared, revealing that they had traveled a fair distance from the school, and the two of them were alone in an isolated area of the campus.
All Might said nothing, the large, seemingly invincible hero, wearing a sharp looking business suit, was huffing heavily, seemingly focused entirely on sucking air in and out of his lungs, Lazarus blinked.
"Huh. Well. I was fully expecting to die, this is... unexpectant." Lazarus awkwardly clasped his hands together rocking back and forth on his feet, unsure on how exactly to continue the conversation. In what felt like a quarter of a second, All Might's massive arms were clasping Lazarus on his shoulders.
"Lazarus! I understand that high school can be a troubling time, and on the first day, many struggles can make you believe you don't belong. But I assure you! There are always options! Tutoring! Counselling! Private lessons! Many people will miss you when you die! Taking your life isn't the way!" All Might's smiling form looked incredibly troubled, his massive smile offset by the droplets of stress dotting his brow.
"Whoah! Slow down." Lazarus held up a hand, shaking All Might's surprisingly light grip as he stepped away. Narrowing his eyes as he did something he rarely did, notice something.
"What is it?" All Might asked, giving Lazarus a careful distance.
"How do you know my name?" Lazarus asked, squinting at the pro hero, unsure at how, or why, All Might knew his name. He knew the hero was 'good' but if he just 'happened' to know the name of every student on campus, that was a little much, even for Lazarus.
All Might froze, his smile still unmoving as more beads of sweat formed on his brow. Lazarus tightened his hand into a fist and brought it down into his open palm, a lightbulb finally going off in his head.
"You...haha...probably heard about me from your assistant, right?" Lazarus suddenly felt very self conscious, how much had Toshinori said about him? All Might visibly relaxed.
"Yes! Toshinori-san told me about you, he did do that! That's how I know your name!" All Might put a hand to his head and laughed, but Lazarus picked up on a nervous tint to it, did he not want people knowing that he employed Toshinori? Then again, Lazarus remembered the sickly man and decided that to be fair, All Might probably had an image to look after.
"Right, well uh, thanks for the lift, Mr. All Might sir, but uh, you know, I gotta get going, have a good evening!" Lazarus waved curtly and turned to leave, only to find in a blink, All Might was somehow in front of him again.
"Wait! I can't let you leave! We still have to address the next step going-" All Might stopped, suddenly letting out a massive, earth-shaking cough that seemed to rob him of breath, Lazarus could only watch the pro battle against his own lungs for what felt like half a minute.
"You alright, All Might?" Lazarus asked with an unsure smile, he just wanted to go home, but he also didn't want the symbol of peace to drop dead right in front of him.
"Fine! Just a...common cold!" All Might waved his concern away, recomposing himself, Lazarus turned to move, but once again, All Might stepped in front of him.
"Look! No one is upset at you, I don't know you that well Lazarus, but I want to help-" All Might began to go off on what to Lazarus assumed to be a well rehearsed tangent. Sighing heavily, Lazarus interjected.
"All Might you've got the wrong idea, this isn't my first time trying to, you know, off myself." Lazarus spoke, rolling his wrist, which cracked audibly with each rotation. All Might seemed more concerned then before.
"Okay! Okay! Uh, but that's no reason to keep...trying! You've made it into hero school now, you're closer to your dreams!" All Might seemed to be struggling, Lazarus still couldn't quite understand why.
"It's every reason to keep trying, I'm going to die anyway, sometimes self inflicted death is less painful then waiting to expire naturally.." As Lazarus looked up, All Might's face was starting to show less hope and more fear, and all the pieces clicked into place for Lazarus.
"Oh! Duh! Sorry, uh, I never explained my thing, I suppose, um, hold on, let me grab something…and-" Lazarus reached back for his cube, glancing at All Might out of the corner of his eye, but before he could reach his heart, something caught his eye.
"Ah hah! I knew it!" Lazarus snapped his fingers and pointed at All Might, who seemed suddenly taken aback looking down at himself in an attempt to see what Lazarus was pointing at. Lazarus could help but smile.
