Chapter 15: It's Raining Men
It seemed like it was the same old song and dance recently.
Shouta would meet up with Serpentine on patrols (unintentionally…mostly) they would talk and bicker, he would try to learn more about the kid, he would shut down and leave. Then repeat.
This routine was getting on his nerves, which was saying something because he was usually a patient person. Or more patient at least. Maybe it was the stress of having a new class to teach? Sure, Shouta had been doing this for years and it had gotten easier, but it was still not easy.
Children never are. They're all different, different personalities, ways of learning, ways of dealing with different situations, backgrounds, and pasts. There was no instruction manual he could read to be a better teacher (no matter how much his newest coworker wished there was). You really had to play it by ear and adjust to each student's individual needs as much as you could while still being fair and consecutive with every other student.
Like he had said, hard. But rewarding despite what most believed he thought.
It was frustrating because he couldn't treat Serpentine like his students. He didn't even know the kid and yet he had somehow weaseled his way into Shouta's life and mind and didn't have hope of getting out any time soon.
That was where Eraser's mind was as he patrolled with the kid.
When he saw him he had to refrain from grimacing. The face mask covered most of Serpentine's face, but it didn't hide the dark circles under his eyes or the tired look that dominated his entire expression.
He reminded him of himself…and that wasn't something that Shouta was happy about.
Something had happened. A person doesn't just go from tired to walking zombie within a few days. I mean, they could, but there was something else going on. Eraser had been worried when he didn't see the kid for two days and the sigh of relief that he had when he finally found him tonight was not surprising.
He couldn't deny it anymore, he worried about the kid. He knew that technically he would be okay, that he couldn't be hurt that badly because he'd come back, but still.
Shouta had come close to death more times than he could count and none of those experiences were fun ones. They had all taken something from him and burned themselves into his mind forever. Almost dying was scaring…and he couldn't imagine what actually dying must be like.
The number of emotional wounds and scars this kid must have…was terrifying. Not only that, but he wanted to die. What all did he go through for him to give up like that? Shouta didn't know if he wanted to know the answer to that question.
He found the kid sitting on top of two criminals that were unconscious humming to himself. That seemed to be a habit of his, one that Eraser found endearing.
The hero walked towards the kid and sighed, making his presence known. "You look like crap."
"Hello to you too Eraser."
"It's been a few days. What, were you catching up on your beauty sleep?"
"We both know that you need that more than I do." His answer was quick and it surprised Shouta slightly. The kid was getting better at this whole, sarcastic devil-may-care thing.
He looked at the two unconscious criminals, checking what their injuries were so that he could write the report. Ugh, he really hated paperwork. "You know, I should start making you fill out the paperwork for the criminals you take down. Then maybe you'd be a bit more sympathetic and give me a break every once in a while."
Serpentine scoffed and hopped off of the criminal pile, "Haha yeah…you're funny Eraserhead."
"It was worth a shot." Shouta shrugged and leaned his back on one of the alley walls, "So, how have you been? Staying out of trouble I hope."
The kid gave him a look that was clear as day, "Aww come on, you know me better than that."
"Unfortunately."
"Eh, it's been whatever. I'm still alive, so there's that."
"You know it's not healthy for someone, especially someone your age to want to die so badly?'
"I never claimed to be healthy, just alive." The kid's smirk grew as he looked at Shouta, "And I don't know if you're one to talk about being healthy. When's the last time you took a shower? Or slept?"
Eraser squinted his eyes at the kid, "I'll have you know that I shower regularly."
"Right," Serpentine turned on his heel and began to walk out of the alley, "That's why you look homeless all of the time."
"I'm comfortable!"
"Comfortably greasy!" And the kid bolted, knowing that if he stayed any longer, he'd end up in Eraserhead's capture weapon.
"Oh, I know that look, you saw your son tonight!"
"He's not my son!"
Tsukauchi laughed as he followed Eraserhead through the station and grabbed a packet of paperwork for his friend. "Keep telling yourself that Shouta, maybe if you say it enough, you'll start to actually believe it."
Eraser whipped his head around and glared at the detective with his quirk adding an extra edge of intimidation.
"You know that you don't scare me." Tsuki taunted with a grin.
"You're the worst." Shouta stomped around the corner, leaving Tsukauchi to wait for him to get back.
"That's why you love me!" He called out, drawing a few officers' attention to their exchange.
"No I don't!" Shouta yelled back with no real menace.
Shinso wasn't having a great day.
The kids in his class weren't like the ones he had before, but he still felt like an outsider. It was partially his fault, putting up a front of not wanting to talk to anyone and scaring them off before they approached him wasn't exactly how he expected to make friends, but at least it kept him from getting hurt.
He wasn't looking forward to going home either. He knew that as soon as he walked through the front door he would be reprimanded by his foster parents. It had been three years now that he had been with them, and they treated him with every bit of contempt as the day they took him in.
They set up rules, Shinso couldn't speak or make most noises without getting yelled at. Every time he walked into a room he was met with fearful stares and suspicious eyes. Even his foster siblings didn't like him.
It sucked, but that was just his life. And at least he wasn't in an abusive home anymore, well physically at least. And he was used to it by now. It barely even got to him anymore.
