The Hero & The Demon

Chapter Two

Shouta Aizawa had a few requirements when working with the police.

He wasn't an especially picky individual, he felt. He just needed officers who would be cooperative, but uncompromising on matters of the law. Some heroes preferred to make use of their reputation and status to try and influence things in directions they wanted. Aizawa wasn't fond of that particularly ugly part of the heroics or law enforcement business. He needed firm but fair individuals. Discussing a situation was fine, even bringing up ideal outcomes, but he didn't want anyone to do anything that went actively against the rules of their society.

It was surprisingly hard to come by individuals like that, he found. Cops accepting bribes from heroes in the form of money, personal protection, in some cases even using their fame – it was all far too common. Heroes who put their own personal desires over the right things to do were illogical, not something he could tolerate.

As it happened, Naomasa Tsukauchi shared these thoughts.

"Thanks for helping me with this, Eraserhead. I know it's a little out of your way." Aizawa raised an eyebrow at Tsukauchi's gratitude. Sure, the detective did work farther away from his patrol route and the situation than he would have liked, but it was still hardly an inconvenience. It didn't warrant much of a response as far as he was concerned.

"It's nothing." He answered honestly. "Besides, it's a hero's duty to respond when we're requested by the police. Though I must say, I'm not sure why you wanted to see me about this case. Not that I'm complaining, but as you said it's a bit out of the way."

"Ah, of course." Tsukauchi chuckled a little. "I suppose it must seem a little odd. A mutual friend recommended you for this. I had brought up the case in passing and he took a particular interest." Aizawa frowned briefly. A personal bias like that seemed like the kind of thing that could hinder an investigation.

"Which mutual friend?" He asked. Tsukauchi could have known all manner of other heroes, though even then Aizawa wasn't the sort to casually team up with most of them. He supposed it had to be one of the UA faculty members, given how he was closer with them than any other heroes in the area.

"He's a new hire at UA. I assume you know Toshinori Yagi?" Tsukauchi leaned in as he spoke the name. Aizawa's eyes widened. That name belonged to All-Might, though whether or not it was a pseudonym for his true form or his actual one was something he still wasn't sure on. Either way, All-Might being involved was bizarre.

"We've met, though I wouldn't call us close friends exactly." He said. He wasn't the biggest fan of All-Might or heroes like him, ones who were so motivated by their public image and fame. All-Might was definitely on the more tolerable end of that spectrum, as he at least had decent reason for being concerned with his status – his position as the Symbol of Peace was hugely valuable, to the point where one could argue maintaining society was dependent on it. He wasn't just trying to be famous; he approached the matter with a genuine desire to help other people. Still, Aizawa felt all the theatrics were rather tacky and unnecessary.

"What piqued his interest about this? Is he connected to the boy?" He wasn't aware of All-Might having anything to do with Kage Sekai. He was fairly sure the name would have come up if it was serious, though given All-Might was such a caring person in general there was a chance it was just someone he knew briefly. One of his fans perhaps, whom All-Might recognised. The serious expression on Tsukauchi's face gave him pause, however.

"The video footage shows mister Sekai using what appear to be two distinct Quirks – an enhancement and an emitter ability." Tsukauchi explained. Aizawa nodded, recalling Sekai's enhanced physical capabilities as well as the platforms he made use of.

"He can enhance his body, possibly his mind as well." He said. "During our brief confrontation, he seemed to react before consciously thinking about a next move. As though something else was guiding his action. As far as I can tell, it appears reactive."

"So, his Quirk knows what to do before he does?"

"So it seemed." Aizawa nodded. It wasn't unheard of for Quirks to act independently of their wielders, but it was uncommon. Usually this was because the Quirk existed in some form separate from the user. Fumikage Tokoyami, the other boy from the train station, was one such example. Sekai's seemed different, however. Rather than being separate, his Quirk consistently reacted within his body. Furthermore, he had the ability to control it at will when he wanted to. Powers that existed as separate entities usually necessitated more cooperation than an outright sharing of abilities like that. One couldn't just tap into the other's power, they had to operate together.

"He was also able to make some form of energy constructs." He continued. "He made basic platform structures, a knife, and a face-mask. It's possible his Quirk is simply versatile enough to allow for these uses. Perhaps some form of broad energy manipulation?"

