AN:
This chapter took too long to write, mostly because I don't want to spoil myself to much of Demon Slayer. Next chapters will be faster.
"Early this morning, the Pro Hero: Slugger was found dead. The police have released a statement saying that they do not believe it was the Hero Killer due to how he was killed."
-Hero News Today
[Shota Aizawa - Eraserhead]
[April 26, 2242]
Eraserhead was not having a good day.
Crime had been up the day after that freak storm hit all of Japan. And on his day off too! He had planned to take it easy today, go to a cat café, drink some coffee, then head home. But nooooooo, all the crazies had to come out today. He had stopped three muggings, two assaults, and a bank robbery all within the past hour.
He was going to be exhausted tonight. All he wanted was one day a month, no students, no work, just relaxing. Currently there was nothing going on around him, so he could take a bit of a break from his impromptu patrol. Stopping at a café, he ordered a bagel and iced tea and sat down outside. Finally some peace and-
"ALL RIGHT! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
CRASH!
God fucking dammit.
[Rumi Usagiyama - Mirko]
Mirko was having a great day, though in hindsight she probably shouldn't be happy with crimes being committed.
What she did know is that something had stirred the underworld into a frenzy last night. Several incidents of fights breaking out all over Japan, gangs getting into turf wars over some foreigners intruding on their turf, even a few villains taking advantage of the chaos. She'd been leaping all over the city, checking her phone often for updates on any fights going on. That said, running around for the last few hours was making her hungry, especially after the last beatdown she gave some punks an hour ago.
Leaping from the rooftops, she fell toward the sidewalk, making sure no civilians were in her landing zone. Her powerful legs broke the fall and she looked around for a place to eat.
"Lets see, bar… can't get drunk yet, still work to do. Not in the mood for sushi…"
Then she spotted it, a sign on a restaurant next to a café. A poster with the most delicious looking carrot salad, and next to it a huge steak. She licked the drool from her lips. A huge steak and carrots! Her favorite food and a large dose of protein ought to keep her going for the rest of the day. Just as she opened the door to the establishment, her ears twitched.
"ALL RIGHT! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Then she heard the sound of someone being hit, hard. A blur of green flew behind her and through the next door café's window.
CRASH!
Glass splintered and shattered behind her as she whirled around, grinning maniacally. Lunch could wait for one more fight!
[June 4, 1914]
[Kamado Residence, Mount Kumotori]
It had been almost a year since the Demon Slayers had defeated Muzan. After they had recovered from the fight, the four demon slayers, Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke had retired to the old Kamado family home.
It had taken a few weeks to restore the abandoned home back into something livable. They even built a guest room for visitors.
Speaking of visitors…
"Miss Aoi!" Tanjiro waved as she approached. "What brings you here? You haven't visited in a few months!"
Aoi set down a box that she had carried up the mountain. "Greetings Tanjiro! I came to see how you all were doing, and to deliver a letter." She hands him a sealed envelope.
Before he could open the letter, the front door opened behind the two, and Nezuko stuck her head out. "Aoi! Welcome! Come inside, I'm sure you're tired from walking up the mountain. It is quite a long walk after all."
The three of them sat on the floor mat, sipping some tea that Nezuko brought for them.
Tanjiro opened the letter and began to read it as the girls talked. It was a letter from Mister Uzui.
Kamado Siblings
I hope you are doing well. I would like to extend an invitation to my estate to celebrate the birth of my first child! Her name is Kona Uzui, and she looks just like her mother, Hinatsuru. I'm sure the others will be happy to catch up with you. Also, if Zenitsu and Inosuke are still staying with you, make sure they come as well. The celebration will be held on January 15th. Don't be late!
-The flashiest guy you know, Tengen Uzui
PS Suma says hi.
"What does it say, brother?" Nezuko asked, taking a break from her conversation with Aoi.
