Chapter 3, here we go!

The Hunt for Shota Aizawa

'Well that was a waste of time."

Izuku slumped in his chair, disheartened. He had spent the night furiously searching for information on the hero that had saved him, only to come up empty handed. Whereas he had been looking for a number, maybe even an address for his hero agency, he was really only able to learn three things:

'He works nights, he hates the press, and he rarely interacts with civilians."

Izuku collapsed into bed; 'Not exactly much to go on, and I probably won't be finding much more.'

He hadn't even been able to find his real name, seemingly scrubbed from every public forum and page!

Even videos of Shota fighting proved rare; what little did exist was often darkly lit, shaky, and not very useful in learning anything.

Calling it quits for the day, Izuku turned off his computer and trudged to bed, deep in thought; 'I doubt there will be any useful information on the web about him… he seems careful about covering his tracks… If I want to know more, I'll have to ask him myself!'

Izuku slept that night, determined; 'I'll find you Eraser Head, even if it kills me!'

VVV

"Ugh! This is gonna kill me!" Izuku complained to no one in particular.

It had been a month since his run in with Shota, and he was seemingly no closer to finding him! He had convinced his mother to let him take walks around town in the afternoon as a means of staying in shape, but not without first giving him a cellphone; "Just in case you're in any trouble!"

In truth, he had spent nearly every day looking in every nook and cranny for Shota. Behind every corner, in every tree, on every roof; he even peeked in a few dark alleys! (Although he preferred to stay as far away from them as possible).

Izuku sighed; 'Maybe I'm wasting my time,' after all, reporters could hardly find him on duty, what chance did he have?

Izuku slumped; 'I should probably call It quits for the day' he thought, pulling out his phone to let his mom know he'd be home soon.

'Well, there's always tomorrow,' he reasoned, breaking into a run.

VVV

'He's doing it again'

Shota Aizawa watched quietly from a nearby rooftop was Izuku made his way around town.

'He's been at this for a month now,' he thought, watching him as he sprinted home, 'then again, so have I.'

Shota had been watching Izuku from various rooftops and dark corners for a while now; at first, he convinced himself he was just doing his job; young kid, out alone late at night, with a history of getting into trouble? It was only natural he watched.

At this point, it was hard to deny he had taken an interest in the boy, or at least what he was doing. Most would be hesitant to be out late after what he experienced, never mind a kid. But that wasn't what interested him the most; it was the fact that Shota was fairly certain the boy looking for something.

It was obvious; looking down alleys, eyeing the rooftops; given the scope and length of his search, it was unlikely he was looking for something he lost in the fight, which left two options; Izuku was hunting for treasure, or…

'He's looking for me,' Shota thought, 'That's no good, probably wants to gush; I gave the kid an autograph, what more does he want?!'

Shota sighed, rubbing his eyes; 'No matter,' he shrugged, 'if people whose job it is to find me can't do it, there's no way this kid will.'

With that, Shota pulled at this capture weapon, 'I'm being irrational. I have work to do'

And so, he jumped to a nearby rooftop, ready for yet another night shift.

VVV

A week passed without Izuku searching the town again; he was far too disheartened to face failure once more. Done with his runs for the day, Izuku was now relaxing on the couch, watching the news.

"…can be expected to experience heavy showers late into the night…"

Izuku yawned; 'the news is so boring when heroes aren't on!" he thought, idly flipping through the channels, quickly growing uninterested.

He looked down at his hand; the bandages had just come off, and he marveled at his new scar, a reminder that he needed to find Shota as soon as he could.

"Izuku, honey, are you busy right now?" Inko asked, emerging from her room.

Izuku looked to his mother; "No, not really mom; do you need something?" he asked, eager to have something to do.

"Could you run to the store for me sweetie? We just need a couple things, I'm sure my little hero can handle it!" she explained, ruffling his hair.

"Sure mom! Just tell me what you need, I'll be right on it!" he replied, hopping off the couch.

After handing Izuku a small list, she sent him off with a "Be safe, hurry back!" making sure he took his phone with him.