His classmates didn't treat him any different. It was hard to be the quiet kid in class with the 'villain quirk'. It made him a target, one that they knew wouldn't be able to fight back because it would just prove their point.
That's why he was so surprised to be even mildly accepted at UA. His classmates didn't shun him or cower away. They avoided him sure, but really was his own doing. He was sure that if he gave them the chance, they'd talk to him. He might even make some friends.
Not that he'd ever let that happen.
Even though most of his classmates left him alone, there was always a few. They weren't even from his class, but they somehow found out about his quirk and made some comments as he left the building. That was why he was in such a mood.
He left school later than usual today and so he was walking home later. Even just a tiny time difference and the streets were completely different. There were more people, most of them going home from work as it was just after five.
Shinso didn't live in the best part of town. He had seen a lot more criminal take downs by that new vigilante on the news around the area. He didn't understand how someone could do that, people saw vigilantes as borderline villains, so why would they put themselves in that place?
He supposed that some of them didn't have the best intentions, but he knew that some just wanted to help people, just like him. So then why didn't they try to get their licenses and help people legally?
Maybe they had. Maybe they were like Shinso and got the short end of the stick and this was their only option. What if he ended up like that?
Hitoshi shook his head, No. You're going to be a hero. And you're going to use your quirk to help people. You're going to prove all of them wrong, prove to them that you can be a hero.
It was a nice dream, but would it actually come true?
Stop it Hitoshi! You can be a hero.
No, he had worked to get where he was, and he was going to go even further. He had to.
He took a short cut through a long alleyway to get to his house. It was one that he took everyday and didn't think anything of it being later in the day. That was until he heard footsteps behind him and his mind screeched to a halt.
"Hey, kid! Where are you going in such a rush?" A rough voiced called out from behind him.
Shinso paid him no mind and just kept walking, hoping that he would get out of this unscathed. But of course, life never really was on his side, was it?
The footsteps got louder, and the voice got colder. "I said, where are you going?"
Keep walking…just keep walking.
Maybe he'll go away-
Crap.
The guy rounded in front of Shinso, stopping him in his tracks. He was huge, at least twice his size and he looked mean. His quirk looked intimidating too, some kind of crab hand quirk or something. All he knew was that it would hurt like hell to be caught in his pinchers.
"It's rude to ignore people when they're talking to you, you kno-" One second the crab guy was leaning over Shinso, looking ready to kill him, and the next a blur of black and green dropped from the sky with a yelp and landed on the guy sending him crumpling to the ground.
"Ohhh shiitake mushrooms…I really didn't mean to do that."
The figure stood up and nudged the guy with his bright red shoes and groaned when he didn't move. He then bent down to check his pulse and breathed a sigh of relief that Shinso took as a sign that he didn't kill him.
He was small, the guy who dropped from the sky. Maybe around his own age, but smaller than usual. And he was dressed head to ankle in black, the only thing that was even remotely noticeable about him (despite the god-awful shoes) was his bright green eyes and curly green hair pulled back into a bun
Oh. Shinso thought. This was that new vigilante, the one he was just thinking about. Maybe he was summoned by Shinso's thoughts…
The vigilante stood up and looked at Shinso, as if just noticing him. "Oh um, hi? Sorry about that, I wasn't planning on falling on the guy like that, I just missed my footing on the roof, and he just so happened to be there. I hope that he's not a friend of yours or anything."
"Believe me, he's not."
"Okay good. I should probably call Eraser and have him take care of this…" He seemed to go off on a little mumbled rant before he came back to reality and glanced at Shinso again. "Are you okay? Hurt at all?"
Shinso blinked. This was really weird…
"Uh, no."
"Great!" The vigilante pulled out a phone and dialed someone's number on it. "Hey Eraser, I got some fresh criminal for you in an alley here."
Eraser?
…as in Eraserhead?
"Serpentine? How did you get my number?" The voice on the other end asked, the volume on the phone turned all the way up so Shinso could hear the conversation even though it wasn't on speaker.
The vigilante scoffed and nudged the crab man with his foot again. "Your lack of faith in me is hurtful."
"It's not lack of faith, it's me wondering hOW YOU GOT MY NUMBER! Do you even have a phone?"
"Duh, what teenager doesn't have a phone?"
"A dead one."
I'm sorry, a wHAT?
"Touché. Anyway, you better come pick this punk up before he wakes up. When I dropped in, he didn't seem too friendly."
Was that…a pun?
There was a long groan on the other line followed by some muffled conversation that Shinso couldn't quite make out, "I'll be there in five. Send me the location."
"You got it!"
"And don't go anywhere."
"No promises," The vigilante replied back in singsong.
Another sigh and then the call ended.
What just happened?
Notes:
Welcome Shinso!!! Omg I'm so excited to have him in this story, you guys have no idea. And we got some more Eraserdad content (not that there was any lack but let me have my fun).
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a comment letting me know your thoughts and theories about the story so far. I've been reading you guys' comments and it just makes me so happy to see that someone left a comment and you guys are literally so sweet and funny.
Thank you so much for reading