"I knew your overdramatics were part special effects! Hah...not to ruin the moment, but uh, your 'smoke screen' is leaking." Lazarus coyly remarked, leaning to see the growing cloud of smoke coming out of All Might's back, probably from some kind of hidden fog machine attached to his legs or something.
All Might froze, concern clear on his voice, Lazarus knew he was probably shocked and horrified to have one of his secrets revealed. Before Lazarus could say anything else, All Might let out another cough, a drop of blood falling down his lip.
"All Might. You're bleeding." Lazarus felt like an idiot for stating the obvious, but All Might stood, stunned, clearly trying to figure out what to do, the unbreakable pro hero suddenly looking unsure. Lazarus stared back as smoke began to fill the clearing with increasing speed. After a delay, Lazarus's response finally knocked All Might out of his stupor.
"So I am." All Might responded, his voice cool and even as he looked down at his wrist, pulling back his suit to reveal and expensive looking watch, the silence continued. Suddenly, Lazarus's own delayed mind fired off.
"...Oh god you're bleeding! Uh! Stay here! I'll get the nurse! Don't move!" Lazarus turned and ran, his legs pounding the earth as he bolted away from All Might, taking a shortcut by throwing himself through a prickly bush in his scramble, ignoring the cuts on his body as he moved, before stopping suddenly.
"Crap! This is the wrong way!" Lazarus groaned at his own incompetence, turning quickly and bolting back through the same prickly bush, not having the time or patience to try and go around it.
As he broke through the other side, the smoke had mostly cleared from the area. Lazarus glanced around, looking for All Might, but couldn't see him anymore, the pro hero was gone without a trace.
A sudden, sickly cough caught Lazarus off guard, followed by profuse english swearing.
"Who's there? All Might?" Lazarus turned, bending his elbows in preparation for a fighting stance.
At his request, a thin hand wrapped itself around a tree near the original source of the smoke as Toshinori poked his head from around the corner, smiling awkwardly.
"Ah! Young Lazarus! It's uh, funny! Seeing you here!" Toshinori stepped out from behind the tree, wearing a comically loose suit. Lazarus assumed it had something to do with the sick man's quirk. Toshinori leaned against the tree as he coughed again, using his hand to wave away the smoke around his head. Lazarus continued to look around quizzically.
"Oh, hello! Toshi- uh, Yagi-san! Not that I'm not happy to see you again, but uh, have you seen your boss around?" Lazarus tried not to rudely ignore the sickly man as he continued to peer around for the injured pro.
"Oh! All Might! He uh, I just saw him, he said if I saw you, to tell you he went to the nurse himself, and he'll be alright, All Might! Haha!" Toshinori laughed forcefully, clapping his hands together as he walked towards Lazarus, before placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Well, that's good news, at least, I was worried for as second there! I thought he might have hurt himself trying to catch me! That would have made me feel terrible!" Lazarus quipped happily, sensing some tension in the other man's grip on his shoulder. Lazarus rolled his shoulder lazilly in response, smiling at Toshinori.
"He'll be fine! Uh, not to inconvenience you, young Lazarus; But, would you mind not telling anyone about All Might's...sickness, it's nothing dangerous, but I...uh, he doesn't want any rumors popping up, you know?" Tohsinori's voice was strained, but genuine, Lazarus smiled and laughed.
"Ah it's fine, I'll take it to my grave, it'll be buried six feet under before you know it!" Lazarus tapped his heels together standing up on his toes to rise up. Weirdly enough, Toshinori's face seemed to be stuck half way between scared and relieved.
"Hah! No reason to be so morbid! Young Lazarus! Please! Uh, speaking of which, what- what were you and All Might talking about before? Just out of curiosity! I-I feel a connection to you Lazarus, and I'm here to help, if you need anything." Toshinori seemed very distressed. Lazarus smiled and sighed, he didn't need to worry All Might's already clearly overworked assistant any more then All Might probably did, no reason to divulge any personal problems problems onto him.
