"Mister 'raser!"

Confusion gets people killed—hesitation gets people killed—it is something he cannot afford to do. Eraserhead does not hesitate.

Shouta hesitates.

It gives the tiny footsteps behind him enough time to catch up, and he definitely does not startle when said child latches onto his left leg and doesn't let go.

He looks down, met with the wide, hope-filled eyes of the little girl now hugging his leg for dear life. If he had to guess, Shouta would say she's no older than four or five, not quite school age. She's wearing clean clothes, and her straight black hair is pulled up into pigtails.

"Um... hello?" he manages to say, not entirely sure how to act in this kind of situation. Not anymore.

Regardless, his mind kicks into overdrive.

The kid doesn't appear injured, and now that she's got his attention she backs up a step and raises her arms, clearly expecting him to pick her up.

Shouta tenses imperceptibly.

He doesn't recognize her, but clearly she knows his hero name.

Rather than pick her up, Shouta crouch down so they're at eye level and tilts his head. "What's wrong, kid?" he asks softly.

With an exasperated huff that Shouta is mildly surprised—and a little impressed—to hear come from someone so young, she leans in and cups a hand by his ear. He automatically inclines his head towards her as though it would help him hear better.

"I lost my babysitter, and there's a weird guy following me," she whispers with clear urgency. "He keeps saying he's my papa, but he's not! Mama always said to find a hero if I need help, and you're a hero, right? Mister 'raserhead?"

Hearing that has Shouta frowning heavily, the expression thankfully hidden behind his capture weapon. He considers his options.

There's no doubt in his mind that he's going to help this kid. Because yes, he is a hero, but also because she'd had the courage to ask. And, after all... If she's lost her carer, who will keep her safe from the nomus and roving gangs?

The world was not a kind place for a lone child, let alone one so young.

Shouta sees more orphans nowadays than he would like, and...

Wait, no.

He's in the past, there aren't any nomus yet. And the ones that do exist weren't going about killing indiscriminately. Not yet.

He's still going to help her, though. Because despite the lack of nomus it's still not safe for a kid to be out alone.

That wasn't even taking into account the 'weird guy' that's apparently tailing her, claiming to be her father. There aren't a whole lot of people walking by at the moment, and none of them are paying he or the girl any attention. His heart won't allow him to ignore her cry for help, especially not when she's looking at him with such hope.

Shouta is violently reminded of another little girl. That was the same look she used to give him, before...

No, nope, Shouta isn't going to let any more kids die on his watch. No sir.

"I... yeah, kid. I'm a hero," he sighs, running a hand through his hair. "How'd you know?"

"You saved me and my mama before," she says, fidgeting with the bottom of her school shirt. "You were really scary and made the bad guy go away... Can you do it again, please?"

This time, Shouta sighs internally.

Yeah, that explained a few things. He still doesn't remember her specifically—he's saved a lot of people over the years, and after a point they all sort of blurred together—but that was alright. She remembered him just fine.

"I'll do my best," he says, "...Can you tell me your name?"

She giggles softly. "Silly mister 'raser, I told you my name last time! Don't you remember?"

Then she raises her arms towards him again, bouncing on her heels.

Oh, right.

She wanted him to pick her up.

Alright then, his legs were growing tired from crouching anyways, so Shouta stands up with a groan.

With a good bit of confusion gnawing at his gut, Shouta gently picks the kid up and settles her on his hip. If she notices how dirty his jumpsuit is, she doesn't mention it.

Names. He still doesn't know her name.

"Hm... How 'bout you remind me?" Shouta flashes a small grin, a distinctly nicer one than the kind he saved for misbehaving students or villains. With his free hand, he knocks against the side of his head a few times. "Sorry, my memory isn't what it used to be."

The kid giggles into her hand.

"I'm Kibarashi Ami, but everybody calls me Amichan!" she says, wiggling around to make herself more comfortable. She clings to his tattered capture weapon.

"Amichan," Shouta echoes with a nod, adjusting his grip. They should probably get going now.

"Well then, let's—"

"Hey, buddy—the hell're you doing with my daughter?!"

Again, Shouta stops.

He hears Amichan whimper at the sudden yell, her smile disappearing in an instant. When she lets go of his capture weapon to instead wrap her arms around his neck, Shouta only holds her closer.

"That's him," she mumbles into the side of his neck in a small, wavering voice. "Please make him go 'way, mister 'raser..."

Oh, Shouta will make him go away, alright.

Turning slowly toward the voice, Shouta narrows his eyes at the approaching figure.

No visible weapons, that's his first thought.

His second thought is that the man walking over looks utterly, painfully average. Black hair, brown eyes, glasses. A somewhat wrinkled business suit. Normal. The kind of face that could disappear into a crowd.

The kind of face no one would look twice at.

And yet the sight of him has Shouta's hackles raising.

"Your daughter?" he echoes with more than a little incredulousness, lip curling in the beginnings of a snarl.