He looked at his sister with a happy smile. "Mister Uzui and Hinatsuru had their first child! It's wonderful news! They have invited all of us to come and celebrate!" He stood up. "We have about two weeks to get ready, I'll let the others know." He exited the room, leaving the two girls.
"Would you like to join me in preparing some food for them, Aoi?" Nezuko asked. "I'm sure they will be starving when they get back.""I'd be happy to. I brought some ingredients with me too!" She replied, reaching for her box and following Nezuko into the kitchen.
"So what are those other two boys up to?" Asked Aoi, stirring a boiling pot of soup over the fire."Zenitsu is delivering the charcoal that my brother made, so he probably won't be back for a few hours. It's nice having someone that fast around, it lets us sell charcoal to people further away." She sighed, thinking about Zenitsu. He could be annoying sometimes, but she still liked him a lot. "And Inosuke is out in the forest, probably hunting or training." She replied, beginning to chop some vegetables.
Aoi fiddled with her necklace, acorns strung through string. The last time she had visited, Inosuke had given her them as a gift.
Nezuko took notice of what she was doing, smirking as she began to tease Aoi. "Are those the acorns that Inosuke gave you? You must really like him~"
Aoi's cheeks turned bright red in embarrassment. "So what if I do? Someone needs to take care of that idiot! And what is he even doing training anyways? The demons are all dead!"
Inosuke was always prideful and competitive. Out of the three boys, he was having the hardest time adjusting to civilian life. The others still practiced their breathing techniques purely for the health benefits and increased stamina total concentration constant offered.
He had been a bit stir crazy ever since they moved up to the mountains, and after a few weeks he eventually started hunting for wild game on the mountainside. Every few days he would get lucky, catching a boar, deer, or pheasant with his bare hands and bringing it back to be feasted upon.
Nezuko finished cutting some vegetables before turning to Aoi. "He's… not adjusted very well. Still looking to be the strongest and all that. I think he just needs something else to take his mind off of it." She smirks. "You know, we don't leave for Uzui's for about another week and a half. How about you join us? I know Inosuke would appreciate it. He always says your cooking is the best."
Aoi blushed, thinking back to about a year ago.
"If you're hungry, eat this. This plate is just for you, so eat from it whenever you want. But stop stealing food!"
Following that incident, she would set aside a special plate for him, until the day he departed from the Butterfly Mansion. Inosuke had always been pretty easy to read, and she could tell that he liked eating the food she prepared for him by the smile and blush on his cheeks when he was scarfing it down. It made her heart flutter whenever she saw it.
A few months later she took a vacation, visiting the group at the Kamado house. Inosuke seemed to be in a good mood while she was there. She had tried to spend as much time with him as she could, but he was always running off to explore or hunt. The only time they got to spend together was when she cooked for him.
Her eyes filled with resolve, Aoi made a decision. If Inosuke wouldn't act, she would. "You wouldn't mind me staying after those two weeks… would you?" She asked Nezuko.
Nezuko hid her smile. "Of course not! You can stay as long as you would like!"
She was fully on board to getting Aoi and Inosuke together, he deserved happiness too. Now she just had to get Kanao and her brother to hook up as well. With any luck, the opportunity would present itself at Uzui's party.
"Kenkenken!"
The mating call of the copper pheasant. It was a nice and juicy one too. Fat enough to feed two people… or one very hungry Inosuke Hashibira.
He had been stalking the bird for the last twenty minutes, waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce. Licking his lips, he got ready to-
CRACK!Startled, the bird flapped its wings and soared into the air."Inosuke! I followed your scent here." He heard the voice of his friend."Dammit Gonpachiro!" He yelled. "I just about had that stupid bird!" He was really looking forward to freshly cooked meat tonight too. Now he would be stuck with the same old food they had in storage.
Tanjiro profusely apologized for ruining his hunt, before telling him about Uzui's child and the upcoming celebration..
