Chapter 52: Shine Bright Like A Diamond

Izuku came back to himself with a gasp.

Tiny hands clutched at his wrist and shirt as that golden light shone all around him. He looked up and saw Eri above him, her face stained with tears and her body shaking with sobs. He had to get to her and let her know that he was okay. He wasn't sure how, but she had brought him back, he knew it.

"Eri!" He tried to wiggle his fingers as his body was still getting used to moving again and the girl's screams faltered as she felt his arm flinch. She looked down and was met with the soft smile of the boy she had watched die.

"Izuku?"

"It's me Eri, I'm okay. I'm okay…because of you."

She stared down at him with wide eyes and was at a loss for words. "I-?"

"You saved me Eri. It was your quirk."

"My-" She started but stopped as she shook her head, "But I…no. I-I only hurt people."

"No." Izuku took hold of her hand to emphasize his words. "No Eri, you saved me."

Through the entire interaction, the light didn't dim or falter and that most likely meant that her quirk was still active. Since she didn't even know what a quirk was an hour ago, Izuku thought that it was probably extremely likely that she didn't know how to control it either and that could be a problem.

First things first, figure out what she was doing, then try to calm her down enough to stop it. Piece of cake, right-

Suddenly pain tore at Izuku's body. He gasped and looked down at his chest. He lifted his shirt to see what was going on and what he saw took his breath away.

The hole that was in his chest was gone now, which was good, weird, but good. But the other wounds were what concerned him. Those that were healed had reopened and were closing as if they were never there.

What was-

It was almost as if things were going back to how they were before…

Wait. Eri said that Overhaul used her to cure people with quirks, how do you do that? You erase them, but erasing a quirk permanently is practically impossible, which is why they probably agreed to work with the League, because AFO was here and was known to steal quirks. But what if someone was taken back to before their quirk ever manifested?

Back in time…reversed…Eri was reversing time.

"Eri! Eri, do you know what your power is?"

"No, Overhaul wouldn't tell me. He just said that he could use it to help cure people."

"I think-" Izuku was cut off once again by a very familiar pain overtaking him only this time…it was different. It wasn't until the pain subsided that Izuku realized what had happened. "My quirk…" It was back, he could feel it. Eri had just reversed time to before All For One stole his quirk. "Eri, my quirk! You-you gave it back!"

The girl had no idea what was going on, but that was okay. They only thing that mattered was saving her and getting both of them out of that hellhole.

He sat up, never losing hold of Eri's hand, and got to his feet. The light around them had dimmed and Izuku looked directly at a seething Overhaul. "You're supposed to be dead!"

"What can I say? I live to disappoint." And then Izuku charged at the man.

It was a hard fight. It wasn't that Overhaul himself was particularly difficult, but his quirk complicated things. He was doing well staying within close range as he needed his hands to activate his quirk, but even that could only do so much.

Izuku should've died a hundred times over by now. He would've come back, but he didn't need to use his quirk with Eri clinging to him and glowing like a sparkler. Whenever he got hit, she would just reverse the damage and Izuku would be as good as new. He knew he was playing with fire with her quirk, but he also refused to let go of her again.

He got a decent amount of hits in himself, but whenever he would deal any significant damage, the guy would reconstruct himself. It was extremely irritating. The fact that he didn't have his usual gear or weapons didn't help either.

Okay, he had to get the upper hand, but how? "Eri!" He called out; his voice almost inaudible in comparison to the sound of Overhaul's childish temper affecting his quirk. "Eri, do you know anything that could help me beat him? Any weaknesses? Any weapons I could steal? Anything?"

The girl clung to his back as he fought. He used parts of his shirt to secure her so that she didn't fall off, but the way she hung onto him for dear life, he doubted she needed the help.

She thought for a moment and then whispered something in his ear that he could barely hear, but he was able to make out the word gun. "Gun? Where?"

Eri pointed to his side and there Izuku saw a small handgun sheathed. "It's not a normal gun though, when people get shot with it, they get healed."

"Healed? From their quirks you mean?"

She nodded and things began to piece themselves together in his head. The gun must've been filled with some sort of quirk erasing bullets or something. A drug of sorts that he knew they used Eri to make. He didn't know exactly how, but just by seeing the paleness of her skin and the number of bandages covering almost ever visible patch of skin on her, he knew that he wouldn't like the answer. His blood boiled at the thought of anyone laying a hand on this sweet little girl and using her like a lab rat to achieve their ridiculous vision.

As he got angrier, he got stronger. He fought harder and had a specific target now. If he could just get that gun and shoot the bastard, then he could easily take him out. He whispered for Eri to hold on tight as he rushed forward and began to deal blows as close as he could to avoid Overhaul using his quirk.