"I'm not convinced." Tsukauchi said, frowning with one hand on his chin. "Energy manipulators usually have their powers manifest in only one of those ways, not both. Enhancing one's body alone is possible, but doing the same with one's mind is much rarer. You sure it wasn't just enhanced reflexes?"

Aizawa shook his head.

"No, he showed a clear change of tactics at first. Whatever happened, some kind of mental influence is highly likely. He went from a kid lashing out to a skilled fighter in seconds. Reflexes just can't account for all of that." Tsukauchi nodded, pulling out a pen and paper notebook and taking down some details of what they had discussed.

"The constructs also don't connect here." Tsukauchi added. "Quirks typically don't fall into multiple categories like that. Enhancement, emitter, mutation, transformation – there can be overlap sometimes, but not two distinct abilities in different categories. There's only one way I can think to explain it."

"You're suggesting the boy somehow has multiple Quirks."

"Correct. That's also what Toshinori was thinking." Tsukauchi nodded, a grim expression on his face. "He's asked that I keep the full details private as much as possible, but…" He hesitated. Aizawa was surprised to hear that All-Might was still intent on keeping important secrets to himself. He knew the man well enough to know he wouldn't do so casually, of course. He must have had a good reason to keep these details private. However, if they aided the current investigation then he would have to know more if he was to help.

"I won't tell anyone anything." Aizawa offered. "Until this investigation is concluded and we know exactly who and what Sekai is, we can't risk anything going public. That being said, if you want my help here, I need to know what we're getting into." Tsukauchi relented with a sigh, fixing Aizawa with a determined expression.

"We believe this might be connected to a villain with the ability to bestow Quirks on others." Aizawa froze momentarily, searching for any sign on Tsukauchi's face that he was joking or telling some sort of lie. No such luck, despite the impossibility of his words. "This individual was believed to be dead, but if this truly is connected, he may well still be alive."

Aizawa took a moment to process what he was hearing. An individual who could give out new Quirks to others? Certainly something worth keeping a secret. Anyone who knew might seek out this person for all sorts of reasons. His very existence had the potential to destabilise their current society. They were already poorly equipped in many ways to deal with Quirks as a concept despite how long they had existed for.

"You said he was presumed dead. What happened?" He had to ask. If this person were still alive, it would be important to take note of exactly how such a thing might be possible.

"Toshinori entered into a confrontation with the villain on an island, and we believe he died there. He was also responsible for Toshinori's severe injuries." Aizawa nodded, recalling how All-Might had explained his current limited state to himself and the other faculty members of UA. He didn't go into any more detail than saying it happened in battle, something that had always concerned Aizawa.

"What makes you think Sekai is related to any of this?" He asked. "If this villain is as terrible as you describe, why would he give Sekai these Quirks? He's definitely not the villainous type."

"You think so?"

"He saved a mother and child from a burning building." Aizawa explained. "Were he aligned with the individual you're talking about; he would have had no reason to do something like that."

"That's true, but it's not impossible he's being used as some kind of sleeper agent." Tsukauchi countered. "Or that he was a victim of some kind of experiment and managed to escape. If that were the case, it might explain his apparent injuries when he boarded the train. There's still too much we don't know, though." Aizawa nodded thoughtfully.

"Do you intend to interrogate him?"

"That's not really how I'd describe it." Tsukauchi said with an awkward chuckle. "I'll try talking to him. He's just a kid, after all. Given his actions, I wouldn't want to treat him as a criminal just yet. Not until we know more at the very least."

"Understandable." Aizawa agreed. "Under the right guidance, I think the kid has some potential. It would be wasteful to ignore that. Still, his actions were technically illegal."

"I'm not going to be giving the kid a complete free pass on that." Tsukauchi assured him. "However, given no one was hurt and his actions did save lives, I think a warning is probably the safest option for now. He's still going to be investigated, but I don't think we have enough information to convict him of anything. And if he really is connected to some villainous plot, he may be useful."

"You think he could be used to lure out the ones behind it?"

"It's a possibility." Tsukauchi reasoned. "He might also have information that could be useful in some way, or even potentially be able to be used to infiltrate the situation. I don't want anything set in stone until I get a chance to speak with him." Aizawa nodded in agreement. The logic was sound, even if the prospect of even hypothetically using a child to infiltrate a situation with as dangerous a villain as he was hearing about didn't sit especially well with him.