There's a moment where the guy pauses, like he's reconsidering his approach—does he have a knife in his pocket? Some other hidden weapon? Is his quirk long range or short?—before he continues forward, eyes set on Amichan.

"Yeah," the guy says, "That's my daughter you've got in y'er arms."

Shouta feels his chest surge with a fierce protectiveness, and he turns his body away to shield the shivering child.

"Funny," he sneers, letting his expression shift into something dangerous—feral—since Amichan can't see him. "Because last time I checked, this is my daughter."

Obviously a lie, but his bluff isn't called—and it would have been were this guy was actually Amichan's father. Instead, he watches the guy take a step back, looking uncertain.

Now, he's very tempted to kick his bastard's teeth in, but sadly there's a few things stopping him.

One; he has a frightened child in his arms.

He's perfectly capable of fighting with his arms full, of course, but he doesn't want to frighten Amichan any more than she already is, and getting into a fight would most certainly do that.

Two; they're in broad daylight, and there's witnesses.

While Shouta is a hero, he doesn't think he'll be able to get away with pretending to be the past Eraserhead a second time.

A fight would attract attention, which was something he was trying to avoid.

Three; and this was technically a part of the previous point—

He needs to get as much distance between himself and the police station (and Tsukauchi) as possible.

Thankfully he'd already made it a good ways before he was stopped, but being out in the open like this after he's just handed—heh—over a handless Shigaraki with barely any explanation was making him twitchy.

"So..." Shouta says, letting his eyes flash red as he bares his teeth, while at the same time trying not to sound too scary. Judging by the way the guy's whole face goes white and he takes a step back, it works. "You want to try that again?"

"I-I..."

Shouta scoffs. "Didn't think so."

And with that, he turns on his heel and stalks off, leaving the would-be kidnapper gaping. Maybe he could call in an anonymous tip or something, too bad he didn't get the bastard's name...

But if Shouta ever sees him again, he will happily kick the fucker's ass.

For now, though, he carries Amichan to safety.

The route he takes is winding, ducking into the first alley he comes across to get out of view.

Ah, but now what to do...?

His plan before being stopped had been to go straight back to his students, but that plan hadn't included a tagalong.

Were they still in the future, Shouta would've had no problem adding Amichan to their ragtag little group, as leaving her behind would have meant certain death or dismemberment.

But he's not in the future, he's in the past, and this child isn't an orphan.

He can't keep her.

Shouta knows he's being illogical, knows his thought process has been warped by living so long in a literal nightmare.

The most logical thing to do would be to bring Amichan to the nearest police station—barring the one he was just at—and leave her there. The police would be able to keep her safe and get her back to her parents.

Problem; Shouta would be expected to fill out a report on the attempted kidnapping, and would no doubt be asked why he hadn't called it in on-scene, and had even let the suspect walk free. What he's doing isn't protocol.

But Shouta doesn't know what else to do.

When they come upon a mostly deserted park, he makes a beeline for one of the empty benches.

He needs to decide what to do before he can go back to his students.

Amichan's face is still buried in his hair, and he's careful not to jostle her as he sits down on the bench. But when he tries to put her down next to him, she refuses to let go. It's only then he realizes she's shaking.

Of course, she must still be shaken up by what happened.

So he lets her stay in his lap, though he's admittedly surprised by the fact she isn't bothered by him smelling like literal death. He's pretty sure there's still blood under his nails.

"It's alright, Amichan," Shouta tries to soothe, rubbing slow circles between her shoulder blades. "You're safe now."

He hears her sniffle, and she peeks out from under his hair with a tearful expression.

"The bad man's gone?" Amichan asks, relaxing once he's nodded an affirmative. "That was scary..."

Shouta hums.

"You're right, it was scary," he agrees softly. His tone is hushed, gentle. It's the tone he'd perfected some time after adopting Eri, the same one he often used now to comfort his students after a nightmare. "—But you were able to stay calm and find help for yourself. That was very brave.

"I need you to be brave a little longer for me, alright?"

He waits until Amichan has nodded before he continues, though he doesn't stop rubbing her back.

"I'm going to take you to the police, okay?"

"But—no!" she cuts him off, hands clenching in his jumpsuit as she leans back to look at him. "What if he comes back to get me after you leave?"

He keeps his voice calm and reassuring as he says, "He won't, they'll keep you safe."

"But I want to stay with you, mister 'raser..."

Fuck.

"Okay, uh..." Shouta has to look away as he thinks, idly noting the presence of more kids and teens in the park. School must have just let out. "How about... What if I bring you home to your parents? Do you know your address?"

Amichan shakes her head. "No, but... Mama and papa are on a busy-ness trip for all week! That's why they left me with a babysitter, but she leaves me alone a lot..."

Does she now?

The thought of someone being so negligent to leave a child to fend for themself has Shouta gritting his teeth, trying to keep his anger in check.

"That's alright, Amichan," he says, softly. What happened isn't her fault, and Shouta doesn't want to frighten her by losing his temper. "You're doing very good, and I know you want to stay with me, but the police will be able to help you better, okay? They can contact your mama and papa so they'll come home to get you."