"So Mister Flashypants had a kid? Why should I care about that?" He questioned. "People have kids all the time!""Celebrating the birth of a child is a wonderful thing!" Tanjiro exclaimed, waving his arms wildly. "It's a brand new life, ready to experience the world!" He rested his head against his hand. "Anyway, let's go back to the house. I bet Nezuko and Aoi have some food ready for us by now.""Huh? Aoi's here?" He shouted. 'He should have led with that.'
Later that evening, after a long day of charcoal deliveries, Zenitsu returned just in time for dinner. After they all had eaten, they caught each other up on the latest news from the other former members of the demon slayer corps.
The next week went on as normal. After all, they only needed to leave a few days before the party to arrive on time. Tanjiro and Zenitsu took some time off so that they could hang out. During one of those days Inosuke wandered into the kitchen where Aoi was preparing the meals for the day.
He crawled up to the table, reaching up to steal a bite to eat. Instead, he received a spoon to his hand.
"Ow!""What do you think you're doing?" He looked up to see Aoi glaring at him, spoon raised to whack his hand again. "Didn't you see the plate I left for you?"
His face flushed red in embarrassment. He had forgotten that she was one of the few people who could sense him sneaking around.
"I was hungry…" he said, trying not to meet her gaze while he rubbed his hand. Talking with Aoi always made him feel weird. He did like her, and he had shown his appreciation by giving her the shiniest acorns he could find. For some odd reason she made them the necklace she was wearing now. Why would you wear acorns?
Inosuke could categorize people into four groups: friend, enemy, rival, or potential underling. Combined with his natural competitive personality, he had never really thought of romance. It just wasn't something he was emotionally built to deal with.
Something that was painfully obvious to Aoi. She knew no matter what she did that Inosuke would be too bullheaded to actually admit his feelings for her. "Do I need to remind you again? I told you I would leave a plate for you. You don't need to steal other people's food dummy!" She placed her hands on her hips. "I guess I'll just have to stay here to make sure you don't forget.""Whaddya mean stay here?" He asked.
Aoi sighed. This was it, all or nothing. "Ugh… let me put this in a way you will easily understand.
I. Like. You." she asserted, poking him in the face with each word. "I'm not an idiot. I know you feel the same way." She stared at him as his face rapidly shifted to a bright red hue.
And then he ran out of the room…
"Aaaaaaaaaak!"… only to run back in, slamming into the wall with a headfirst. He stood up, blood leaking from his forehead."Wha-" She sputtered."I like you too!" He yelled. "Your food is delicious and you are very strong!"
Of course the only way he would confess to her is by being confronted about it first, followed by him nearly concussing himself. It was brash, idiotic… but so very Inosuke.
"Pffft! Hahahahah!"
Aoi burst out into laughter, wiping a tear from her eye. "You idiot." she said, reaching for a towel to gently wipe the blood off his face. They were standing close together now, blushing furiously. Then they heard the sound of a high five coming from the other room.
"Told you she would be the one to confess." Nezuko said. The trio of Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Zenitsu's heads poked out from the door.
Both Aoi and Inosuke turned beet red. "How long have you been watching!"
Zenitsu popped out from behind the door frame. "We saw everything. Who knew that Inosuke was such a softie- ack!" He keeled over as Inosuke had rushed over and punched him in the gut. Following that he chased the Kamado siblings around the house, waving his fist at them.
The days after Inosuke and Aoi confessed went by quickly. The two spent most of their time together, and they both seemed happier. Inosuke spent less time out in the woods training and hunting. He even brought back some flowers he picked that matched Aoi's hair. Eventually, the time for their journey to Tengen Uzui's celebration grew near, and they departed for their multiple day trek across the countryside.
The journey to the Uzui manor was largely uneventful. The weather was nice and sunny for the three days of travel, and they had no issue finding a place to rest for the night. After three days of traveling they finally arrived.
The manor was about as large as the demon slayer headquarters. As a former hashira, he had been paid rather handsomely for his service. In addition, his family's history as shinobi meant that they were very well off, to the point of having contacts with the Imperial Family of Japan.