"Do you mind if I stay to observe?" He asked. "I don't mean to impose, but it might be helpful. He was willing to talk to me, briefly, but if he's got villainous ties…"
"Then he might not talk to a police officer on his own." Tsukauchi finished. "Good idea. Come with me." Aizawa nodded politely in thanks, following Tsukauchi further into the police station. He walked with a slight slouch and held his hands in his pockets, which made some of the other officers around raise their eyebrows. He didn't particularly care for appearances, so it was no surprise that many of them whispered and muttered their doubts about his presence as he passed by.

He was used to the anonymity. He thrived in it. Ensuring that an enemy never knew what to expect from you was always a great advantage, a lesson he had often tried to get through the thick skulls of his students. Too much reliance on flashy powers and colourful costumes made them predictable – and for a hero, being predictable put you at a huge disadvantage. Rarely did you get the chance to check a villain's powers before going in, and spending time analysing them meant potentially wasting time in battle.

But of course, this went both ways.

Villains had no way of knowing what heroes would come after them, and without any obvious indications they wouldn't know their Quirks either. Avoid the spotlight, and you could be entirely unpredictable to the average villain. If they needed time to think on how to approach you, you had time to act. This was especially good for Aizawa – he didn't even need to know what an opponent's Quirk was when he could disable it so easily.

Except for rare exceptions, like Sekai. The boy's lack of a background and extensive power set made him quite puzzling, even without the possibility of connection to some great Quirk-controlling villain. He was a real enigma. He couldn't help but wonder.

Was that an advantage or a disadvantage?

Kage Sekai.

Kah-Gay Seh-Kai.

He rolled the name around in his mouth curiously. It didn't sound familiar to him off the top of his head. He hadn't been reborn into a familiar character's body. He glanced down at his hands, currently cuffed together as he sat in a barren room with little more than a table and what he assumed was a one-way window. He'd never been interrogated by the police before, but he had seen enough TV shows to understand how this was supposed to work.

Did this world still have the right to a lawyer present? He wondered if he should test that. He wasn't sure if it would be needed, but he had technically been guilty of a crime. Quirk use was supposed to be banned in public without a licence.

A hero licence. Aizawa had told him that he had the potential to be a hero. Was that why he had been reborn? Did he have some grand, heroic destiny? Some cruel fate he had to prevent? Plenty of bad things happened in the series, but most of them didn't occur until much later. He thought, at least. When was he, exactly? He hadn't checked.

As the detective walked into the room, holding it open to allow Aizawa to head through as well, Kage realised he probably had more questions for them than the other way around.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting." The detective – Kage knew he had a canon name, but he never remembered it; he identified him by his voice in the English dub – said smoothly, a carefully manufactured smile on his face. It was clearly meant to be reassuring, but Kage was all too aware of the cuffs on his wrists. His eyes narrowed. He didn't appreciate being patronised.

"(I am invoking my right to a lawyer.)" He tried, only to curse when he realised it came out in English. The detective looked visibly confused, but Aizawa chuckled. He wasn't expecting the man to find much of anything amusing, so Kage couldn't help but find his eyes drawn to the man.

"(Japan doesn't have that.)" Kage's eyes widened. This guy spoke English?! In hindsight, he supposed it shouldn't have been that surprising. His canon best friend was an English teacher, after all. Still, he hadn't expected to hear anyone speak his language here. "(If I'm not mistaken, that's a US rule. Is that where you're from?)"

"(I…")" Kage hesitated. He knew that he wasn't from the US, but that applied to his old body. Not Kage Sekai. The body seemed to be Japanese, but did that mean it was where he was from? Was it born overseas? He had no idea, and he doubted Aizawa or the detective would understand why that was. He simply shook his head.

"(I don't think so, no.)" He replied. It was honest, though both he and Aizawa seemed keenly aware of how it wasn't particularly clear or definitive either. The detective coughed, drawing the attention of the room back to him. Kage frowned. It wasn't that he disliked the man specifically, he just wasn't fond of cops in general.

"Can you understand me?" He asked, to which Kage nodded slowly. The detective sighed with relief, relaxing somewhat. "Glad to hear it. My name is Naomasa Tsukauchi. I'm-"

"A detective who works with heroes, I know." Kage rolled his eyes, much to the shocked confusion of Tsukauchi. "And the man with you is Eraserhead, also known as Shouta Aizawa. He has a Quirk that lets him block other people's powers with his eyes." He recounted. He wasn't just showing off – he was also keeping track of what he knew about the situation, thinking out loud.

