Chapter 97

.::Doesn't Make Sense::.

Shouta laid on his side like always, staring at the wall blankly. His hands were held in front of himself, the mittens a dark gray splotch in the peripheral of his vision. His eyes flickered towards them briefly before tearing away and returning to the blank wall.

(The kid's skin had been so smooth against his fingers, the plastic of the muzzle slightly warm instead of cold from being in constant contact with his face.)

He exhaled a shuddery breath as he squeezed his eyes shut, curling in on himself a bit tighter. "Dammit," he whispered to himself. He was a hero, he was supposed to help and protect people. Instead though...

Instead...

"Give it back, give it back, give it back...!"

"Dammit!" he hissed harshly as he curled up even tighter, ignoring the throbbing in his broken leg as he did. At this point he pretty much deserved the pain. He couldn't forget the broken look in the kid's eyes as he sobbed against Shouta's chest, the desperation in his voice as he repeated his pleas.

Shouta had wanted to be a reassuring presence for the kids, a beacon of hope and reliability in this hellhole, but he'd done the opposite.

He couldn't bear to look at his hands right now. He hated his hands, irrational as that sounded. He had only ever used that aspect of his Quirk sparingly since he got it, but never had it left him feeling so much self loathing. He had only agreed because he knew neither of them were in a position to truly refuse, and that this could at least make it a little more bearable, but he regretted it instantly. The kid didn't have that damn muzzle anymore, could actually talk, but at what cost?

If this was the price to pay for his limited "freedoms," then Shouta would rather just be shoved into a fucking straitjacket again. He'd take that hell over this guilt.

This didn't make sense.

Shinsou's story didn't make sense.

Izuku flipped through yet another notebook before tossing it haphazardly onto the growing pile beside him with a frustrated whine. Where was it? Which notebook did he use to write about Aizawa-sensei? Izuku had specifically avoided looking for it, afraid he'd see that horrible "dead" scribbled all over the page, but now he wished he'd checked after finding him. He'd written it back home in middle school, so he had no idea when he'd written it here.

"What are you doing?" a voice asked behind him, and he jumped and nearly dropped the notebook he'd just grabbed.

"Seiko!" he nearly shouted as he twisted to face her. She looked as blank-faced and unsettling as ever, that perpetual wrongness settling into Izuku's veins, but he quickly pushed past it. "Where have you been?"

"Running errands," she replied simply. "What are you doing?" He faltered briefly at the question.

"Do you know anything about Eraserhead's Quirk?" he blurted. "Or which notebooks have notes on him?"

Seiko's head tilted slightly to the side, not even blinking. "He erases Quirks by looking at people with his Quirk active. If he blinks or breaks eye contact with the target, it loses the effect. You can tell it's active because his hair will float if it is." Izuku felt himself deflate as she recited information he already knew, but then she continued, "I believe the one with the most information has a green cover."

Izuku instantly perked up at the reference, eyes alight with determination as he turned back to the shelf. "Green cover, green cover," he muttered, pulling off the remaining notebooks that matched that. He flipped through one and tossed it onto the pile, but after checking the second jumped to his feet as he found a familiar drawing. "This is it!"

"Why do you ask?" Seiko asked as he began skimming the entry.

"Because he erased Shinsou's Quirk and now he can't use it at all!" Izuku replied distractedly, and then groaned in dismay. "Dang it, this doesn't have anything!" Still, it was better than nothing. He grabbed a second notebook he'd put on top of the shelf before rushing out of the room and made a direct beeline for Shinsou's cell.

He practically stabbed the number pad as he punched in the code to unlock it, all but bursting through the door. Seiko had already arrived before him, and Izuku ignored their attempts to question her and went straight to the desk. Their questions fell silent when he slammed down the two notebooks.

"These are the ones that have Eraserhead," he announced briskly, flipping through them. "The first one is from when I was a kid, I think when I would have been about nine? I think I learned about him while researching underground heroes because there's a few others listed near him, so there's not much information there."

Bakugou and Shinsou came over to look over his shoulder as he flipped through the pages to the entry in question. It was pretty simple given his lack of knowledge, lacking even a sketch. It was just bullet points of the little information he'd been able to find: Wears black, works mainly at night, has Erasure Quirk tied to his eyes. Has goggles to protect eyes.

Izuku dropped the notebook onto the desk to flip through the other notebook, the others leaning over to examine the open page. "That's useless," Bakugou declared flatly.

"I know," Izuku groaned, reaching the second entry. "This is the more recent one, from sometime in middle school. And it's, uh, a bit more detailed?" He dropped it onto the desk so they could see it more clearly. This entry was more professional, with the left page dedicated to a sketch of Eraserhead and the other filled with extensive notes on his Quirk, fighting style, and other details.