Waiting for the five at the gate was Tengen Uzui himself, dressed in fine silks and sporting his bejeweled eyepatch.
"Welcome, my friends! I trust your journey here was safe?" He asked as he approached the group with a smile.
Tanjiro attempted to bow respectively, only to be stopped by former Sound Hashira."No need to bow Kamado! Especially after all you have done." He slapped the boy on the back, turning to the others.
"Come on in all of ya! The party is gonna get started so-"
Tengen froze. He heard the sound of thunder. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. His gaze shot over to Zenitsu, who shared a similar look of confusion. He heard it as well.
"That's not his Thunder Breathing… or a storm."
An ominous feeling washed over the six of them. Tanjiro could smell the winds changing. Inosuke could also sense something was wrong.
"Something's coming." Zenitsu exclaimed, gripping the hilt of his sword. The group moved into a defensive position around the entrance of the mansion.
The wind suddenly picked up, causing the flags hung around the mansion to flutter in the wind. Tengen slid some kunai out the sleeve of his kimono into his good hand, tensing as he heard faint whispers in the wind.
Nezuko and Aoi moved behind the men, making sure that they were out of the way for any fighting that were to break out.
The howl of the wind was broken by a booming voice and a flash of light opening in front of them.
FWOOOOOOOOOOSH!
N̵̺͍̝̲̜̫̈́́͂̄͛E̶̼̬̠̺͍̲̘͇͂͗̕̚T̴̙͉̖͇̯̩͙̽̆̈́͑͜R̸̞̆̅̆̒͑A̵̞̼̹͚͂! ̵͚̬̯͉͆͐̈́͒̿͝ K̷͓̞̤̾̊̒͘H̸̦̤̙̭͈̤̎͐R̵̨̫̖̼̭͍̂̆̄A̴͖̭̿! ̶̠͎͎̺̉̈̿͆̍̾̓ J̴͉͎̭̳̇͗̿A̶̛̦̲̓͗͗́Ḩ̷̧̟͚͍̯̠̰̄́̌̏͘͠͝U̸̧̹͚̮̲̿̈́̋̂̅͜ͅ! ̴̧̃ F̴͕̤̺̘̘̤̜̈́̈͗̇̚͝Ǎ̷̗̜̬̞̳̬̂̀͝S̶̛̖̪̭̯̺̔̋̃S̴̪̥͔̝̎͌! ̵͎̎͂̋ͅL̶͈̤͎̬͑͑̾̏̌͌͛͠O̵̫̘̍͂͋̎͘͜͜H̸̰͇͈̻͙̯̥̉̽̇͌̕K̶̮̝̳̼̫̺̀́̓!
A tear in the fabric of space-time opened before them, and a massive grey hand reached out. It moved faster than almost any of them could react, heading straight for Tanjiro.
"Look out!"
"Brother!"
"Kamado!"
Suddenly, Tanjiro was sent flying backward, out of the hand's grasp. Tengen caught him with his stump of an arm, hurtling his kunai into the massive appendage to no effect. He looked up, saved from the grasp of the eldritch appendage.
Then he saw why. Inosuke had shoved him out of the path of the hand, only to be grabbed himself.
"Inosuke!" He cried out, reaching unsheathing his blade and leaping toward the arm. The rift it was protruding through began to glow as cubes of red began to attack its ontological concept of space. The arm quickly began to retract itself back into the timestream to avoid being severed by the weakened portal.
Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash - Sixfold!
Water Breathing, First Form: Second Form: Water Wheel!
Both blades sliced through the air, only to splinter upon impact with the fingers. The weapons of mortals stood no chance against what could be considered a god. Bolts of void energy blasted the two slayers away.
Inosuke struggled in the hand's grasp, dislocating both his arms with a pop as he tried to wriggle his way out to no avail.