Maybe getting in close with someone whose quirk relied on their hands wasn't the best idea. This thought ran through Izuku's head as Overhaul's hand clamped onto his wrist and he felt each one of his cells being pulled apart before they were put back together.

The man looked up angrily and locked eyes with an equally angry looking Eri. Before anything else could happen, Izuku kicked him in the balls causing him to falter and quickly ducked low so he could swipe the gun from its holster.

Overhaul tried to grab him, but he rolled to the ground, shifting Eri as he did, and popped up in a crouch, gun in hand. He took quick aim as the man turned around and slammed his hands on the ground and shot. The bullet entered his right shoulder and he staggered backward a few feet before crying out.

He crouched down and tried to use his quirk only to look back up at Izuku with wide eyes. "No…no! NO!"

"Game over." Izuku ran at the still crouching man who tried to lung at him but ended up crumbling to the ground after Izuku decked him in the face. He stayed down, having been knocked out, and Izuku glared at the disgusting excuse for a human being. He maneuvered Eri so that she was in his arms again and after giving Overhaul one last glare, he hugged her to his chest.

The girl was a mess. Her quirk was still active, and she was shaking and crying and refusing to let go of Izuku. He crouched down with her and whispered to her trying to calm her down, but she couldn't seem to be able to control her quirk. "Hey, it's okay. We're okay now. I need you to calm down, okay Eri? Can you do that for me? Deep breaths, in…and out. That's right, that's good-"

"What's going on here?" Two sets of feet rushed in the room and Izuku glanced up to see an out of breath Dabi and Toga stopped in the middle of the area with wide eyes.

"You missed all the fun."

"Looks like it." Dabi walked up to Overhaul and nudged him with his foot. "Bastard," He growled out before kicking his face so hard Izuku heard a snap. "Hey, is she okay?' He pointed at Eri who was still glowing.

"Her quirk is out of control, and I don't think I can help." Izuku tried his best to calm the girl down, but it seemed to be way past that now. "Take care of him before you two get caught." Toga seemed to want to protest the idea but complied when Izuku yelled, "Go!" Dabi nodded at him before tying up Overhaul and dragging him out by the collar of his shirt.

Once they had left Izuku turned his attention back to Eri. He tried every trick he knew, everything he had learned from Eraser and Hitoshi as they helped him through attacks and such, but none of it seemed to be working.

It wasn't that she was upset-I mean she was, but it was more that she had never used her power intentionally to this extent before-if ever-and you don't just magically know how to control a quirk after using it for the first time. Especially one as powerful as Eri's.

He whispered encouragements and praises to her as she grew more and more distraught at her own quirk. Her tears hadn't stopped spilling ever since he had come back, and he was afraid that she was going to pass out do to exhaustion soon.

She shook her head back and forth as she contradicted every one of Izuku's words. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

"You don't need to-"

"I'm hurting you; I can tell. I'm so sorry Izuku. You said that I saved you, but now I'm just making things worse like always."

"No you're not," His heart broke with every word that left her mouth.

"Overhaul was right, all I do is hurt people. I'm sick and would be better off-"

Izuku caught her hands that were grabbing at her hair and forced her to look at him. Her wide eyes now red all over due to the crying, "Don't you ever say that about yourself, you hear me? You are not the problem, he is."

"But I can't control it and it's hurting you and-"

"Hey," He brought her attention back to him as he felt her fall into another fit, "Do I look like I'd go down so easily? You're going to have to do a lot more than this to hurt me, I assure you."

He held onto her as he slowly coaxed her into a calmer state. It took a while and a lot of convincing, but Izuku had been working on his patience, so it wasn't a problem for him. Slowly but surely her quirk dimmed, Izuku looked over his body as he held her and examined this arms that should've been riddled with countless scars due to the torture he went through, but they looked the same as they did a few weeks ago.

It was actually kind of amazing.

She saw her quirk as something so destructive and evil, but Izuku didn't see that. It was that same quirk that brought him back and allowed him to save the both of them. It was that warm golden light that brought him back home and gave him the strength to prevail.

Her quirk wasn't bad or disgusting. To him…to him her quirk was beautiful. It was such a soft and warm power. One that wrapped you up and made you want to hang on forever. One that gave you hope and allowed for second chances.

He had just gotten her almost completely calmed down when the wall exploded. Izuku shifted Eri so that he got the brunt of the debris and turned around to see a very familiar hand-man saunter through the new door.

"Shigaraki…"

"Serpentine," He let out a scraggly laugh, "This is a surprise. I didn't expect you to be up and about so soon after your run in with Master."

"Screw your master." Izuku growled out and moved Eri behind him as Shigaraki glared at him, all presence of amusement gone now.

He flexed his hands at his sides and took a singular step forward, "He should've taken care of you back at Kamino."

