Chapter 1: Goodbye, Aizawa-sensei

He didn't know what was going on. He was in a blissful darkness before he heard a voice. "Open your eyes, Nomu." The command stirred something in him, something deep telling him to obey. However, something small in him made him resist. Something made him fight the order, telling him that it wasn't safe.

"Perhaps it requires more time to wake up," a different voice suggested. This one sounded... familiar, though he wasn't sure how.

"Indeed, this Nomu had some major adjustments made to its brain. It may be a few hours before it awakens. Let's leave it in the cell with the other one." A third voice, this one sounded dark, somewhat mad.

The first voice grumbled, "Fine. Kurogiri, warp it into the cell." The - Nomu? Was that what the three men called it? - felt something open underneath it, before feeling itself land on a hard surface.

"Sensei?" a different voice called out hesitantly. "Are you alright?" This one felt... safe. That small voice inside him stopped fighting, letting the larger portion of him finally obey the command it was first given. As the Nomu took in the sight of the owner of the safe voice, a feeling of protection came upon him. The urge to obey came back in full force, although it could tell that this young child in front of him was the only voice he'd obey.

Izuku, or rather Deku as the LoV now called him, called out to the hero. He was scared. For the first time ever, he thanked his lucky stars he was biologically quirkless. It was why, as the Doctor rambled as he was experimenting on him, he was still able to think. To move of his own free will, although he hid that and faked being mindless when Shigaraki and the others were around. The villains had captured someone with an imprinting quirk, which caused the target to imprint on the first person they saw and trust them without question. Between that, the submission quirk, and a memory wipe, it was little wonder the Nomus obeyed without question.

Deku was able to fake the imprinting quirk by refusing to open his eyes until he was back in his cell with Aizawa-sensei. The memory wipe had failed, something Deku had discovered was because it wiped the victim's happiest memories, which Izuku had very few of.

Izuku was afraid of what they would do to his teacher. Being a quirked person, the likelihood of what the doctor had done to make the Nomus mindless failing was slim to none. He had plenty of good memories, if the ring the pro wore on his neck were of any indication. Well, here goes nothing... he thought to himself. "Sensei?"

Eraserhead opened his eyes, blinking. His eyes were dark, much like they normally were, and expressionless. Izuku cursed internally, wishing his teacher was more expressive, normally. Or maybe, he added, I don't. If they did succeed with the experiment, I'm not sure I can handle, say, Mom like this. At least this way, he almost seems normal... He shivered at the thought.

He was broken out of his thoughts by the man's arms around him, pulling him into a hug. He choked back a sob, missing home and the UA more than ever. We need to get out of here, he thought. I hope the pros are coming soon. I'm not sure how much longer before they turn Aizawa into a Nomu, and that would be terrifying. Although... he paled at the thought.

"S-Sensei, tell me who you are," he requested. It was the two's way of confirming to the other that they weren't a Nomu. That they still had their memories.

"..." The man was silent for a moment, trying to recall any name that was given to him. "They called me a Nomu," he said finally. "I have no name."

Izuku paled. So it did work... he thought to himself, holding in tears. But if he's a Nomu now, then why is he obeying me? He asked Aizawa as such, to which the man stated simply, "You feel safe. Didn't want to obey the other three. But you're different. You make me feel like I have to protect you."

"..." Izuku had nothing to say to that. I guess if anyone's stubborn enough to stay around even after getting his memories wiped, it would be Sensei, he mused. "What quirks do you have?" he asked, trying to keep his panic in check for now. If they'd given Aizawa any new quirks, it could be possible for the two of them to break out.

"I have a quirk called Erasure," the Nomu stated, closing his eyes. "And a telekinesis quirk. Apart from that, I do not know."

Izuku gave him a small smile that was tinged with sadness. "It's alright. We'll figure it out, I promise, Aizawa-sensei."

The name gave the older man pause. "Is that my name?" he asked. The name seemed to resonate in him, but at the same time, there was something missing. A sharp breath shook him out of it. He looked over at his master.

"They're coming!" Izuku hissed. He looked at Aizawa, mind racing. He took a breath, hearing footsteps in the hallway. "Quick! You must pretend like you haven't woken up yet! You need to pretend-"

"So you both have your memories. You cheater! You tricked me!" Shigaraki hissed angrily. "Damn you Deku, really living up to your name!"

Aizawa didn't know who the other guy was, but what he did know was that he didn't like how the man was talking, nor how Izuku stiffened at his words. He shifted to tuck the child behind him protectively.

"You cannot kill a hero's spirit, Shigaraki. You may break our minds or erase our memories, but you will never be able to kill our spirit," Izuku spoke up, taking a deep breath to calm himself. To Aizawa, he whispered, "We need to get out of here."

The older Nomu's mind went blank. Obey. That was the only thing that echoed in his mind. Get out.

The greenette blinked. As soon as he hissed those words, the teacher had attacked the villain. Cleanly, efficiently, knocking Shigaraki out on a wall with his new telekinesis quirk. He could easily see why the man was a pro-hero. Shaking his head, he took the chance that the pro had given them. "Sensei! We need to go!" The pair of them fought off their guards, Izuku being forced to use OFA on a few of their members. His newer quirks were useless, as he had no practice with them. Other Nomu were able to use the quirks instinctively because of their lack of memories. That was likely how Aizawa was using his telekinesis so easily, he thought idly.

The two didn't stop fighting until they were outside, taking in the fresh air and sunlight for the first time in months.