chapter12 : not dead yet
3:05 pm UA
Shinsou had been in class, he had gotten a call.
The protocol for calls during class in UA is that if your phone rings in class you have to answer it on speaker.
This caused multiple students who got many calls to silence their phones out of embarrassment.
Shinsou had never bothered since none of his contacts would call him during school unless it was an emergency.
"This is Musutafu police, calling for one Shinsou Hitoshi. Could I speak with him?" a police officer says over the phone.
"Uh yes, that's me? What do you need?" he says confused as his classmates stare at him worried, Aizawa is now staring as well.
"I am sorry to inform you Hanako Suzuki died this morning at 11:40 am after being caught in a villain attack. Eyewitness accounts from two past classmates of his depict him getting caught in the wreckage but due to the nature of the villain's quirk, no bodies were found. We did however find his phone so we were able to contact you all the other numbers were unavailable."
"What the heck do you mean he is dead!?" he shouts and Aizawa signals the rest of the class to leave.
They do, well most of them…
"I know this is hard to hear—" he hangs up.
Hitoshi sits there, frozen.
"Hey, kid you good?" Aizawa walks towards him "Kid?"
"What the fuck." bakugou mutters and calls someone
"Kid, listen to me, it's okay to breathe," Aizawa says, trying to calm him down.
…
"YOU FUCKING NERD!" bakugou yells over the phone.
"Bakugou not now!" Aizawa yells
…
bakugou stomps over to Shinosu and shoves his phone to his ear
Shinsou looks up at Bakugou confused and rattled "Hello?" he says in a distant voice
"Hitoshi?" A sunny voice says from the phone now on speakerphone
Hitoshi drops the phone.
Aizawa is startled by the situation.
Bakugou catches his phone and puts it up to his ear.
"Yup, pretty sure he recognized you by your voice which is funny because he didn't before." bakugou comments to the person on the phone.
"Oh that makes sense, I probably wouldn't have either a quirk made it." he says to the person "Oh shut up.."
"Then go! — *sigh* I'll bring him, love you too." Bakugou tells the person on the phone.
"I KNEW IT WAS HIM!" Shinsou says loudly which was strange for him though currently his emotions were going haywire.
Aizawa was SERIOUSLY confused. "What the heck happened, problem child?.." He asks neither of them in particular.
Poor Aizawa can feel a headache coming on.
"Our friend just died" Bakugou deadpanned
"Who was on the phone?" Aizawa asks.
"My Boyfriend." Bakugou deadpans and Shinsou is wheezing hysterically
Aizawa promptly walks out of the classroom.
Well, he was right about his assumptions that bakugou was dating someone... That's good.
He needs vodka. Or rum... Hell, he could go for both at this point.
"Class dismissed," he says to the rest of the class as he passes them.
The bell rings on cue 5 seconds later.
….
"You are coming with me, mind bastard," Bakugou says, pulling Shinsou Behind him and out of the school.
"Where are we going?" shinsou asks the blond.
"To my fucking boyfriend's house," he answers.
"Why did they say Hanako is dead?" Shinsou asks after a moment.
"HANAKO is," he says and the rest of the walk is silent other than the sound of their feet as they walk.
They arrive at a building and head up the stairs bakugou stomping his way up.
They get to what seems to be the top floor and walk to one of the many doors.
Bakugou opens the door and they walk through, Shinsou sees a green-haired boy sitting at a table on his computer.
The boy turns to them "Hello Hitoshi, my name is Izuku Midoriya! Nice to officially meet you!"
Shinsou squinted his eyes "Wait, Hanako?"
"Yup!" he smiles brightly.
"The police called and said you had died, what the hell happened?!" he says walking over to where the teen was sitting.
"Well you see, I died or they thought I did. My name was originally Izuku Midoriya. After I died I made new identities, one of which you met Hanako Suzuki! My other identity is Akari Manka whom you also know from the 'Vigilant Cat' Cafe if you thought I looked familiar that's why. Now that that identity is gone I may as well make a new one."