"Mm, but he didn't," Izuku taunted, "Guess your little master wasn't as good as you thought he was." The villain seemed to lurch forward before he stopped himself. "What's the matter? Don't know what to do now that you're off your leash? I always knew you were a little bit-"

Shigaraki flew at him, hands in front and ready to destroy anything in his way, but Izuku was faster. He moved out of the way, making sure to take Eri with him before placing her behind him again. Before the villain could do much more than turn around, Izuku shot up and elbowed him in the head causing him to crumble to the floor.

Izuku breathed out, "I really do hate drawn out fights. Rest in sh*t Shiggy." He stomped on the guy's nose for good measure before going back to Eri who had worked herself up once more. "Eri? Hey I-" Izuku sucked in a sharp breath as she accidentally activated her quirk once more. "Eri-Eri I need you to calm down." But it was no use. He had spent so long calming her down the first time and he wasn't sure he could do it again.

She clutched onto him as she cried out apologies, not being able to let go even though she knew she was hurting him. But Izuku didn't show any pain, he refused to do that to her. Plus, he had be through worse. He just wished he could do more.

He pulled her shaking frame into his arms and ran his fingers through her tangled hair and told her over and over again that everything was okay and that nothing was her fault. She didn't believe him of course, but it couldn't hurt.

Pain erupted on his neck, and it felt as if it was being disintegrated all over again. He bit back a cry and took in a deep breath before ceasing breathing completely until the pain went away. He hugged her tight and kept on telling her that he was sorry and that she was okay and before long his neck stopped burning. He gingerly reached up expecting to feel the rough scarring but instead felt the smooth skin that he had almost forgotten was there before that night.

He didn't have much time to react to this as another person came through the hole into the wall and froze when they saw them on the ground.

Izuku looked up and his breathing hitched as he saw the person he wanted to see more than anything at that moment. "Eraser…"

The hero took in the situation in less than a second and immediately used his quirk to deactivate Eri's. The girl slumped in Izuku's arms, her body exhausted from the extensive quirk use, and Izuku let out a sigh of relief.

Eraser raced forward and looked Izuku up and down as well as Eri before glancing down at a still unconscious Shigaraki. "What happened?"

"The bi*ch got what he deserved."

"Can't argue with you there."

"I'll tell you everything, but we need to get her to safety first, her name is Eri and the leader of the Shie Hisaaki, Overhaul, has been keeping her and using her to create some type of quirk erasing bullet. At least…I think.

Eraser nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He spoke a few words before hanging up and helping Izuku to his feet. He had tried to take Eri out of his arms, but even unconscious the girl didn't want to let go of him. Izuku assured him that he was okay to carry her and after a little bit of arguing Eraser agreed to carry Shigaraki and lead him out of this hell hole.

As they walked, Izuku saw officers and heroes raiding the place, arresting villains, and taking evidence. It was like a breath of fresh air. Everything that had been going on, all of the villains that had been threatening them…it was all over.

It almost seemed too good to be true.

Izuku turned to Eraser who had Shigaraki draped over his shoulder and was silent as he scowled forward. "Um, Eraser?" He turned to look at Izuku and the boy blushed suddenly uncomfortable under the hero's hard stare. "So uh, how did you-" He stumbled on his words, "How did you know where I was?"

"You have a tracker in your right shoe."

The answer slipped out way too casually and it took Izuku a moment to completely comprehend exactly what he had just said. "I have a what?" Eraser simply shrugged which made Izuku even more flabbergasted. "You have me chipped." It was more of an accusation than a question.

"It's just a small tracker in your shoe, and Hitoshi has one too so don't go off feeling special. You're both just too much for me to keep track of myself." Izuku's only reaction was his dropped jaw opening and closing as if to form words but failing to do so. "I only started doing it after you both were kidnapped by the League. Figured that you would only end up getting in more trouble regardless of my wishes and thought it would be better to cut out the middle-man and be able to come save your sorry butts whenever it inevitably happens again."

"I-" Izuku tried but knew that he was right. "Fair."

"Look, as much as I want to yell and ground you right now, we need to get Shigaraki locked up and that little girl to the hospital. I trust that you can get there from here?"

Izuku nodded and had the decency to look at least a little bit remorseful for leaving with nothing but some goodbye letters.

Eraser looked down at him. His expression was…well, not glaring exactly, but as close as you could get to it. Honestly, his calmness was what really had Izuku on edge. He expected to be getting screamed at and scolded for putting them all through hell over and over again, but instead he was getting this icy calm and he hated it.

"Good. I'll meet you there."

Izuku sighed as the two parted ways, and he went up to a group of paramedics close by. He explained what he could about what happened and after some arguing, they allowed him to ride with Eri to the hospital.

As they were riding Izuku pulled out his phone and was met with countless messages and missed calls from Hitoshi and Eraser.

Oh god…Hitoshi-

Well…

This was going to be fun.