Birds chirped loudly the morning of August 29th, 15 years ago. A small cry was heard in a hospital room, riddled with hunger. Long black hair and dull gray eyes stared softly at the crying baby, attempting to soothe it. Gentle fingers ran through the baby's soft black hair, softening its cries to smaller whimpers.
"Shouta, I think she's hungry. Hand her here and I'll feed her."
Dull eyes looked over at the voice, showing a rare gentle smile that was only ever shown for her and close friends. Tired gray eyes looked back at him, the owner running a hand through her short white hair. Careful hands picked up the whimpering baby girl and handed her to her mother who proceeded to breastfeed her. She held the baby close, love clearly shining in her eyes.
"Anastasia, do you think she'll get your quirk? And if she does, how will she control it?"
Brows furrowed in concern upon her face at the thought of their baby girl receiving her ghoul quirk, a quirk that requires the user to feed on human flesh once a month to survive.
"I don't know Shouta. We can only hope she doesn't but if she does then we'll just have to train her. Maybe she'll use it to become a hero like us?"
"Maybe. We can only hope. Your parents are coming by soon to meet her aren't they?"
"Yeah. Mom and Dad are on patrol right now. They'll most likely be by right before visiting hours are up."
Conversation ended there as they lay their now sleeping daughter into the bedside bassinet. Shouta Aizawa and Anastasia Aizawa nee Lancaster, watched newborn baby Hikari Aizawa sleep soundly, unaware of the tragedies that would occur later that night. The last moment of peace was a fleeting one as Shouta's phone rang. He picked it up before it could wake their daughter.
"Eraserhead."
"Yo Eraser! You need to get to the address I just sent you! It's bad news…"
"Mic? Got it. I'm on my way."
Anastasia nodded quietly, understanding Shouta had just been called in to be a hero somewhere.
"Stay safe Shouta."
"As always. It's only logical. I have you and Hikari to come back to."
He gave a small smile before his face became stoic as he left.
~At the scene~
Eraserhead arrived to see an abandoned building taped off and police cars surrounding the scene. Tsukauchi, the lead detective of the police force, walked over to Eraserhead with Present Mic in tow. The latter had a look of sadness over his features, immediately putting Eraserhead on edge.
"What happened here Tsukauchi? Mic?..."
Present Mic looked away, his expression one of guilt and anger. Tsukauchi spoke up, a look of somberness.
"Reaper's parents….Anastasia's parents were just found dead in the abandoned warehouse. Cause of death looks to be that they bled to death from torture methods. It looks horrible inside. Whatever Villain did this, they were looking for someone or something and it looks like they found it. We don't know much but it could be a hero killer on the loose or it could've been a personal grudge. For now though one thing is certain, this was for information. Do you have any idea what their goal could've been?"
Eraserhead thought about what he said, realization sinking in. His in-laws were dead and his daughter was just born. He took off without another thought, calling over his shoulder in desperation.
"Send units to the hospital! Anastasia just gave birth to our daughter this morning and they were coming to meet her after patrol! They might have her room number!"
Not needing to be told twice, Tsukauchi gathered what units they could spare and took off towards the hospital. Erasedhead reached the hospital to see the fourth floor on fire and residents evacuating with staff. People were panicking and screaming that a villain with a fire type quirk was destroying the fourth floor along with a villain who had a knife quirk.
Eraserhead raced up the stairs after putting on his goggles, yelling at people to follow the exits quickly but calmly as hero's have arrived. Present Mic not too far behind yelled for Erasehead to continue up to the fourth floor while he handled the first three. Nodding and moving quickly, Eraserhead reached the fourth floor in time to see that everyone had already evacuated the floor except the cry of a baby. His baby.
Racing to the tenth room felt like an eternity as he dodged patches of flames that licked and charred his clothing and skin. He followed the baby's cries and watched in horror as Anastasia leapt out of the four-story window with Hikari in her arms, two villains right behind her. Just as the fire villain went to shoot flames at her, nothing happened. Confused he looked at his buddy who was also confused as his knives stopped appearing on his skin.
All at once they looked back in fear as a gray cloth was wrapped around them and a black figure jumped over them, flinging them and himself out of the building from the fourth floor. The villains shared a look as they recognized the red eyes and the yellow signature goggles. Erasure hero, Eraserhead.
The villains screamed in fear as they plummeted down to the road, only to be stopped by Anastasia who had used her ghoul quirk to attach herself to the outside of the second floor and used her other ghoul tentacles to grapple the gray cloth that held them. Eraserhead held on to the outside of the third floor by the railing, looking at Anastasia who still held their daughter and was still in her hospital gown.