"Hm? Well, since you weren't here you wouldn't know. It was nothing important! Hey, I've actually got places to be across town! Though, if you see All Might, let him know that I appreciate what he did, but it was a waste of his precious energy, since it's not like I'm going to stop doing stuff like that. Uh, He'll know what I'm talking about." Lazarus tried to phrase the statement in a way that wouldn't tip Toshinori off on what had happened.
Lazarus smiled at his own brilliant strategy, obviously, afterwards, Toshinori would go tell All Might in the nurse's office, and before All Might could freak out, Recovery Girl would recognize his name and explain his 'unique' quirk. Two birds with one stone!
As Lazarus snapped out of his own mind, he noticed that Toshinori looked even more sickly than normal, an impressive feat for the already corpse-reminiscent man. Toshinori's mouth opened and closed rapidly, before the man closed his mouth completely and made a very inhuman sound.
Finally, Lazarus shook Toshinori's hand from his shoulder, giving the other man a double thumbs up as he turned around to leave.
Lazarus got about four steps forward before a pair of large hands grabbed him by the shoulder and picked hip up off the ground. Lazarus blinked several times as he was turned around and confronted with the owner of the hands. All Might stood before him again, the smoke still lingered around him.
"Young Lazarus! Please! Don't do anything you'll regret!" All Might cried, coughing several times as he struggled to speak. Lazarus didn't quite know how to feel.
"Wait, why aren't you with the nurse? You were…" Lazarus tried to speak, only for All Might to shake him lightly, silencing him.
"I came back! Because I care about you! And I want to help you!" At All Might's pleading, Lazarus suddenly felt horrible. All Might really did care about everyone as much as he said he did, even some random student like Lazarus. Yet before Lazarus could pull out his cube and show All Might his cube, a second thought hit him.
"Wait, where'd Toshinori go?" Lazarus tried to peer around All Might for the smaller man, but even with the smoke obscuring his view, he could tell that the sickly man had vanished.
"That's not important!" All Might coughed, shaking Lazarus slightly harder. Lazarus shook his own head, blinking away his dizziness as he finally managed to reach back and grab his cube, holding it up in front of All Might's face, finally causing the babbling hero to go silent.
"Observe." Lazarus commanded as he sent his will to his cube, instantly, the cube turned transparent, and Lazarus's beating heart began to pump from within it. All Might's expression was as far as Lazarus was concerned, priceless.
"What!" All Might yelled in english, dropping Lazarus in confusion, Lazarus hit the ground and took the opportunity to pull back his shirt and press the cube against his chest, sinking it back into its cavity.
"Behold, my heart. As long as it isn't destroyed, my body will regenerate. That's what I meant. As long as my cube survives, I really don't care if I fall off a few buildings every now and again. I'm not trying to kill myself for good! I love life too much to do that." Lazarus sighed as he felt energy pulse through his body, the extra boost of energy from his chest feeling warm and welcome. All Might continued to stare blankly.
"Oh...oh!" All Might finally seemed to relax, his entire body deflating slightly as his eyes finally lost their terrified glint, replaced instead by what Lazarus could only describe as heavy embarrassment.
"If you had given me the chance to explain, I could have solved this issue much quicker! But still, I am sorry for worrying you, I'm bad with words and even worse with explaining things. Sorry, All Might." Lazarus apologize, knowing fully well he had to accept responsibility for his own inability to communicate
All Might opened his mouth to respond, before another wave of steam began to pour off of him, Lazarus chuckled.
"Wow, that smoke machine must be high-quality to produce that much." Lazarus rolled his eyes, but All Might's own eyes widened as he suddenly shouted.
"Lazarus! What's that behind you!" All Might declared loudly. Lazarus didn't turn at first, instead quizzically looking at the suddenly shocked pro. How gullible did All Might think he was? Lazarus finally sighed, turning around slowly until his back was fully to All Might. The only thing Lazarus saw was his school bag on the ground.
"Yep, just my bag." Lazarus confirmed, turning back around to see All Might was yet again gone, disappeared completely, except for a thin trail of blood that led into the bush.