Izuku ran off towards the market, thankful for an excuse to get his heart pumping again.

VVV

It didn't take long for Izuku to reach the market; it wasn't far, and he had gotten quite fast over the years, able to maintain a sprint for roughly fifteen minutes without break.

What did take long was actually finding what his mom wanted. Izuku had only been to the market a handful of times, with his mother doing the vast majority of the work.

'I could call mom and ask… no,' Izuku thought, 'I can handle this myself!'

Although he took much longer than he intended, Izuku did manage to find everything he needed. After paying, he called his mom to let her know he was on his way.

Izuku walked out, being met with a soft breeze; 'No reason to rush, I should enjoy a walk' Izuku thought.

Unfortunately, Izuku didn't get very far before it began raining; at first a light drizzle, it rapidly turned into a downpour.

'Oh no, I gotta get out of this rain!' Izuku thought, quickly running to the nearest cover, a modest apartment building.

Upon opening the door, he was greeted by a short, old man behind the counter; "Well hey there kid!" he greeted, raising from his stool, "what can I help you with?"

Izuku gave a quick bow, "I'm sorry to intrude, sir but… do you mind if I stay here until the rain stops?" Izuku asked.

The old man gave a smile; "of course, of course! Please, make yourself at home!" he exclaimed, pointing to some nearby chairs, "you can sit there and wait if you like!"

"Thank you!" Izuku said quickly, making his way to the seating and putting his bag down.

After calling his mother and letting her know of the delay, he took in his surroundings; the building seemed very rustic, with hardwood floors and various landscape paintings decorating the walls, various lamps providing a moody lighting to the whole thing.

'How homely!' Izuku thought, sinking into the large leather chair he had claimed.

Quickly, however, Izuku grew bored, wandering the lobby to study various objects, eventually coming to the complex's mailbox.

'This place doesn't have a lot of tenants' Izuku thought, reading the various names on the wall; 'Abe, Aizawa, Sakamoto…' Izuku stopped; 'Wait, Aizawa… Why does that sound familiar?"

Izuku wracks his brain; 'I swear I've heard that name before… but where?"

"Do you need help with something, kid?" the old man asked, concerned with the boys intense glaring.

'Kid… kid! No way!'

"Aizawa, kid."

'There's no way, it has to be a coincidence… but I have to be sure."

"Excuse me sir," Izuku said, approaching the desk, "can you tell me where Mr. Aizawa's room is?"

VVV

*BEE-*

Shota smacked his alarm, raising out of bed. 'Rain. Gonna be a quiet night.' Not even villains liked to be out in the rain; most will be cowering inside tonight.

He glanced around his apartment. It was small, consisting of one bathroom, one bedroom, a kitchen, and a small living space. The money Shota made being a hero could easily afford him a fancier place, but this was all he needed; anything more would be irrational.

Besides, this place was quiet; no one would think a pro-hero would live here, which worked just fine for him. The more privacy he had, the better; he worked best when his opponents didn't know him, or his Quirk; typically, the initial shock of not having a Quirk fire was all he needed to take down a villain.

Of course, Shota also valued his privacy; its why he had spent so much time scrubbing any mention of his name in the public sphere. Of course, he couldn't get rid of it all, but you'd have to be exceptionally skilled to find a mention of it.

Shota stood up, getting dressed for his shift. 'Hope Midoriya isn't out tonig-' he stopped himself, 'I don't care if he's out, it's not my job to watch that kid,' he chastised,

'Besides, he hasn't been around in a week, he's probably given up on-"

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Shota perked up, "Who the hell could that be?" he asked aloud, grabbing his capture weapon and making his way towards the door.

VVV

Izuku looked up at the door before him; if he was right, Eraser head would be behind this door, and his nonstop searching could come to an end.

'I didn't think I'd get this far… I have no idea what to say!' Izuku panicked, 'Will he be mad that I'm here? Will he kick me back out into the lobby? Oh God, I shouldn't have come…'

Izuku was about to slink away when he stopped; 'I'm doubting myself again; I'll never be a hero if I keep doing that, and I'll never be a hero if I don't learn how to fight… I have to do this!'