Silence.
"Wow. I don't think I would have ever guessed that." Shinsou says to Izuku "So are you quirkless then, or..?"
"No, but I would rather not tell you what my quirk is for the time being. But yes I have a quirk, it's a rather fragile matter and I wouldn't want to put you in danger," he says then grabs a can of hairspray and sprays it on his hair.
He adds some dark makeup under his eyes and more freckles to his face and finally he puts in red contacts.
"You are fast, geez" shinsou says, a bit surprised.
"Meet Akatani Mikumo! You both can call me Akatani or Yamikumo. This is my new identity!" he says and turns the computer to face them.
"Wha–" Bakugou starts only to be cut off by his very own boyfriend.
"Shh! So! As you can see, this is the information for my new identity. A friend of mine made this!
My parents are currently working abroad and I have their permission to live with Katsuki Bakugou and his family. My parents will send money to me each month.
There is a picture of me, my quirk is a minor speed enhancement, it has my birth certificate and I have a passport on the way.
My fake parents' phone numbers and names are listed there." he points to a spot on the screen.
"There is more but it doesn't matter in your cases"
"How the hell do you have this shit?!" Hitoshi speaks loudly "This is illegal last I checked!"
"Don't worry dude! I am dead, remember? The law doesn't apply to dead people!" Izuku says good-naturedly
"No, no you fucking aren't dead that doesn't work I- what the heck!" he says exasperated.
"Oi! Language!" Bakugou snaps causing a glare from Hitoshi
"Hitoshi," Izuku says with the sickeningly sweetest smile he has ever seen.
The temperature of the room dropped.
"Y-yeah?..." Since when had he spoken like that to anyone, why was he so afraid? And since when did his friend become so... unnervingly sweet?
"Oh, nothing just wanted to stop you two from fighting." he smiles brightly.
"Right…" bakugou says also recovering from the close encounter with death.
"Now that I think about it, wasn't your body the one found on the beach?" Hitoshi says to Izuku changing the topic
"Yep, it seems my father disposed of it after a while. I don't know how he kept it in such good shape for so long though," he says, sounding somewhat bored.
"Oh sorry,"
"Nah don't worry about it, it's all in the past now," Izuku's eyes flash with something dark.
"Well, you should probably get out, you don't want to worry your family right!?" Bakugou says then pushes him out the door.
The last thing Shinsou hears before the blond shoves him out the door is a frantic voice yelling "Kacchan you bastard he was a guest!"
It seems the angry blonde has done a favor for him so now he owes him, Shinsou supposes that not telling anyone about what he has found out today is a start.
…
That night:
"Hey, kid?" Aizawa says to the vigilante currently sitting on the edge of the roof
"Ah! Oh-Eraser! H-hey! Didn't see ya there.." Verdant responds
"You good? You seem kind of out of it," Aizawa asks.
"Yeah, I am fine just, a lot on my mind I guess." the vigilante responds not quite paying attention.
"Want to talk about it?" Aizawa sits down next to Verdant
"Uh well I mean," he looks at Eraserhead "sure…"
Aizawa nods to the kid.
"Well, I feel like I am going to get the people I care for in trouble, or worse.." he says looking up at the stars.
"Because of this? You can always stop being a vigilante, that was always your decision, wasn't it?" He has a strong feeling about where this conversation is heading.
"No not just that, I don't worry about my vigilante career endangering anyone other than my fellow vigilantes. I'm confident that whoever comes my way because of being a vigilante will be easy enough to take down even if it requires me to ask for Help from My Friends." he picks at his hands.
"Then who?" Aizawa asks
"My father," the vigilante says and Aizawa can tell he regrets what he said the moment he said it.
"How come?" Aizawa asks now worried about this kid
"My father is a monster. If he finds out I'm alive—and with my awful luck, it's bound to happen soon— I know exactly what he'll do. He'll rip me away from everything I hold dear and destroy everyone I love, just like he did before. Back then, I was too young for him to understand who mattered to me, so he took my mother instead. Watching her die is something I never want to go through again. And I want to save people from suffering the way I did in the past."