In fact, the entry was even more detailed than the analysis he made in his own world, in large part due to the presence of a second person's handwriting. While his own writing filled the bulk of the page, small notes had been jotted down in the margins. The the same handwriting adorned the sketch, one which Izuku had most definitely not drawn.

"The hell?" Bakugou grumbled with a frown, zeroing in on the sketch. "That doesn't look like the drawings from your other notebooks."

"Or your handwriting," Shinsou added, rubbing his neck as he grimaced lightly. "Kinda creepy they listed stuff to throw in his eyes and put it in into 'permanent' and 'temporary' categories, and drew an arrow to them. I thought they'd list stuff about his Quirk there, not... that."

Izuku had the same thought, and already had a good idea of who had helped with that entry. "Aiko helped with it, didn't she," he asked grimly as he turned to Seiko.

"She did," the little girl confirmed. "She recited the information and you wrote what she said. Most of the weaknesses and counters came from her."

The last part had Izuku frowning. "There wasn't much on specific counter-strategies, though? Aside from things to throw in his eyes, I mean. Actually, I thought that was kind of weird, because it had so much other detail about potential ways to use Erasure, both for combat and non-combat..."

While he muttered to himself Shinsou flipped the page. "Holy shit," he whispered, and Izuku glanced over to see the next pages seemed to be just counter-strategies. The handwriting alternated between his own and Aiko's, with her handwriting taking a majority of the space.

"Oh," he said quietly. His analysis usually didn't extend past a double-page spread, so he hadn't thought to check. This was... mildly disturbing. It even included information on countering the capture weapon, as well as a handful of other tools he'd seen Aizawa use in the past.

"Okay, this is freaky and all, but I don't see anything on the thing with his hands!" Bakugou said irritably, flipping back to the sketch. He pointed at some scribbled notes with an arrow pointing to Aizawa's hands as he said, "Look, she even wrote down something about how he might not always need his hands to control that scarf-thing—"

"Capture weapon," Izuku corrected almost absently.

"—whatever," Bakugou growled, "And even how he doesn't have to blink to deactivate his Quirk, but nothing about what Hijack said!" He turned to the vigilante with a scowl. "Are you sure that's how it worked?"

"I can't use my Quirk, so yes!" Shinsou snapped defensively. His shoulders were hunched as he glared at the blond, clearly uncomfortable for obvious reasons, but still sharply explaining, "He grabbed my face and activated Erasure, and then Kurogiri removed the damn muzzle and when he responded to me I couldn't feel any response from Brainwashing! I still can't feel it even now!"

His voice verged on hysteria at the end, high pitched and closer to a whine. Tears of frustration prickled the corners of his eyes, adding to his look of desperation as he began rubbing both sides of his neck. "It's gone, there's no reaction anymore, I can't use Brainwashing anymore and I have no idea how. And it's so obviously because of him, he kept apologizing over and over, and Kurogiri knew it would happen. He had to talk him into it because he didn't want to. And they say it's temporary and still there, but it feels like it's gone right now and I can't feel it."

He started pacing the room as he rambled, his speech peppered with low whines of distress. His agitation felt contagious, leaving Izuku just as on edge. "This makes no sense," he whispered. "It... It shouldn't work like that..."

Back home, Erasure definitely didn't work that way. There were countless situations where Aizawa could and would have used it if it did. Hell, he could think of five instances he'd be justified in using long-term Erasure on his classmates from just the last month living at the dorms! Erasure was based purely on making visual contact with the target, and had a notoriously short duration, especially after his injuries at USJ.

What Shinsou described... It shouldn't work that way. "He grabbed your face, so it must be related to skin to skin contact," he muttered to himself. "Otherwise he could just grab your shoulders, that would be less awkward. Needs both hands, maybe? Both palms, all ten fingers? It would be kind of weird to hold someone's face with two hands if it wasn't necessary, but then again, kinda weird do that with even one hand... But wait, what if that's to prompt eye contact?"

His head snapped up in realization, gears turning in his brain. "Right, holding someone's face would make it easier to make them make eye contact. Even if they don't instinctively look at your face, you can move their head to face you. So maybe a combination of eye contact and direct physical contact?" Yeah, that sounded pretty reasonable. Still didn't know whether it required both hands, fingers or palms, and all the other minutia, but that sounded plausible enough.

He turned to Shinsou to ask if they'd made eye contact, but faltered upon noticing his shocked stare. Bakugou was also staring at him, though he looked slightly more irritated than the vigilante. "You went on another mumble-rant," the blond informed him gruffly, and Izuku flinched.