"Agh! Let me go, you stupid hand!" Inosuke yelled. He managed to free an arm, smacking the hilt of his sword against one of the fingers. The grip around him tightened, making it hard for him to breathe. The last thing he saw before being yanked back through the portal was Aoi trying to reach for him, being held back by Nezuko.
"INOSUKE!"
Aoi fell to her knees, sobbing as the tear in space-time sealed itself up. She grabbed on to Nezuko, burying her face in the other girl's kimono to muffle the sound of crying. Tanjiro and Zenitsu struggled to their feet, clutching the hilts of their shattered katanas.
Tengen broke the silence as Giyu and Makio ran outside, having heard the loud noise.
"WHAT THE FLASHY FUCK WAS THAT?"
[The Man in The Wall]
It had missed both of the targets in the tree. Having sacrificed two limbs to reach into the archive of history, the attempt to damage the timestream by removing key humans had failed. Still, two pieces of history had been altered. It watched as the goddess tore her attention away from the battle, distracted by the disruption to her universal rules. The tree groaned as time adjusted itself to the change.
It scoffed. "Limiting a universe to linear time, having only the present exist and the rest archived to the memory of the world. Where is the fun in that?"
Fortunately, it was not bound to linear time, and that was something that could be weaponized against order. It took advantage of the goddess's loss of focus to reach into her mind, searching for a weakness. While it had caught the deity of this universe off guard, she was quickly gaining the upper hand.
The deal with the Tenno had granted it enough power to punch through the barrier to the closest neighboring universe. It was a seal designed to stop universal incursions, but someone powerful could puncture through with enough effort. However, the energy required to do so would be a death sentence to any god, demon, or creature that did, leaving them too weak to escape once they entered.
Which meant that it had to kill the goddess before then. It would die, but a piece would always live on inside the Tenno girl, helping her grow into a fine successor. If the goddess survived, she would purge the Tenno. It would have to be a mutually assured destruction then.
It smiled, finally finding a weakness in her mind. This would do nicely.
[Inosuke Hashibira]
[April, 2242, An hour earlier]
Inosuke awoke in a heap of refuse with a splitting headache. The scent was horrible, unknown but foul smelling odors assaulted his nose, even through the mask. He sat up, taking in his surroundings. It was some sort of alleyway, made out of material he had never seen before. It was all brick and metal, with dull brown and grey colors.
There was a metal staircase above him, attached to the side of the alley. Pushing off the mound of black shiny bags and crumpled brown boxes, he stood up. His head buzzed with noise, unfamiliar sounds coming from all directions.
It was overwhelming.
With a flip, grabbed on to the staircase above, pulling himself up before running up the wall to the rooftop above. Approaching the edge of the building, he took in the surrounding landscape.
"What the hell?" he muttered. The city was massive. Far larger than the Yoshiwara Entertainment District, stretching for kilometers. It was a seemingly endless expanse of glass and stone as far as he could see.
Beep Beep!
Startled by the sudden noise, he looked down to the streets. Large metal creatures clogged the streets, and hundreds of people walked the sidewalk. He shook his head, thinking what he saw was a hallucination.
"Does that guy have a fish for a head?"
His gaze flickered wildly, as his confusion grew. People with horns coming out of their heads, snake tails, some guy with no arms or legs floating by himself.
"This has to be some sort of dream."
Everything around him looked too alien to be real. He decided that it had to be a dream. There was no other alternative that he could think of.
"Well then, time to show this dream world the power of Lord Inosuke!" He shouted, jumping on the edge of the roof. He broke his fall on an awning, using it like a trampoline to propel bounce and startling those dining underneath. People finally noticed when he landed with a flip on the sidewalk.
Said schoolgirls were, understandable, terrified by the sudden shirtless boy with a boar head who landed in front of them. Of course, they screamed.
"Who is that?"
"Is that a hero?"
"He looks so scary. Is that a mask or his face?"