He stands up "That's why I am a Vigilante ya know?"
"Just turn yourself in and we can protect you from him. I'll make sure personally he will never get to you, just please come with me." Aizawa says hand reaching for his captured weapon
"Hey did you know, I used to wear the yellow cardigan?" he says changing the subject.
"Don't change the subject" Aizawa says though he is confused about what the vigilante meant by that.
"Well, I really should be off! Goodnight Eraser!" with that the vigilante jumps away, Aizawa chases him but eventually gives up.
…
It isn't long before izuku finds a crime, there's a villain with a gun who seems to be making a deal.
"Hello criminals, what I am about to do should be relatively painless. If you just do what I say." The Vigilante says, jumping on the first Criminal and knocking him down. He walks toward the gun.
"I know you! You are that vigilante from the videos!" the villain yells.
Suddenly the Vigilante hears a gunshot and a second later he feels a piercing pain on his side. He looked down only to see blood, now that was not good. The villains get away but that's the least of his worries.
"Shit." He got shot and he might bleed out because of his disease now that is bad luck.
He might end up dying twice today. How great.
He reaches for his phone and calls the first Contact that pops up hoping for it to be his boyfriend. "Hey Kacchan I'm heading to my apartment I got shot could u come over and help-"
"Uhhh Verdant? I think you got the wrong number… " (Kacchan again?)
Izuku hung up and called Katsuki for real this time, he didn't care at the moment that he had just accidentally called Eraserhead, he was just too out of it.
"Hey, Kacchan I'm heading to my apartment. I got shot. Could you come over and help me out?"
"YOU GOT WHAT!? I'm heading there now" comes the yelling yelling voice from the phone.
Izuku was about to respond when Kacchan hung up so he ran. He ran, pressing his hand on the wound so it wouldn't bleed too much.
….
Izuku never made it home that day, he fainted after losing too much blood. But he was lucky that he had called his boyfriend beforehand.
Once Katsuki found that his boyfriend was not anywhere in the building he went to Amane, he banged on their door for 2 minutes before they opened it.
After a short conversation, the Vigilante group was off to find they're missing member.
Luckily it didn't take them too long, Amane was able to pinpoint his location and they found him lying in a pile of blood.
He was barely alive and they couldn't move him it seemed the healing quirk he had acquired was the only thing keeping him alive it made more blood so that he wouldn't die though just as fast as his body was producing blood it was also losing it so they needed to close up the wound before the cork got overused and stopped.
Irene ran up to the body with a bag of medical supplies, she had always wanted to be a doctor but due to her quirk medical schools would never allow her to even try.
That didn't mean that she didn't study on her own; she knew a lot in the medical field and sewing up this injury should be easy.
Izuku's luck quirk was currently off, thank God it wasn't on when he was unconscious, unlike the healing Quirk.
She managed to sew it up rather quickly after taking out the bullet.
…
one day later
Izuku had yet to wake up, Katsuki had school and the others had work, Irene had promised to stay by Izuku while he recovered in case he were to wake up.
Katsuki was quiet at school which made a few of his classmates worry he told them to "fuck off" and they did.
The wound was bad though his healing quirk was a major factor in his recovery Irene had told the group that he would likely wake up by the end of the day.
He did.
The group was overjoyed to see that their friend had finally woken up after just a day. They'd all become so worried and Izuku was happy that these were the type of friends he had.
He had a community who cared for him, they truly cared for him! He even had a boyfriend who cared for him.
Izuku was resting for the week and the other vigilantes in the group plus his boyfriend took care of him, the only problem with that was they didn't Patrol!
This meant there was a bit more crime.
Heroes and the police station all thought that the famous verdant analyst had died and that was the reason for the rest of the group to disappear, the media had sprung to conclusions figuring that the group was taking time to mourn the loss of one of their members.
The Vigilante group didn't care enough to correct them though they would know soon enough.
….
Aizawa sighs and walks to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee.