"I don't wanna go to the police!"

Her response is louder than Shouta's expecting, and he winces at the sound.

Hopefully no one else heard that.

...Okay, damnit, fine. His students can say he's 'gone soft' all they want, Shouta can't bring himself to upset a child.

"There, there..." he consoles, and she tucks herself back under his chin with a whine. Honestly, with how young she is Shouta is surprised she managed to stay so composed up until this point. "It's okay, you can stay with me for a bit longer..."

Shouta continues to pat Amichan's back and murmur reassurances until she's settled, and surprisingly, the girl has actually fallen asleep.

He'll just have to bring her to the police later, once she's calmed down. In the meantime...

Well, he still needs to get back to his kids. They were planning on laying low for a while after he'd dropped Shigaraki off with Tsukauchi, and he should be able to convince Amichan she'll be better off with the police in that time.

Nothing will go wrong, surely.

No sooner has the thought crossed his mind that things go wrong.

"Sensei?"

Shouta's breath freezes in his chest, because he knows that voice. That's—

"...Todoroki?" he croaks.

And it is.

Todoroki Shoto.

He's standing next to the bench Shouta is sitting on with a curious expression—or as curious of an expression the boy could manage—whole and alive.

The last time Shouta had seen him... Well, it hadn't been a pretty sight.

He blinks the phantom images of a broken body illuminated by a fire's glow from his vision, and instead focuses on the neatly pressed UA uniform this Todoroki is wearing.

He's alive.

"Sensei...?" Todoroki says again, head tilted to the side just so as he stares at Amichan.

"She just fell asleep," Shouta explains in a soft voice, adjusting her so her head wasn't laying at such an odd angle. "It's been a long day."

Todoroki hasn't seemed to realize that Shouta wasn't his sensei, which is a good thing since he already possessed some combat training. Even if this was still at a point in time where he refused to use his fire.

Not that he actually posed a threat to Shouta, but his mind is still in threat-detection overdrive.

Thinking about Todoroki's previous 'training' though has Shouta's mind going along a different tangent. Specifically; Endeavor.

A part of him is seriously considering taking Todoroki along with him, since he knows exactly what took place in the Todoroki household now. What is still taking place.

Kidnapping a hero student was a lot more difficult than a preschooler actively seeking him out, though. Not that Shouta was considering him taking Amichan as 'kidnapping', especially not since he'd rescued her from a potential kidnapper, but others might view it differently. Todoroki himself would certainly view it that way.

"Well, don't just stand there," Shouta huffs when it's clear Todoroki was just going to keep standing around. "There's plenty of room on the bench, sit down."

He does, and it's only because Shouta has had practice reading him that can tell the teen is... uncertain about how to proceed.

Understandable.

Shouta isn't quite sure how to proceed, either.

Regardless, he asks, "What can I help you with, Todoroki?"

There isn't an immediate answer, but Shouta is patient as he waits, keeping half an eye on their surroundings.

School has definitely let out, if Todoroki showing up wasn't indication enough. He'd been hoping to be back with his students by now so he could avoid the crowd, but it was a bit late for that now. He needs to get out of sight soon.

"What is her name?"

Huh?

"Excuse me?" Shouta questions.

Todoroki clears his throat, and gestures at Amichan. "The girl. What's her name?"

"Oh." Shouta blinks, looking down at her himself. She's sleeping peacefully, and doesn't stir when he tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "...Her name is Ami."

"Hm," Todoroki hums.

Shouta nods in agreement. "Hm."

Good talk.

If all Todoroki wants to do is just sit next to Shouta in silence, that's fine by him.

Though... his mind is still telling him that he needs to get moving. He's out in the open, Tsukauchi has surely contacted his past self by now to ask about the odd encounter, Kurogiri will be looking for Shigaraki.

It's not safe, he needs to get back to his students. They'll be expecting him.

Have they gotten into trouble while he was out?

Are they okay?

What if something's happened? What if—

"...My father will be expecting me home soon."

Shouta twitches, though Todoroki isn't looking at him anymore. Rather, his old student is looking off into the distance with a slight frown.

Reluctant.

Oh, Shouta wants to kidnap him so bad.

"I suppose so," are the words that come out of Shouta's mouth instead.

He watches Todoroki stand up from the bench and brushes off his pants, mumbling a soft 'goodbye' before beginning to leave.

Shouta hates that he's just letting him go home when he knows exactly what awaits him.

Isn't there anything he can do?

"Todoroki," Shouta calls softly before he's gotten too far. The boy pauses, and looks back at him over his shoulder. Shouta inclines his head. "If there's anything you need, even if it's just to talk or sit for a while, my door is always open. Remember that."

If Shouta can't help him, then maybe Shouta's past self could.

There's an unreadable look now in Todoroki's eyes as he just stares at Shouta, and after what feels like an eternity, he nods once then turns away.

"...I will, sensei," he says.

And then he walks away without another word.

Shouta doesn't stop him.