"Should have seen that coming." Lazarus thrust his hands into his pockets, following the blood trail to the bush, pushing through it to the other side. Where Toshinori sat on the ground, seemingly trying to cough up a lung.
"Ah, that's where you went Toshinori-, wait, damn it! Yagi-san...whatever, All Might came this way, where did he go?" Lazarus looked around, finally seeing the blood trail again, which ended directly under Toshinori.
"Lazarus! Hah! All Might...he's uh...gone...now...haha..." Toshinori meekly said in between coughs, blood dripping down his chin, adding to the trail directly beneath him.
Lazarus knew he wasn't the smartest boy alive, but in that moment, his brain was firing on all cylinders. Every interaction with Toshinori suddenly shifted to form a new picture. Why would All Might employ someone like Toshinori? Why was Toshinori and All Might seemingly never in the same place? Why was Toshinori's employment such an unknown thing? What was up with the smokescreen? Why did they both have the same cough? All these questions drew Lazarus to a single conclusion.
"Come on, how dumb do you think I am?" Lazarus looked down on Toshinori with a smirk, the answer was so obvious, and Lazarus felt like an idiot for not putting it together sooner. Toshinori almost seemed to shrink before him.
"What- what are you talking about young Lazarus?" Toshinori smiled, but Lazarus could see that he knew the game was up.
"Funny, All Might called me the same thing…" Lazarus took a little pleasure in seeing the defeat in Toshinori's eyes as the sickly man. Toshinori stood.
"Very well, Lazarus, I suppose I stretched myself too thin, and you are more clever than I gave you credit for. I pegged you as unable to put the pieces together. I am sorry for that." As Toshinori spoke, Lazarus was a little taken aback by the other man's calmness and authority, this wasn't a side of Toshinori Lazarus had seen in either of his interactions with the man, which only further cemented his theory.
"If it makes you feel any better, I have no intention of telling anyone, wouldn't want to cause a riot, right? The real Mr. Symbol of Peace?" Lazarus grinned, winking playfully as he snapped his fingers and pointed at Toshinori, who sighed dramatically, looking up at the sky as the wind picked up, causing his hair to wave in the breeze.
"It's true...young Lazarus," Toshinor took a step forward and held out a clenched hand, his blue eyes glimmering as he took a stance of power. "I am All Might-" Toshinori began, and Lazarus stepped forward, knowing exactly where the other man was going.
"-'s body double! Hah! I can't believe it!" Lazarus finished Toshinori sentence. Toshinori froze, blinking several times after being cut off.
"...I'm sorry?" Toshinori asked, the authority draining out of his voice, replaced by confusion. Lazarus didn't let the other man's attempt to throw him off get to him.
"I should have seen it sooner! Duh, the hair, the eyes, the outfits that are too big for you? With a little more muscles, you'd be All Might's splitting image, which is exactly what you are!" Lazarus slammed a fist into his palm, keeping his finger pointed. Toshinori listened silently.
"Your quirk is obviously some kind of temporary bulking, with all those extra muscles a little bit of grooming, and putting some authority in your voice, your own mother probably wouldn't be able to tell you apart from the symbol of peace. You can even do little tricks, like that jump you did to catch me when I fell. I mean, no offense, but I was so awestruck I hadn't even thought of the fact that All Might is way faster than you were when you caught me!" Lazarus listed off his thoughts, Toshinori had sat down again, his jaw hanging open, clearly struck silent by Lazarus's brilliant deductions.
"Though, uh, your...sickness, means that you can't hold the form forever, but you can probably keep it a lot longer if you're just standing still or talking. Hence the smoke machine rig you're wearing that you kept using. I bet after All Might resolves an innocent, you have some kinda code to tag-in, All Might goes off to relax or something, and you come in and deal with the media in his place! Then, when you need to duck, BAM! Smoke screen and blend into the crowd! That's how he manages to be 'everywhere at once!' god, it's so obvious I don't know how no one thought of it before!" Lazarus smacked his own head and laughed, feeling a little stupid himself for never having come up with the theory before. Toshinori's mouth was a straight line, his eye's introflection and empty. Lazarus finally stopped talking, watching Toshinori process having his secret be revealed by Lazarus.