"You've done your homework." Aizawa commented. Kage thought for a moment and put on a slight smirk.

"I guess you could say I've done a lot of reading." He joked to himself. Humour was a fine coping mechanism when one had no idea what was going on, and he was going to hold onto it like his life depended on it. Understandably, neither of the men in the room got the joke. They both looked to one another with raised eyebrows. Aizawa shrugged, clearly not knowing what he was talking about and having no idea how to reply to it. Kage sighed.

"Sorry, that's kind of an inside joke." He said. "I don't think I can explain it. I don't think I can explain a lot of things, actually." He muttered that last part to himself, though the others clearly still heard him. Tsukauchi nodded.

"Well, it's worth a shot." He said. He reached into his coat and pulled out a small paper file. He opened it up, and inside there was a picture of Kage Sekai and what was very clearly a lot of redacted text. It reminded him of the ID card he had found in his pockets. Was someone hiding information about his new body intentionally?

"Your name is Kage Sekai, correct?"

"So it would seem." He replied. Tsukauchi took notice of his wording, raising an eyebrow briefly before continuing.

"Mister Sekai-"

"Kage." He interrupted. He was frowning, though his tone lacked any real hostility to it. There was clear discomfort in his voice as he spoke. "Sorry, I know this is a Japan thing, but I prefer to use my first name."

"That's fine." Tsukauchi nodded. He looked down at Kage's file and made a brief note of something. It had been turned to face him, so Kage couldn't see whatever it was he took from what little he had said. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of a police officer taking notes about him, but he was well past the point of complaining.

"So, Kage." Tsukauchi put his two hands together and placed them on the table, leaning forward slightly. "As I'm sure you've noticed, we don't have much record of you besides your name. We're hoping you can help answer a few questions about that, and then you'll be free to go." Kage raised an eyebrow at that.

"Just like that?" He asked. "Didn't I break the law about Quirk use or something?" He didn't know what the actual law was, so there was a chance his actions fell under some unknown technicality the series never got around to exploring. He supposed he did help save people from a burning building. Did that make a difference?

Aizawa was the one to respond this time.

"I'm not so sure." He scratched the facial hair that wasn't quite at a point where it could be called a beard on his chin. "You know what my Quirk is, clearly. I assume you have some understanding of how it works?" Kage nodded.

"When you look at someone, you erase their Quirk for as long as you maintain eye contact." He explained. "The effect doesn't work on mutation type Quirks, but transformation and emitter types stop working as soon as you activate it."

"You're more well-read than I expected." Aizawa said with some surprise. "Saves me from having to explain anything, which is convenient. I can get right to the point – my Quirk doesn't work on you." Kage gasped in realisation. Right, Aizawa had tried to use his Quirk against him during their…fight seemed like it was giving the encounter too much credit.

"It doesn't." Kage confirmed. Even now, he was probably only understanding them because of his powers. He barely knew any Japanese beyond a few scant words picked up from anime. "What do you think that means?"

"Why don't you tell me, kid?" Aizawa shrugged. "If anyone's going to have any answers here, it's you. Your power works differently from any Quirks I've seen."

"It's definitely strange." Tsukauchi added. "On top of Erasure having no effect, you've shown a remarkably versatile set of abilities. You also don't seem to be fully in control of them, if what Eraserhead says is to be believed." Kage thought for a moment, staring at the ceiling.

"I have nothing to tell you." He replied. Aizawa and Tsukauchi looked at each other uncertainly, clearly not expecting that response.

"Be reasonable here, kid." Aizawa said. He crossed his arms and levelled a stern look at Kage. "We've already said you can go once we're done here. There's no point in drawing things out or making things worse instead of just cooperating." Kage shook his head.

"Sorry, but that's not what I meant." He tried to explain himself. "I'm not trying to be difficult here, I genuinely don't think there's anything I could tell you. I don't know any of the answers you're looking for."

"Interesting." Tsukauchi said. "What's the first thing you remember? Start from there and we can try to piece together the rest with what little we already know." Kage hesitated. The first thing he could remember was being dead, and somehow, he doubted that saying that would provide anything the police could work with. He decided to start instead with the first thing he recalled since Kage Sekai opened his eyes.