"Oops. Uh, s-sorry..." He felt a bit sheepish now, fully aware how creepy most people found it, especially Bakugou. Shinsou meanwhile seemed to recover from his initial shock, exhaling a shaky breath.

"That... seems pretty plausible to me, I guess?" he ventured. "Kurogiri had to remove the mittens, so skin to skin contact seems pretty likely."

That had Izuku's head snapping up, suddenly realizing something. "That happened on Friday night," he said, feeling the blood drain from his face, and saw the others quickly make the same connection he had. "Kurogiri knows the handcuffs were off. But he didn't have them when I visited him after that. So why didn't he put them back on?" The handcuffs had still been hidden under the pillow (presumably, anyway) when Izuku saw him yesterday and today, so—why?

"Actually, hold on," Bakugou interjected. "Is that why they gave him those stupid mittens in the first place?" Izuku's mouth fell open in shock. That hadn't even occurred to him. He thought it was to make absolutely sure Aizawa couldn't do anything, like pick the shackle on his good leg or remove the collar.

"I... don't think it's common knowledge," Shinsou piped up after a moment. "I remember Kurogiri said something like 'no one would know' and he'd take care of it...? I guess he meant covering it up."

Izuku felt himself relax slightly as he thought it over. "Yeah, that'd make sense," he murmured. "It's not in my notebook, and the way it triggers seems pretty specific, so it's probably not common knowledge at all. I don't think anyone knows. Uh, do they?" He glanced at Seiko.

"The second facet of his Quirk is secret," she confirmed monotonously, and her choice of words made them all snap to attention.

"Back up a second," Bakugou said. "Did you fucking know about this?"

"Not specifically, but I suspected there was a... mutation," she replied, pausing on the last word. "I doubt even Shigaraki is aware. The only ones likely to know would be Kurogiri and Aiko."

The second name had a chill running down Izuku's spine, yet another realization hitting him. "Sushi," he whispered. "She removed the mittens so he could pet Su—Mion." He corrected himself at the last second, but his mind was racing as he turned to Shinsou. "Has Mion used her Quirk at all since Thursday?"

"...No, she hasn't," he confirmed with a frown, glancing at the bed. Izuku saw two blue glints underneath it; she had probably darted there to hide from Seiko. If she hadn't used her Quirk to flee from Seiko now, she probably couldn't use it at all. "So that's why Aiko took Mion to see him?"

"I guess so." Izuku had thought Mion snuck in and that was why Aizawa called out to Aiko, but looking back, he'd never actually said that. It was just as likely that Aizawa had asked Aiko to bring Mion over. Izuku didn't find that much better, since that meant Aiko had still visited Aizawa in the first place. He pushed away his frustration though as he turned back to Seiko and asked, "Why would they know, anyway?"

Seiko tilted her head to the side, her mouth curving into a small smile. "You should ask them instead," she said, and then took a step back as the shadows seemed to reach out to swallow her up. Within a moment she vanished into them, though Izuku doubted she had actually left. She just didn't want to answer any more questions. He settled for a sour glare at the shadows where she'd disappeared.

"Well, that barely helped," Bakugou grumbled. "If it's some big secret about his Quirk, I doubt Eraserhead would be up for talking about it either."

"Probably not," Izuku agreed, pulling his eyes away from Seiko's spot to frown at the others. "He... hasn't been too talkative, since then. Yesterday he said he just didn't sleep well and was tired, but this morning at breakfast he barely talked at all. I didn't think too much on it since I was kinda busy worrying about everything else." He winced as he remembered their conversation yesterday, adding, "Oh man, I even asked him for advice about your reaction..."

The others winced too, even Bakugou grimacing in discomfort. "Damn, that definitely wouldn't help with the guilt," Shinsou muttered. "And he definitely felt guilty..."

Yep, now Izuku felt even worse. "I don't think he ever planned to tell me if he didn't mention it then," he sighed. "So if I want more details, I guess that leaves asking Kurogiri or Aiko." Neither of which sounded ideal—

"Aiko," Shinsou and Bakugou decided in unison, catching Izuku off-guard.

"What?"

"Shittyraki might be the leader, but Mistface is basically the one who runs this joint," Bakugou said flatly, Shinsou nodding in agreement. "If he didn't mention it to you when the muzzle came off, chances are he doesn't want you to know. And that Aiko lady is suspicious, but she seems way more likely to talk about stuff. Plus they obviously have some sort of history."

"She covered up that Uraraka girl from the rest of the Alliance," Shinsou added. "She's shady for sure, but not as shady. Seems like she's more on your side specifically than theirs...?" He shrugged, seeming a bit uncertain, but they both raised good points.