Izuku mustered all the courage he could and gave three quick knocks on the door.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Izuku waited, trembling in his shoes; 'I bet this isn't even the same Aizawa, I mean what are the odds a hero would liv-'

His thoughts were halted at the sound of the door opening; before him stood Eraser Head, wide eyed, capture weapon in hand.

Izuku gave a deep bow, "Eraser Head," he said, staring at the ground, "I-I've been looking for you."

To say Shota was shocked would be an understatement; 'How the hell did a seven-year-old find my apartment?!'

He looked down at the still bowing boy, judging how he should handle it; 'Best to remain calm for now, figure out how he found me, make sure it doesn't happen again.'

"How did you find me, kid?" Shota questioned, keeping an even tone.

Izuku looked up; "I-I'm sorry Eraser Head… I didn't mean to- well I did, but I didn't think I would, I mean you do such a good job of hiding yourself, I tried to find information on the internet, and there was nothing there! How did you do that? Do you have contacts in the tech wor-"?

"Midoriya." Shota interrupted, "Focus, please."

Izuku blushed, "R-right, sorry… I was taking shelter from the rain, and I was reading names of the mailboxes… I saw yours, and asked the old man where you were…"

'I'll have to talk to Ren about telling strangers where I live' Shota thought before pressing on; "How'd you find my name?"

"Y-you told me, remember?"

He had? 'Oh right, I did. Guess the kid wasn't as out of it as I thought.'

"Right." Shota said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "And why have you been looking for me Midoriya? Another autograph? A photo?"

'Here we go, what irrational request does this kid have for me?'

"N-No!" Izuku blurted, "Its nothing like that at all!"

This surprised Shota; the rare few times he had been approached by people, especially children, that's typically all they wanted.

'Huh… he must want to thank me for rescuing him… That's even more irrational than I thought'

"Look kid, its very polite of you to want to thank me, but it's not necessary, it's my jo-"

"No!" Izuku interrupted, "I-I mean I am grateful, don't get me wrong, but… that's not why I looked for you."

'What?' Shota wondered, 'What could drive a could to look this long for me?'

"Then, what do you want, Midoriya?" Shota asked, genuinely curious.

"I… I want to learn how to fight!" Izuku said, voice wavering.

'To… fight? He's a kid why would he…'

"I-I wanna be a hero… I've been working hard everyday to be the best that I can be but… its not enough, I need to be able to defend myself before I can help other people…"

'Ah. So that's it. The kid wants to be a hero, so he came to me. He doesn't even know what he's asking. What an irrational request."

Shota was getting increasingly impatient; "Look kid, there are a dozen dojos around here, I'm sure one of them will be willing to take you, so please le-"

"That won't be enough!" Izuku cried, finally looking up at Shota; "They aren't heroes, they can't teach me like you can!" Izuku insisted, "You beat that spike guy, without using a Quirk! I need every edge I can get if I'm gonna be a hero, a local dojo just won't cut it!"

Shota sighed; 'He's certainly persistent, still this has gone on long enough'

"Look, Midoriya," he began, "I'm sure your Quirk is good enough to get into a hero school; you can learn to fight then," he reasoned, hoping this would put an end to this.

Izuku didn't respond immediately; 'Good, seems he finally understands, now to send him home.'

Just he was about to send Izuku away, he finally spoke up; "I don't have a Quirk…"

Shota paused; 'No Quirk? Then why would he want…"

"I know there's never been a Quirkless hero and… I know it's a long shot but… my mom believes in me, and I can't let her down!" Izuku yelled, tears in his eyes, growing increasingly bold; "That's why I need you to teach me; everyone else is starting so far ahead…"

He was trembling, but Izuku managed to maintain eye-contact with Shota, waiting for his answer.

He looked down at the boy; 'Wanna a be a hero without a flashy Quirk, huh kid? Reminds me of myself…' Shota thought, despite himself.