A crowd had gathered, drawn by the sudden movement and the startled screams of the girls. Inosuke paid no attention to the murmurs. Instead he focused on filtering out all the background noise to try and find a fight.
Beast Breathing: Seventh Form: Spatial Awareness!
There. One hundred meters away, the sound of a fight going down. He began to cackle like a madman, letting the wraps around his swords fall to the wayside.
"Watch out, cause I'm comin' through!" He hollered. The crowd backed away as he whipped out his dual katanas and leaped into the street, jumping across the tops of cars and trucks to the dismay of their passengers.
Around a block away, the Bamboo Hero: Takeshita was having a little trouble. Currently two villains, who had just failed a drive-by kidnapping, were resisting arrest. The first one, Ran Izumii, was giving him the most trouble. Izumii's quirk allowed him to turn his fists into sledgehammer heads, which could easily shatter any bamboo Takeshita made. The second man had the head of a snake and could spit paralyzing venom, which had already stopped another hero who had come to aid him.
He dodged another swing of the hammer, the impact crushing the pavement as it narrowly missed.
"Hey asshole! Stop dodgin' my hammers wontcha?!" He cackled. "I wanna hear your bones crack!"
The Bamboo Hero looked around. The civilians were cleared out by now, Izumii on his left, snake on his right. He could take them both but it would be close. The hammers were easy to dodge due to their weight, and whenever the other man spat his venom he made a hissing sound.
"How about this? I'll give you both the chance to surrender peacefully before I have to take you down."
All he got in response was laughter from Izumii. "You dumbass, we have you outnumbered!" He pointed his hammer fist at Takeshita. "What the fuck are you going to be able to- ACK!"
Only to be interrupted by a sudden kick to the head, sending him flying into a light post and knocking him out.
"Haha! Another foe vanquished by the great Inosuke! Bow down and show your appreciation!"
Both the hero and villain were dumbstruck, the teen had moved so quickly that none of them had time to react. The villain recovered from his shock first.
"You basssssstard!" The snakeman hissed before spitting a wad of venom at the boy's back.
Takeshita's eyes widened. If the venom touched the boy, he would be paralyzed and the remaining villain would be able to use him as a hostage. He wasn't close enough to stop it in time. "Look out kid!"
The hero's worries were for naught, as Inosuke easily dodged the spit like he could sense it coming and flinging one of his serrated blades at the attacker. "Nice try, but you can't get the drop on me!" He exclaimed as his sword sunk into the villain's shoulder, pinning him to the wall.
"You little ssssshit!" The man groaned in pain. Blood flowed from the wound, staining his shirt red. Luckily he had not hit an artery.
"Welp, time to finish off the monster!" Inosuke exclaimed suddenly, charging toward the impaled villain. Any thoughts that this kid was a hero student went right out the window after that. He was either a vigilante or even worse, some quirkist who hunted those with mutation quirks. Takeshita leaned more toward the latter since the boy called the villain a monster.
Luckily, he had recovered from the surprise and was able to grow some bamboo shoots to stop the blade from beheading the snakeman. The bamboo grew quickly as the blade passed through, making the slice miss.
"Stop! I won't allow you to kill this man!"
"Hyaa!" Inosuke pulled his sword from the bamboo. "So, another foe comes to challenge me? This dream rocks! Endless chances for me to show that I am the strongest!"
"Oh fuck, this kid is delusional." It was better than him being some psychopath who cut up mutants. "Still, he's waving swords around in public and has already injured two people, even if they were villains. I will just have to treat him accordingly."
Inosuke was excited. Finally a real fight. Not just picking off those other two amateurs. He reached for his other sword, pulling it from the shoulder of the snake guy he had thrown it at. The man promptly passed out from the pain. Bamboo guy had already created two more shoots of bamboo to use as weapons to face him. Good thing bamboo was so easy to slice through with a sword.