His student will be there soon.
Soon enough there is a knock at the door and his student is standing there.
"You ready to go train sensei-..." Shinsou says to his mentor
"Yes, I know I talked about this with the class but are you ready for the sports festival?" you seem to be training harder recently.
"Oh yeah, I want to win. I want to win so that I can prove to everyone who called me a villain that we'll regret the choices that we've made in the past. Maybe they'll change how they are." Shinsou said positively which was strange because he wasn't normally this enthusiastic.
"Good, you seem… well anything new? I would have expected you to be more down after the death of your friend." Aizawa says questioningly
"Oh yeah, it's very tragic. I just um, met a new friend because of his death and it has been a week… you know what, let's go train!"
Aizawa lets it go because he might just be grieving and doesn't want to talk about it, probably trying to stay positive. Maybe his friend was very positive.
…
"Here is mine!
"As the Leaves die
I look up to see the leaves falling,
falling around and around
Till they fall to the ground.
People surrounding me once again
Crowded rooms, warm seats.
Fuzzy feelings and bucketloads of stress,
don't they know I don't have time?
Every turn of the clock,
every new feeling in the air.
The end of one and the start of another.
Did someone press pause?
Did we slow down?
a world turned upside down without a minute to spare,
switching the warmth to despair
the leaves to dirt
The fox to a rabbit.
I accept this new moment,
new memory,
new time,
as the leaves die."
- Tango Prismatang
"What do you think?" Tango says To Izuku
"It's a very nice poem, why are we doing this again? In three days Irene said I would need to be cooped up inside…"
"right! If that's what she said then okay I didn't know that and this game is called poetry yay poems are so fun. But I just did this because poetry helps me write lyrics for songs and I know that you also like writing songs, so I wanted to show you my way. Normally I write a poem and then from that I write a song… so show me your poem!" she says with a smile.
"Okay then... Here it goes….
I have never been without light.
It seems to always be there yet sometimes faded.
Like a star on a cloudy night or a firefly in the shade of a tree
It's like I hold a torch flame flickering and bright
I have given ash to those fires that started to die
Yet the fire never seems to dim only growing and spreading
I see a bonfire of emotion masked by the fumes of anger
I will protect it with my heart, my whole.
Even when drowning in tsunami of waves it manages to survive
scorching heat burning the air sparks flying everywhere
I know my fire is starting to dim, but if I can still give light, I can't let it die.
Light is not dispersed equally,
Those who have it want more
Those whose lights are dim start to fade into the background
Face off the wildfire of my light if you dare
I will save and protect it and then watch it burn"
He sighs leaning back in his chair
"What do you think?" Izuku says nervously
"OMG so good It'll be hard to turn into a song though mine will be much harder….I'm sure you can do it if you want to!" Tango says amazed
Knock knock knock..
"It's Amane, can I come in?" Amane says through the door
"Yeah!" Izuku replies and the door opens
"So, I have upgraded your suit. I also added it to the other suits though it probably won't be used since none of us have VWD, it's only a minor upgrade but I added a feature so that if you start to lose a lot of blood a system I installed will contact everyone in the group plus your boyfriend. We can't have you dying on us because of your VWD ya know?
I was going to add bulletproof armor but we don't have the money nor connections for that" they say with a nervous chuckle.
"Thanks! I appreciate it, sorry for worrying you all," he says smiling brightly.
….
Izuku is surprised "Kacchan, you are saying you will take my place as Verdant for three days? There is no point in doing that it doesn't–"
"It does matter! It matters to you! Therefore I will continue for you! Plus I already had someone who owed me make me a similar outfit to yours. I'll go by Kacchan since why not and I am doing this for you…." he says in a strangely sweet tone.
Izuku pleads to his boyfriend "But you would be doing something illegal! If you want to be a hero you can't–"
"No! I won't use my quirk. That means I won't be breaking the law!" Katsuki says triumphantly
"You gotta stop interrupting me…." Izuku murmurs
"I already know your patrol routes from all the times you told me about them so no problems, see? I don't know what you were so worried about!"