"I guess I'll ask her today," Izuku relented. He still needed to look for that notebook anyway, and he could then update Uraraka and Todoroki in person.

Except half an hour later, he stepped through a portal to a still-empty apartment, because of course it was. This just couldn't be easy, could it? He felt his shoulders slump as he glared at the empty room. It didn't look like anything had even changed since his visit yesterday—oh, wait, there was a second piece of paper on the coffee table where he'd left the note yesterday.

He recognized one of the papers as the note he'd left in case she came back, but the other had Aiko's handwriting from the notebook. He practically snatched it off the table to read it.

'Hey Izuku, sorry I missed you! Had some work and was out until late. Got some more work today, too, so might not see you if you come by before dinnertime. I hope you found the notebook. If it's not in your room, it could be in one of the other apartments. Don't know which one it'd be, but no one comes here. This place is kinda empty, so good luck!'

If it's not in your room, it could be in any apartment.

It could be in any apartment.

Any. Apartment.

Izuku stared at the note for a long moment, and then released a long, drawn-out whine as the full implications set in. He knew the building had a total of five floors, with his and Aiko's apartments located on the fourth, and seemed to be rather large. He pulled out his phone and frantically texted Uraraka.

'You stayed at Aiko's building longer than I have. Do you know how many apartments are there?'

It only took about a minute to respond. 'I think there's six on each floor, so... 30, I think?'

Thirty. Thirty apartments to search, alone. Each with at least two rooms with varying amounts of furniture. He exited Aiko's apartment to peek into one of the apartments across the hall, and found what could only be described as something right out of a horror movie. Ratty, broken furniture and dust everywhere, shards of broken plates on the ground for some reason, and—what the hell, why was there a doll in the corner?

He actually yelped as he locked eyes with the creepy doll in a worn red kimono sitting in the corner, reflexively jumping away from the door. That had not been good for his heartrate, and he would be much better off not knowing that doll existed, thank you very much. When he risked another peek he still flinched and quickly pulled his head away. The doll had a crack on its face, why did that make it even scarier?

He whimpered as he sent another text, fingers shaking. 'Aiko's out and I think she'll be gone until dinner. Can you and Todoroki help me look for a notebook? PLEASE?'

He felt desperate as he waited for a response. Finally, after what felt like hours, she replied: 'How important is this notebook?'

Izuku grimaced. He hadn't wanted to explain everything about it, since that could potentially lead to revealing more about his Quirk than he'd like. Izuku still wasn't sure what the notebook contained, and if he did have One For All in this world... Well, he wasn't ready to explain that to anyone just yet.

Still, he wanted to find something concrete today. Make some sort of progress. So far today was just creating more questions than answers, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet. After a moment he made up his mind and started typing. 'Aiko said I used it to make notes on secret stuff, like my Quirk, Seiko, Aiko...'

He hit send and started writing a second message to explain how his counterpart had kept it secret from the Alliance, but barely typed three words before Uraraka replied. 'Okay, on our way! Be there in 5!'

Wait, what? Izuku wasn't upset, but he didn't expect her to agree so fast! As he stared at the phone in shock another message appeared: 'We can't stay long, but we'll search it top to bottom! See you in 10!'

And once again, Izuku was left staring at his phone in shock. Seriously, he did not expect her to agree so... instantly. It left him wary, because she had been wary of Aiko, too. She'd made it pretty clear she wanted to avoid the woman if at all possible after leaving. Something in his last text must have set her off, but what? His Quirk, Seiko, or—

"...Aiko?" he whispered, feeling a creeping chill wash over him. He felt a shudder run down his spine as several pieces clicked into place: Uraraka couldn't talk about the Alliance or Aiko herself, not even to him. Which meant there must be something urgent she knew, something even Izuku didn't know.

And suddenly, this situation felt a lot more dangerous. The need to find the notebook had officially multiplied.

More info on Aizawa's new Quirk facet! And more ominous foreshadowing and hints! Yay! :D

Bad news: taking a break next week. Since it's a milestone, I want Chapter 100 to be good, and also make sure the timing is right for the idea I have for it. I have one idea for it, and once it's published, there will be no going back. So I need to make sure it will pan out in the long run and won't remove opportunities for some other storytelling options. (Guess that also means an extra week for the contest!)

Question for next time: Who would be the most hilarious member of the Big Three to get kidnapped by Shigaraki, the runaways, or some other group in this story? (Inspired by a discussion on the Discord about Nejire terrorizing the runaways or VA with her questions, including one very overwhelmed Aizawa, and Amajiki just sulking the whole time)