Takeshita wasn't about to give him the upper hand. He knew that against a sharp blade, his bamboo would be sliced like butter. Therefore, he needed to outmaneuver him. Bamboo was flexible and he could create rods with longer reach than the swords.
Takeshita didn't give the boy a chance to strike first. He threw the bamboo shoot in his left hand like a spear, forcing him to dodge. The hero closed the distance between the two, growing the remaining bamboo shoot into a quarterstaff.
Inosuke dodged the throw, the rod embedded itself into the wall behind him. 'This guy's good. But nowhere near as strong as me!' he thought with satisfaction and a bit of annoyance. The people and monsters in this dream that he had fought were interesting, but there wasn't any true challenge to them.
The fight spilled over into the next street. Inosuke sliced the bamboo staff in half, forcing the hero to retreat.
"I need to end this quickly before a civilian gets hurt. Time for my ultimate move!" Takeshita thought, dodging another slash from the boar masked teen. He pulled all the bamboo shoots off his belt and threw them into the air.
"Forest Formation!" he shouted, causing all the bamboo shoots in the air to rapidly grow into large bamboo spears. Inosuke's senses allowed him to dodge the spears as they slammed into the sidewalk, creating a small localized forest of bamboo. He charged in, prepared to take the boy down.
Inosuke, however, used the forest to his advantage, bouncing around the shoots like a maniac and building momentum. By the time Takeshita noticed it was too late, as Inosuke used a bamboo shoot like a springboard, slamming headfirst into the pro hero's gut.
"ALL RIGHT! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Takeshita screamed as he was sent flying through the window of a nearby café, his last thoughts before falling unconscious being the incredulity of being defeated by a random teenager.
There was a man on his bagel. That was the least concerning thing that had happened in the past few seconds, but it was the most egregious. Never mind the fact he was covered in broken glass, which miraculously had managed not to cut him, or the panicking civilians.
Aizawa closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "I sit down for three minutes and this happens. I should've stayed home."
He vaguely recognized the unconscious hero on his food. Takeshita, not a very popular hero. Pretty sure he has a quirk that lets him grow and manipulate bamboo. He wasn't a pushover D-Lister hero either, so whoever took him out had to have some skill.
Aizawa calmed his twitching eye, pulled down his goggles, and leaped through the shattered storefront window. The perpetrator was pretty obvious, granted that he was already fighting someone else.
Mirko had leapt into the fight as soon as she saw the kid emerge from a small patch of bamboo that had sprouted up on the street. Her fighting instincts honed in on him as a threat immediately. Jumping into the air with her powerful legs
"LUNA FALL!"
Sensing the incoming attack from above, Inosuke dodged just in time for the Rabbit Hero's foot to crater the sidewalk where he had been standing. "Woah! That almost hit me!"
"How about you put down the swords, kid. Unless you want to get pounded into the street." So far this was just an ordinary villain encounter, and he hadn't killed anyone yet. Plus he was just a teenager, so she didn't want to hurt him if she could.
Her train of thought was interrupted when Inosuke recovered, pointing one of his swords at her. "Finally, a worthy opponent! Fight me!" He bellowed, steam escaping the nostrils of his mask.
Mirko cringed as she was hit with deja-vu. He reminded her too much of her days as the vigilante Tiger Bunny. Animal themed mask? check. Always looking for a fight? be fair, she never went after heroes though. "Don't say I didn't warn ya, runt! I've been itching for a good fight all day!"
The two began to fight, Mirko expertly weaving between Inosuke's swords, keeping him on the defensive. She had a higher speed than Takeshita, which meant that he didn't have enough room to swing his sword before she closed in.
Eraserhead watched the fight with growing annoyance. Mirko was a capable hero who had quickly risen through the ranks. He fully expected her to be in the top ten in a year or two at the rate she was going. However, she was known for her love of fighting strong opponents. Currently this was the cause of his annoyance as she had eschewed common sense to draw out the fight with a child. A very skilled child from what he had witnessed but a child nonetheless.