"Okay I guess, but you have to be careful! Plus since I have been gone for a little while Eraserhead will likely be looking for me since he always does even if it's been a short while… you have to act differently, maybe I should just make you another identity…. What do you think?"
"Sounds good, for another identity how about Gougou Katsuki? I do like my name so I want to keep it similar, my personality would be happy nice smiling, and bright type thing…" he looks at Izuku "What should I change about my looks?"
"Hmm, keep your eyes red but maybe let your hair be a bit messy and not so pointy, like mine! You could use some temporary black dye that I have on your roots and I can write that your original hair color was black. How about a different quirk?" Izuku says Katsuki nodding along
"Yeah I think just quirkless should work, plus I likely won't be using this much.."
"Right!" Izuku smiles "I will get that now! You just dye your hair and style it like I said, then you can go patrol. Thanks, be safe out there! If anyone asks you are a temporary replacement for me but don't say anything else. I love you." Izuku stands up with his computer and plants a small kiss on Katsuki's forehead.
"Got it, Love you too zuzu." katsuki says and once Izuku is gone he gets ready.
…
Patrolling was much harder than Katsuki had ever expected though he managed he was doing this for his boyfriend so it would be worth it in the end.
At a certain point, he got tired so he took a break on the roof of a building.
He had learned this building was a certain, safe point in Izuku's Patrols and he had heard about it multiple times it was a very common place for his boyfriend to meet with his teacher so he doubted he would run into Eraserhead at this time.
"Verdant?" a tired yet shocked voice says from behind him.
"Eh?" he says in the sweet tone he was trying to master.
"Who are you, a replacement?" the man asks sternly.
"Not a replacement but a substitute for now!" Kacchan says cheerfully to Eraserhead
"What happened to Verdant is he okay? He accidentally called me so I know he got shot but I haven't seen him around for a few days and I'm starting to get worried." Eraser says sounding a tiny bit worried which was a lot considering the man did not seem worried very often
"I'm a temporary substitute and I'm not allowed to tell you that information I'm sorry," he says innocently.
Eraser not buying it asks "Okay then, what's your name mister substitute."
He gasps "Did you just assume my gender!?"
sigh* "just tell me your name…" Eraser says already done with the crap.
"Well! I am Kacchan! A sub for Verdant! I am male but still should never assume gender!" he says loud proud and with a smile plaster on his face.
"Kacchan you say?" something Clicks in his head.
That was the person Verdant had called after one of the first times they had ever met it was also the person he had been trying to reach when he got shot, they must be closed and this Kacchan guy must be important to Verdant.
Maybe if they can get more information on this kid they can take down the ducklings! Kacchan is not usually a vigilante and seems to be new to all of this. He can take this to his advantage.
"Yeah, that's me!" Kacchan responds sparkling
….
4 days later
"Hey, Eraser~! Long time no see!" Izuku says stepping out from the shadows
Eraserhead turns to him "Kid?" his eyes adjust "Kid!" he rushes towards the vigilante and Izuku prepares for the worst.
Warmth, he feels warm. Was this, a hug? Why was this Pro Hero hugging him? It's not like he hadn't been hugged in a long time he got a lot of hugs from his friends and especially his boyfriend.
This Embrace was different It was warm like his mother, like the sun, like a bear, maybe this is what they call a bear hug? His eyes tear up and he thinks this is what it is like to have a father, a good one.
Why was this act so important? They hadn't interacted that much and knew next to nothing about each other, why was this man chasing him why was he helping him? Why, why, why…
"Kid, I was so fucking worried about you!" Aizawa says squeezing him hard
"You are going to rip my stitches!" the vigilante peeps out.
"Sorry kid, You got shot and then I didn't hear from you for so long… and well it wasn't that long but it was long enough for me to worry! And yes I know it's not like we don't see each other a lot.
The truth is I follow you during your Patrols until you reach a certain point where I always notice that you take extra measures so that no one is following you at that point not even I can keep up." he says letting go of the teen.