"Oh, oh...Young Lazarus…" Toshinori began, closing his mouth as he looked up at Lazarus, clearly seeing Lazarus's pleased expression and feeling a little intimidated. Toshinori raised a fist to his mouth, contemplating for a moment further.
"Yes..?" Lazarus answered, waiting for Toshinori's response, finally Toshinori looked up, a glint in his eye that Lazarus couldn't quite place.
"You...are...you, got me," Toshinori threw his hands up slowly, standing at his full height with an apologetic smile. Lazarus let out a cheer at the admission of defeat. Lazarus leaped up, clicking his heels together. Finally, something going right for him today.
"Don't you worry 'All Might', hah! I won't tell I soul, I'm serious when I mean I'll take it to my grave and beyond!" Lazarus felt energy course though his body, and it wasn't just his cube pumping energy through his body.
"Thank you, young Lazarus, I know I can trust you. You don't seem the type to give up secrets freely." Toshinori laughed, though there was something hidden behind it yet again that Lazarus couldn't quite peg. A dark part of his gut wanted to peg it as pity, but he shut it down.
'This is my win.' He thought to himself, 'I need this win today.'
"Hey, for real. Toshinori- damn it, sorry." Lazarus caught himself again, Toshinori simply laughed.
"If it's that much of a struggle for you Lazarus, go for it. I don't mind." Toshinori gave him the permission he needed and Lazarus let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, cool, Toshinori; if you need anything, anything at all. Talk to me." Lazarus dropped the humor from his voice, taking on his own serious tone. Toshinori yet again seemed shocked, most likely at Lazarus's change.
"What do you-" Toshinori began, Lazarus smiled, placing a hand on his hip as he tilted his head, using his other hand to push his hair off his forehead.
"I imagine it's a thankless job, no one even knows what you do, even though you put it a lot of hours to do your part keeping society running, no one ever gives you the credit. Someone once told me, it's a bad world to be a good person in. I took those words to heart, even if I took the person who said them for granted." Lazarus held out his hand to Toshinori, an honest offering.
"It's a bad world to be a good person, and I honestly don't know if I'm a good person anymore, but I sure as hell want to help those good people keep being them. So...if you need anything, I'm not sure what help a first-year hero student would be, but damn it, I'll be there. No matter what. On my life." Lazarus held his hand out, and Toshinori looked at it, his expression stunned. Before the other man's visage melted into a warm smile.
"Thank you, truely, thank you Lazarus...your words tell me everything I need to know about what kind of a person you really are. You will be a great hero one day Lazarus, and I can't wait to see that day come." Toshinori finished, taking Lazarus's hand and shaking it vigorously. Lazarus felt his emotions bubble up, finally, something other then anger overtaking him.
Without thinking, he pulled the sickly man in for a hug, careful not to squeeze the frail man too hard. Toshinori didn't even hesitate, laughing lightly before wrapping his arms around Lazarus.
"Though perhaps you should leave mysteries for other heroes in the future…" Toshinori mumbled, Lazarus felt his ears perk.
"What?" Lazarus questioned, feeling his emotion suppression for a moment out of raw confusion. Toshinori stiffened.
"Uh! You seem to be great at them! I mean, want to give other hero...students...a chance to sharpen their detective skills?" Toshinori babbled, Lazarus felt his anxiety melt away.
"Hah! Awww! You give me too much credit! Come-here!" Lazarus hugged the other man a little tighter, holding the hug for a few moments longer before releasing the other man, turning around and walking away from the bush to pick up his bag.
"I'm...going to head home for the day, I imagine you've got places to be yourself, Toshinori?" Lazarus turned and smiled, which Toshinori met with one of his own.
"Yes! I've actually got to go talk to uh...All Might…" Toshinori spoke, slowing down at the end, as if he wasn't use to talking about what he really did. Lazarus laughed.