"I was going to catch them. You didn't have to do that."
"But where's the fun in that? There are still people to save. Go, I've got this. Hikari's safe now and I can hand them off to Tsukauchi. Help them evacuate the building."
Eraserhead hesitated before letting her ghoul tentacles take over holding the villains and retracted his capture weapon. Perching on the railing, he propelled himself back inside the building to aid the people evacuating. Anastasia lowered the villains to the police force below and waited as they arrested the villains. She dropped her quirk and was tended to by a doctor who assessed her minor cuts and burns. Anastasia rocked Hikari back to sleep, the baby taking no damage from the attack.
Meanwhile, Present Mic and Eraserhead evacuated the building as the fire fighters and water-based heroes put out the fire. Patients were rushed to neighboring hospitals that had room while things were being handled. Tsukauchi broke the news to Anastasia about her parents and how the villains were most likely after her and her child. However, the reasoning was unclear. Only that she was targeted.
Days went by, then weeks, weeks turned to months as Anastasia followed lead after lead to figure out why her parents were killed. Hikari, who was now a 1 year old, had developed her quirks. She had her father's erasure quirk and her mother's ghoul quirk, much to her dismay. It was odd that Hikari's quirks manifested so early but was not uncommon. They started teaching her small things to better her control and were forced to mix up flesh in a blender to give her twice a month since she was small. They used the flesh of those who donated their bodies for science and for those rare few who had ghoul quirks and needed to survive.
Reaper stepped out of an alleyway, someone out cold behind her and tied up for the police who were on their way. She knew. She finally knew who had sent those villains to kill her parents and attacked her in the hospital. And she was out for revenge.
~Later that day~
Images flashed on the news, Eraserhead stopping at the television store as he watched in shock. Reaper was wreaking havoc on the hero commission, and it was suddenly reported that Hikari Aizawa was reported missing as Present Mic was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Eraserhead jumped into action, heading towards the hero commission while messaging Midnight to start looking for Hikari, knowing she was most likely kidnapped by the same ones who had sent the villains a year ago.
'Damn it Anastasia! What are you doing?! They labeled you as a villain!' Eraser thought as he ran, his breath coming out in frantic bursts. He had to reach her and stop her, to stop all of this, to save their daughter and her mother's future. Except…..he arrived too late. Reaper was captured by All Might, blood on everything and everyone. A crazed look in her eyes as she cried out in desperation, knowing the truth but not able to tell it as she had accidentally killed the only proof she had. The hero commission had killed her parents, attempted to kill her and her daughter, and now had her daughter in their clutches. All due to them being afraid of her ghoul quirk and what it could mean seeing as their daughter could use it and erasure from Eraserhead.
Eraserhead stopped and watched as Tsukauchi took her into custody, coroners on scene putting some of the commission members into body bags. What pieces were left that is. Reaper said nothing as she sat in the back seat of the cop car, tears of rage in her eyes. She couldn't get the information on her daughter's whereabouts and now she was labeled a villain. People were no longer calling her Reaper, only Carnage.
Tsukauchi debriefed Eraserhead on the situation as much as he could, only knowing what the remaining commission members told him. That Carnage had shown up after the announcement of her daughter's kidnapping and blamed the commission before killing some of them when she couldn't get answers. Eraser was shocked to say the least but kept his emotions in check, knowing that now was not the time. His daughter was still missing.
~A week later~
The news of Carnage spread like a wildfire, hero gone bad, hero attacks commission, hero kills innocents. News stations were littered with nothing but stories on Carnage and the missing daughter. Eraserhead and the police worked diligently to find a lead but ended up with nothing. It was as if Hikari simply vanished, as if she was never even around to begin with. Eraserhead hadn't slept in a week except short bursts which only ended in nightmares of finding his daughter's mangled body or simply never seeing her again. As much as people were telling him to slow down and to let them help, he refused. All he wanted was his daughter back. He'd give anything to see her again. Slowly, doubt began to claw at his aching heart, that he never would see her again, that he should just give up.
A cry. He stopped, as if solidified as a statue. Another cry. Hikari. With speed one would think was impossible, Eraserhead took off, sending his location to Tsukauchi. He entered an alleyway and stood still, listening again for a cry. He heard it again. The sewers.
Ripping off the manhole cover and ignoring the looks he got from the onlookers who hung around in the dead of night, stumbling home from bars, he entered the sewers. Updating his location and turning on his tracker, Eraserhead followed the cries until they were muffled by something, most likely a cloth of some kind. Sneaking through the sewers, he reached an area unaffected by the sewer conditions. A hideout and by the looks of it, one associated with the black market. Eraserhead peaked around the corner and listened silently as two people spoke.