'No… no this isn't at all like me, I have a Quirk, a good one at that, and this kid is Quirkless… Still…' he sized the boy up, eyeing the preponderance of lean muscle on his arms and legs; 'He wasn't lying about working hard, he's in better shape than most adults…

Am I really considering this?'

"Are you serious about this, kid? I won't go easy on you because you're young; and if you can't handle it, I won't hesitate to drop you" Shota warned, seeing if he could scare Izuku off.

"I am! I can handle it, I promise!" Izuku replied, determination flashing across his face.

Shota paused again; 'I read his statement on the incident… He's impulsive, and without a Quirk, vulnerable. If he doesn't learn how to properly defend himself, he'll be dead before he can even get to high school," he reasoned with himself, 'What kind of hero would I be if I let that happen?'

"Fine, Midoriya. You have a deal," he stopped. 'Right, how could I forget,' he thought. "On one condition."

"Anything, Aizawa-sensei!" Midoriya beamed. 'I can't believe it, I'm gonna get training from a real hero!'

"I need to talk to your mother."

VVV

To say Izuku was nervous would be an understatement.

He checked the clock; 'Four-o-clock, Aizawa-sensei will be here soon'

Shota's request had initially come as a surprise to Izuku but made sense the more he thought about it; he was exceptionally young and going forward without Inko's permission could prove disastrous later on.

Even so, Izuku couldn't quite manage to tell her of the true reasoning to the imminent meeting, only that the hero who saved him a month ago wanted to talk.

Inko, for her part, was ecstatic; "What a great opportunity!" she had said; she never had the chance to thank Shota for saving her son, and was eager to make her gratitude known.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"Oh, that must be him! Izuku, answer the door please, I'm just finishing dinner!" Inko requested, tending to her cooking.

Izuku opened the door to greet Shota. When he opened the door, he was greeted with the man in his hero outfit, likely planning to head straight to work from the Midoriya residence.

"Aizawa-sensei, please come in!" Izuku welcomed, stepping aside.

"Thank you, Midoriya," Shota greeted, stepping in.

"Eraser Head! It's such a pleasure to meet you!" Inko exclaimed, putting the last of the food on the table.

"Please," Shota started, "Aizawa is fine."

"Oh, Aizawa then!" Inko beamed, walking up to him; "I never got to thank you for saving my son-"

"That won't be necessary, Midoriya-san. There's actually something I need to talk to you about," Shota started, meaning to get straight to business.

"Oh? Well, I'm sure whatever it is can wait until after dinner? When was the last time you had a hot meal, Mr. Aizawa?"

Shota was about to protest, but took a quick glance at the table; the food did look good, and Instant Ramen was getting a bit old…

'Well, no need for all that effort to go to waste.'

"Of course, Midoriya-san, let's eat," Shota agreed, sitting at the table.

VVV

"And Izuku would always come in and yell "I am here!" in the cutest little voice!"

Izuku couldn't believe it; here he was, eating dinner with a real-life pro-hero, and his mom was telling stories about his All Might roleplaying!

"Mommm! Please stop!" Izuku begged, burying his head in his hands.

Shota, to his credit, didn't laugh, only cracking a rather subdued smile.

"Oh honey, its nothing to be embarrassed about" Inko turned to Shota, "He's wanted to be like All Might for as long as I can remember…"

He lost his smile; while he was having a pleasant time, this wasn't a social call; he had come with a purpose.

"That reminds me of what I wanted to talk to you about, Midoriya-san." Aizawa said, leaning over the table.

"Oh? I almost forgot about that, what is it Mr. Aizawa?" Inko inquired, settling down.

"Your son approached me yesterday; he wants me to teach him how to fight." Shota said, getting to the point, "I wanted to run it by you before starting anything."

Inko went bug-eyed, not saying anything; she looked to Izuku, who could only give a sheepish grin. After a moment, she spoke.

"Izuku," she muttered, her tone uncomfortably neutral, "please go to your room so I can talk to Mr. Aizawa.

"But mo-"

"Now, Izuku." She commanded, leaving no room for arguments. Reluctantly, he complied, retreating to his room to allow the adults to talk.