"Good luck! Have a good one! Oh, and if any students come running down here because they saw me throw myself off the building, do me a favor and don't tell em about my powers all right? I gotta keep a few secrets, especially from the other class! I figure you owe me that much after all the secrets I'm keeping on your behalf!" Lazarus joked as he walked away, after a moment, Toshinori coughed.
"Wait! What am I supposed to say happened to you afterwards?" Toshinori's voice grew fainter as Lazarus continued on.
"I don't know! All Might took me to a mental institution or something! Improvise! All Might's a real entertainer, I'm sure you were body doubling at least some of those times!" Lazarus finally found a dirt path, leading back to the front of UA. Lazarus began following it.
"Quick! He must have landed over here!" A paniced male voice called out from in the forest, Lazarus pegged it as Izuku's. Lazarus smiled.
"Sorry Toshinori...good luck, for real." Lazarus winced as he picked up his pace, getting further away from the scene.
Lazarus slammed the door behind him, his now clean apartment greeting him. Lazarus flipped open his phone, looking at his inbox filled with old messages. Nothing new. Cracking his neck, Lazarus grabbed an instant dinner from the fridge and stuck it in the microwave, walking over to the countertop, he plugged his phone in. He placed his phone on it's side and opened his radio app.
His watch beeped, alerting him to the ending of the day. After UA, Lazarus had taken the day to head to the library and study, trying to get ahead on his reading, knowing fully well that he was already behind in comprehension. Why wasn't there a Hero-drama class or something he could use to raise his GPA? Shaking his head, Lazarus finally tapped on the station he was looking for.
"What is upppppppppppp liiiiiisteners! This is President Mic! With some new sounds to cleanse your ears after a long day!" President Mic's voice blasted across the room, Lazarus leaned back in his chair and smiled. He hadn't been a fan of the loud try-hard hero at first, but President Mic's friendliness, enthusiasm, and use of english all grew on Lazarus quite quickly. He was now a regular listener.
As the microwave went off, Lazarus quickly retrieved his meal, grabbing a plastic fork from the quarter-empty package beside the Microwave, peeling back the top of the meal, and quickly devouring the too-salty mash potatoes.
Lazarus found himself in a reflective mood, he imagined most people would find his current situation a little lonely, maybe even sad. But Lazarus enjoyed it greatly. He had always had a love of his own company, he liked other people, but other people were a lot of effort, a lot of upkeep, a lot of trouble. His own company wasn't like that. It was just him, the sound of his own voice echoing in his head, and the constant beating of his heart.
He looked down at his chest, seeing the cube resting underneath his T-shirt. How long had it been since he had just walked around with the cube in his chest? As soon as the thought hit him, he tore the cube from his chest, setting it on the table as the extra energy drained from his body, leaving him fatigued after the long day. He knew it was irrational to always remove his heart, but fear gripped him whenever he remembered when his power had first manifested. The blow that had cracked his cube in half, and the feeling that he was never going to come back again.
He protected himself from that, he kept the cube out of reach and out of sight, and that made him feel better. He could always hedge his bets, even if he was giving his life, he always had an out if he needed it.
President Mic blasting tunes through his apartment drew his attention as he began drumming his fingers along to the rhythm, getting lost in the jamming. Standing up, Lazarus quickly converted his plastic fork into a mic, poorly singing along to Japanese words he didn't quite know as he leaped around his kitchen, throwing his back against any object that could support it as he launched into a wicked air guitar solo.
As soon as the moment hit him, the song was over, and President Mic launched into a talk about heroic acts of the day on one of his nightly segments recapping the day. Lazarus was only half-listening, returning to his now slightly-colder food as he quickly scarfed it down. He discarded the empty tray and used fork. He quickly launched into his nightly stretching; touching his toes, rotating his shoulder, and lunging. He knew it wasn't a complete routine, but it kept his body loose enough, so he didn't bother changing it up.
Lazarus walked over to his phone, unplugging it and taking into his tiny bedroom, plugging it in again as he turned off the lights and changed into his Hero costume, laying down with the front of his shirt open. He finally closed his eyes, feeling the somewhat uncomfortable fabric dig into him as he shifted positions.