"Come on Porky just kill the kid already. They paid us quite a bit to do it. Trying to get more out of them is useless. And what's with the torture dude? It's literally a baby!"
An oink in anger was heard as a sudden hard thump was heard, followed by a spraying sound. Blood. Another oink.
"Follow his example Bones and don't ask questions. They just get you killed. Now, we wait for an answer. I want more money and quite frankly this brat could be useful. Erasure quirk and Ghoul quirk. We could break this brat into being our slave and be our future money haul. Where the hell is the rest of you? I've got shit to get done!"
"It was just us three, Boss. Garter was supposed to be watching the entrance. Everyone's looking for the kid and the others are getting us weapons from the black market."
"Oh. Then you go and watch the entrance. We don't need pesky workers opening up the manhole and getting in here. The brat is valuable. Besides, you already let her cry. Who knows if a hero heard."
"Yes, Boss."
The villain, Bones, walked towards where Eraserhead was, rounding the corner before all he could see was nothing, suddenly wrapped in a capture weapon and quirk erased. Eraserhead's now red eyes bore into him as he knocked him out and secured his hands with zip ties. Eraser quickly but quietly made his way down the tunnel, activating his quirk again as he caught sight of Porky, the boss. He was a bulky man with a boar head, white tusks sticking out on either side of his mouth. He turned around in time to be captured by the capture weapon and struck in the face with Eraserhead's knee. Blood gushed from his now broken nose, staining the gray capture weapon red.
Keeping Porky tied up, Eraserhead went over to his daughter, seeing the constant smears of blood and multiple deep cuts all along her body and clothes, tear stains on her face. Her eyes were covered to stop her quirk from affecting them. He ripped off the blindfold and unstrapped her from the chair she was in. She looked starved, beaten, bruised, and barely responsive. He also removed the cloth from her mouth and she whimpered, opening small gray eyes to see her father standing there. Her innocent eyes lit up and she slowly reached for him, sniffling softly as she did.
Eraserhead picked her up gently, careful not to hurt her freshly cut skin. Footsteps echoed down the tunnel and he froze in place, hiding with Hikari in a dark spot of the room, ready to defend them if need be. He suddenly relaxed, hearing the familiar sound of Tsukauchi ordering officers to be at the ready. Tsukauchi raced over to Eraser, seeing as the two villains were currently out cold and one dead, which Eraser confirmed was the bosses doing.
Leaving the sewers, Eraser rode with Hikari to the hospital, keeping her calm as the EMTs treated what wounds they could, pushing fluids into her IV to bring her color up. Time seemed to pass by slowly as the doctors took Hikari and worked on treating her. Eraser gave his statement to the police of what happened and how he found her, just a lucky thing the villains were careless with letting her cry. It could have been anyone walking by but by a stroke of luck, it was him. He saved his daughter.
News spread fast of his daughter's rescue, the media desperate for the story on how Eraserhead did it and how his daughter was. He easily evaded the media, focusing only on Hikari's recovery and Present Mic's recovery which was almost done, seeing as Recovery Girl had stopped by to help.
A few weeks went by, Hikari recovering slowly and enjoying the company of her father and his close friends. She was a little fearful of the doctors and nurses at first but opened up as they went slow with her. It took a month in total for her to be okay to leave, fully recovered but many scars littered her body. Hikari clung to her father's side, happy to be with him. She constantly cried though, missing her mother who unbeknownst to her was in Tartarus, locked up.
Five months passed before breaking news swept through every TV in the country. Tartarus had a security breach and Carnage had escaped. Shouta Aizawa moved after that, fearful that their daughter may be in danger but also wanting answers. Why? Why did she attack the hero commission and become a villain? All unanswered questions.
But Carnage never came. Never stopped by their old apartment. Never attempted to contact him. She simply went underground much to his relief and dismay. He wanted to see her, to hug her again, to get answers. However, he also was afraid of what she could do given what she did to the hero commission. It wasn't logical and it wasn't adding up for him. What would cause her to do it?
He ignored the pressing thoughts and focused on Kari, raising her, loving her, training her. With the help of his closest friends, he raised his daughter as best he could. Hoping she would be a hero; Shouta would teach her how to fight and what to do and what not to do as a hero. She absolutely loved it and loved spending time with him. He even taught her how to use his capture weapon. It wasn't long before she was finally in middle school, ready for UA High.