"You what!?" Verdant splutters
"Should probably work on being aware of your surroundings Problem Child," Aizawa says with a smirk.
"Hey! I am not that bad!" the vigilante protests
"Sure, sure!" the man says taking a seat on the roof.
"So Kacchan, he is not a regular in your group. What role does he play in this" he gestures to the vigilante.
"Oh Kacchan, yeah he is my….best friend!" the vigilante says inwardly cringing at the pause in his words he hopes that Eraser won't notice
Eraserhead did not notice. He was too busy focusing on the weird feeling he had, it hadn't clicked till the kid said Kacchan, wasn't this the kid who worked at the cafe?
It was unusual for him to make connections this bizarre but it wasn't unheard of, Who knows it could even be a quirk!
(it is….. luck!)
If only he remembered the name and who the kid had been talking to… he remembers that he knew the person but he forgets who they were.
Great, so now he knows Verdant works at a cafe and that his best friend who is the replacement from the other day goes there. He may even work there as well though that wouldn't work since no one he knew works there… well it's better than nothing!
"Eraser? You… good?" the vigilante asks.
"Yeah, I am…" Aizawa says toning back into his surroundings and paying attention
Someone else was there, with them. And this wasn't new information, Aizawa had been followed through his patrol that night which was not an uncommon occurrence. What was uncommon was for him to forget.
"You used your quirk on me didn't you…" Aizawa says loudly and Verdant looks at him panicked and confused
"W-what!? I would never!" the Vigilante says panicked.
"No not you," Aizawa shakes his head.
"Then who?" the vigilante questions still on edge
"Me dumbass!" A figure says jumping into view, suddenly Verdant falls to the ground clutching his chest and breathing heavily
"Verdant!" Aizawa yells tears starting to form in his eyes
Tears?
Aizawa uses his quirk on the villain and his vigilante starts to breathe normally, he also stops feeling so sad and protective.
"So It's your quirk, is it emotion control?" Aizawa says stepping closer to the villain
The villain's eyes widen slightly and then glares at the two of them "I have heard through some friends that the infamous Eraserhead hangs with Verdant most nights. I got a bone to pick with your little friend here."
"You'll have to get past me first," Aizawa says and lunges at the villain who dodges.
Verdant is sitting against a wall now still recovering from the quirk a moment before.
The villain goes to attack Aizawa's eyes but he ducks and then uses his leg to swipe the villain's leg out from under him knocking him over.
He quickly uses his capture scarf to tie up the villain who struggles the whole time.
"You will pay for this! It's all because of that brat isn't it!" the villain yells loudly.
Aizawa covers his mouth and dials the police.
"Kid you good?" he says turning to Verdant "Kid–" The kid is gone, "shit"
End of chapter!
I wrote another poem I was going to add instead of As the leaves die but then I changed my mind! Here is the other if you want to read it!
"The Cyclone
This ride that I have never ridden
Screeching creaky wheels ride along the tracks
Killing five maybe six,
They had a future and dreams
Just like mine.
Their chances to become great
An old forgotten tune
A song that no one knows
Forgot how it goes.
A chance to return
With a game and a song
It is not enough
To make up
For what is already gone
A choir dead
The Cyclone
The death ride
The last thing they will ever see
A beat without a melody.
They reached for the stars.
You pulled them down.
The underdogs
They would never see the light
Maybe next time for one
One with no memory
No name
No story
Nothing.
The Cyclone
A step towards death
A step to a dead future
A step to dead dreams
Pushing forward pulling back.
Falling through the air
I wonder
How could this be fair
You murderous machine
Death follows you
Around each turn
Each burn.
How could you do this
The promise of fun
Only to end with a phone call and tears
One without a head
An exception
One who may be dead
On this ride
This never-ending carnival.
I hate you
You have no restraint
No mercy
Only pain and suffering
Let them rest
Let it be fair
Let their fortune be told
So that they may never
Ever
Ride the Cyclone.