With Izuku gone, Inko turned to Shota; "My son is seven years old. Why on earth should I allow him to go anywhere near violence?" she asked, taking on a much more aggressive attitude.

"With all due respect, Midoriya-san, you don't have much choice in the matter; violence will find him." he stated, "It already has."

Inko looked away; "That was one incident-"

"An incident he willingly walked into" Shota interrupted, "And given his chosen career, it'll only get worse, and a hero won't always be around to save him"

Inko recoiled; "He can learn all that when he gets into a hero course…"

"Do you believe he'll get into ANY hero course without training? He's Quirkless, the deck is already stacked against him." Shota countered.

"I know that!"

"Then why feed into his fantasies," Shota pressed in a hushed tone, "if you're not willing to support it all the way? It's not rational."

"I AM willing to support it!" Inko exclaimed, barely above a whisper.

"Then you know he has to do this, why're you fighting it?" he questioned.

"You don't understand!" Inko shouted, quickly quieting her voice, "When I got that call from the hospital, it was the worse day of my life… I-I thought I had lost my son forever… How can I condone putting him in even more danger?"

Shota remained silent for a moment before answering; "Danger comes with the job, Midoriya-san. If you're serious your son being a hero, you can't avoid that fact; to do so would be irrational." he paused, collecting his thoughts, "But you can do your best to help him prepare for the danger."

He continued; "But if you're not willing to do that, then you need to tell him that he will never be a hero."

Inko looked down at the table, hands trembling; "Mr. Aizawa," Inko began, "Do you think my son can be a hero?"

Shota's eyes met Inko's, and he answered; "He has potential. Not a lot, but its there. It just has to be pushed into something more."

Inko grimaced; "Why… why are you fighting so hard for this?"

"I'm just arguing my point." Shota replied, "You still haven't given me an answer, if it's no then I will excuse myself and leave. The choice is yours, Midoriya-san"

Inko blinked back tears; 'He's right… I have two choices… let him train, or stop all this once and for all…"

"Izuku!" Inko called, "come here please!"

VVV

Izuku emerged from his room petrified; there had definitely been some screaming in that conversation.

'I should've known she wouldn't go for it' Izuku slumped, trudging into his living area.

"Izuku… You know I love you, and will always support you…" 'Here it comes…'

"Which is why I'm allowing you to train with Mr. Aizawa."

Both Izuku and Shota were wide-eyed; clearly neither was expecting that decision.

"R-really mom?..." Izuku croaked.

"Yes… I told you I'd support you in being a hero and I meant it; even if… even if it means letting you do things I don't like…" Inko explained, giving her son a small smile.

"Mom…" Izuku whispered, running into her arms, "I love you…"

"I love you too baby…" she turns to Shota; "Please take care of my son, Mr. Aizawa."

"I will, Midoriya-san" he assured before addressing Izuku; "Kid, I expect you at the park down the road tomorrow, three-o-clock sharp. If you're not there, you can forget about all this." Shota warned.

"Yes, sir!" Izuku replied, giving a bow.

Shota made his way towards the door; "Good, now if you'll excuse me, I have a patrol to run," he opened the door, "have a good night, you two" he said, closing the door behind him.

VVV

Shota scanned the streets below him; it had been a quiet night, no major incidents, which worked fine for him; he had work to do.

'Probably should've come up with lessons before setting a time' Aizawa thought, giving a deep sigh, 'I hope I can figure it out.'

After all, what the hell did he know about teaching?

And that's a wrap!

I had quite a bit of fun with this chapter; I hope how Izuku found Shota wasn't too unbelievable; it was quite a coincidence but hey, those happen.

Speaking of Shota, I hope he wasn't out of character here; I tried to make his arguments in favor of teaching Izuku more about logic than a personal desire to.

Shota and Inko's conversation was interesting; I wanted to strike a balance between Inko being concerned and supportive; I hope I struck that balance well.

Now then, the reviews!

Blackout99: Thank you very much!

NinjaFang1331: Thank you for the kind words!

That about covers it! Next chapter: Training, and a time skip!