And now he was involved with this mess all because he stopped for a damn bagel. If Mirko was one of his students he would have expelled her like this year's Class 1-A. Despite her effectiveness, she was having fun and causing unnecessary property damage instead of focusing on disarming and restraining the boy. Once the two separated he would do it himself so he could get out of this mess and go home.
Meanwhile the two continued their fight. "Damn, this kid's got some stamina keeping up with me." She thought. Her ears twitched as she heard his odd breathing again, dodging another swipe of his serrated blade. "Whenever he breathes his attacks get faster and more precise… must be his quirk." Gritting her teeth, she dodged his next attack, bending back as the sword passed over her chest. She backflipped away, taking her eyes off him for a split second as she landed.
The boy was a few meters away, crouched with a sword in hand.
Wait… one sword?
She heard the whooshing in the air before she even saw it, her ears alerting her to the sword spinning through the air about to hit her. With a spin she kicked the incoming blade to the side, eyes widening as she realized it was a feint. She raised her arms to protect her head, and a vision of them being severed at the wrist flashed before her eyes.
Thankfully the strike never came as Inosuke attempted to dodge at the last second, as Eraserhead's capture scarf wrapped around him.
"Ah! Worm belt!" The boy yelled as his momentum was halted, flopping to the ground, his sword clattering off to the side.
Mirko glared at the other hero. "Hey! Whaddya think you're doin' interrupting my fight!" She leaned down and grabbed the bindings wrapped around the boy, holding him in the air as he flailed around. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't seem to break free.
"I got tired of watching your irrational fight. You could have ended it easily if you didn't decide to have fun. You probably would have lost your arms if I didn't step in." He started to reel in his capture scarf, but Mirko wouldn't let go of the boy. "Quit messing around so I can drag him off to the police station. This was supposed to be my day off."
Inosuke decided that this was the opportune time to attempt an escape from Mirko's grasp. He leaned back while she was distracted and headbutted her in the face, breaking her nose with a sickening crunch.
"MOTHERFUCKER!" She clutched her bloody nose and dropped Inosuke on the sidewalk. His movement was halted as the rabbit hero stepped on his back to keep him from worming away. Eraserhead rolled his eyes as he watched this all unfold.
Inosuke's emotions were running hot. He never lost in his dreams, he always beat whoever he came up against and was surrounded by people telling him that he was the strongest demon slayer ever.
So why was he tied up and pinned to the ground by some weird lady with rabbit ears?
The gears in his head turned, trying to figure out what was going on. Something about all this wasn't right. This couldn't be real, could it? The real world didn't look like this, with all these buildings and metal monsters moving people around. Real people didn't look like snakes unless they were some sort of demon, and they all died with Muzan. Plus it was daytime, so they would've disintegrated
"Wait a minute…" Both heroes looked down, seeing that the kid was finally saying something. "This isn't a dream is it?"
Mirko scoffed."The hell you talkin' about runt? Of course this is real!"
"That's what someone who was in a dream would say!" He shouted back.
Eraserhead glared at the restrained teen. "That kind of excuse isn't going to fly, kid. Especially not with the stunt you pulled. Attacking three pro heroes, possession of unregistered weaponry, destruction of property, and illegal quirk usage. Don't think we'd be stupid enough to think you believed this was all a dream."
Inosuke looked up in genuine confusion. "Eh? The hell is a quirk?"
…
…
Both heroes stared at him. Inosuke stared back.
Years of hero experience had taught Aizawa how to read people's body language, excellent for interrogations or to tell if someone was lying. As far as he could tell, this kid was genuinely confused. Sighing, he yanked his capture cloth, causing the masked teen to spin in the air before being caught by his arm. Both wrists were quickly cuffed, and he was shoved toward Mirko.
"I'm going home. I'm not dealing with this shit today."
This was Mirko's problem now. He was going to go have a long nap at home, cuddling with his cats. Hopefully he'd never see that boy again.