"I suppose I did choose protection over confort." Lazarus mumbled in the dark, as much as he wanted to sleep in something more appropriate, (like nothing at all), he knew he'd need his regeneration to reset with him wearing his actual combat apparel, or else there was no point in even having it.
Finally, Lazarus felt sleep begin to take him, and as he took one last deep breath, he was at peace.
Aizawa continued to flip through the files beside his desk, looking for a particular report from several years ago that had seemingly disappeared. He felt his impatience grow, he never misplaced files, but he had checked the proper section four times, and it was nowhere to be found.
The scene from earlier continued to play in his head, it had been forever since he had thought of his ill-fated trip to America, and more importantly, of the issues he had encountered; Villains in seemingly every shadow; corruptions everywhere he looked; and vigilantes, which were almost extinct in Japan, openly moving about the night. He had finished what he had set out to do and quickly returned, finding any urge to extend his stay irrational, the problems or America were for American heroes to sort out not him. Yet he had kept the file open, the masks of those two children that had somehow held him off long enough to escape, and the suicided of the one child that had simply turned to dust before him. Something drew him back to the file.
Letting out a grunt, he looked around the empty UA office, the faculty had gone home long before, he was use to being the only one in the office, but one odd detail caught his eye. The same service bot had passed through the room several times. It wasn't uncommon for them to come through every now and again on patrol, but this one had been hovering around for basically the entire time he had been here.
Aizawa almost said something, then scoffed and shook his head, the bots had at best 'basic' voice commands, he wouldn't get anywhere by speaking just anything to it.
"Bot, where is unresolved file 23-B-8?" He asked, hoping a bot had shuffled it away somewhere and would be able to lead him to it.
"Why Mr. Eraserhead, it's already been snuck off campus and put in an incinerator." The bot replied, a robotic, feminine voice, echoing around the empty room. Aizawa took a deep breath, his eyes narrowing.
"And who would you be? And of all the damage you could do, why take that one file?" Aizawa reached for his scarf, preparing to quickly disable the bot if need be. The bot laughed. It was just as mechanical.
"Well, you see Mr. Eraserhead, most of the time, I can just get into people's online accounts, Heroes are the worst at digital security, and get rid of offending files, but you're really old school. You keep physical copies, grandpa." The bot prattled on, slowly approaching Aizawa, as soon as it got close enough, Aizawa wrapped it in Capture tape and pinned it against the floor, locking it's limbs. It laughed again.
"Kinky." The bot spoke, before chucking again, Aizawa simply grimace, "Fine! Our organization is built around a foundation of trust, people help us, we help them. We just lost a very...active member because we failed to do a good enough job of holding our end of the bargain, this little event here was me...er, us, trying to make it up to said member. Make sure they don't have to worry about anything anymore. Leave us on good terms, no?" The bot's robotic voice droned on, and Aizawa closed his eyes, his hair deflating, he hadn't even noticed he had activated his quirk.
"And now you've won, I don't have the file and your organization gets to walk free. Clever." Aizawa waited, the bot stayed silent for a moment, before it spoke again.
"Don't feel too bad Mr. Eraserhead, Deep Well has bested many over the years, you're just the latest in a long line-" Aizawa cut off the robot with a snort.
"Deep Well, huh? Thanks for the clue, I have somewhere to start now, and I know my suspicions are founded. I won't drop this case until I find exactly what's going on. You've very irrationally put your 'former member' in more danger now then he ever would have been in before your little stunt." Aizawa finished, and the bot was totally silent, a moment passed between them.
"Shit." The bot spoke, before it went completely still, the bot shutting down beneath him.
Aizawa waited a moment further, before slamming his foot into the robot's head, caving it in and destroying it. A precaution. Aizawa walked over the robot to the side of the office, staring out the window as the clock struck midnight. He took out his phone and punched in a number, waiting as it rung. Quickly answering in rough english as he heard the other end pick up.
"I need a favor, give me everything you have on a group called Deep Well."