It was sort of accurate, he reasoned.

"Waking up on a train." He recounted. "I didn't recognise anything, and I mean anything. My own arms looked wrong, the city outside was like nothing I'd ever seen, I couldn't understand any sound around me. It was confusing." Tsukauchi hummed and noted something down in the file he had out.

"Do you remember getting on the train?" He asked. Kage tried to focus his mind and push it back as far as it would go. There was something there. He was expecting nothing to come forth, to draw a complete blank given everything he had experienced so far. But when he closed his eyes and focused, there was something. It wasn't quite a memory. It felt more like seeing a clip from a movie out of context.

He saw himself – or whoever he was now, he realised with a sudden falling in his stomach – staggering towards a train station. He looked around hastily, as though he was worried about being followed. There were other people around, but they all made space for him. Looking down at his hand, he could tell why.

There was blood covering it entirely.

Kage opened his eyes and immediately raised both hands to his face. No blood. They were both completely clean. Yet, somehow, he was sure that his right had been covered in blood earlier. Was it his? He couldn't feel any wound, but given that his powers seemed capable of operating without his notice, that didn't mean much. It was entirely possible that if he lifted his shirt, he would find a solid black space instead of a wound.

He elected not to check. He didn't know if he could handle the answer, no matter what it was.

"I'm not really sure…" He mumbled, barely registering that he was responding to a question someone else had asked. Tsukauchi frowned, briefly looking to Aizawa. The hero raised an eyebrow in response, but didn't say anything. Tsukauchi sighed and turned back to Kage.

"I had a feeling that would be the case." He said. "It would seem that you've experienced some kind of memory loss, Kage. That certainly makes things difficult, but it also tells us something in itself." Kage tilted his head. Memory loss was certainly the best answer from the detective's point of view, but he knew the situation was more complicated than that. He had memories from further back.

Didn't he?

Of course he did. What a stupid question. He remembered the series, didn't he? There was no explanation for why he would remember My Hero Academia if he didn't remember a past life where he had read it. He remembered being from Scotland. Glasgow, even. He could narrow it down to which neighbourhood his house was at. He remembered his parents, a brother, a sister, and himself-!

He stopped.

Their names were gone.

He knew who they were, knew who he was, but he couldn't call any names to mind. Forgetting entirely about his surroundings, he tried to pull them from his mouth. Nothing came out, even though his mouth moved. He placed his hands on his throat and tried again. There was a sense of urgency, but still nothing but silence emerged.

"Kage? Are you alright?" Tsukauchi asked him with some concern. Aizawa had also moved, taking note of Kage's clear distress. He tried to pull himself back into their conversation, but the revelation that he was missing such an important part of his identity left him pale and scared.

"F-fine." He lied. "I'm fine."

"You're not." Aizawa said bluntly. "It's perfectly reasonable to be scared. You've just found out you can't remember anything, that's obviously going to be stressful. You don't need to pretend you're fine when we're here to help you."

"Easy for you to say." He thought to himself. "You're not the one in handcuffs."

"Help me in what way, exactly?" Kage tilted his head. "I don't think either of you can read minds, and if you have to ask me these questions, you probably don't know anything about me either." Aizawa didn't look at him for a moment, instead turning his attention to the ceiling. He was either taking a moment to think or trying to avoid getting frustrated. Possibly both, Kage thought.

He looked back at Kage and raised an eyebrow.

"What is it you intend to do now?" He asked. Kage opened his mouth to respond before immediately shutting it. His first thought was to say simply leaving the police station, but that seemed like a useless answer.

He didn't have anywhere to go. His current body may have had a home somewhere, but he couldn't remember it at all. He didn't have anything to point him to an address. And even if he did, what would he say to any family he found? He couldn't exactly just say he was possessing their loved one. Plus, it would be easy to see a lack of recognition on his face.

And that was just for the night. What was he supposed to do in general? He had no idea when he was in relation to the canon timeline, or if there was anything he was supposed to do about it. If he had been reborn, it was reasonable to assume there was some reason for it. But what could it have been?

All he had was what he had said to Aizawa in the alley. That he didn't want anyone to die. That wasn't enough. He didn't have the ability to just stop death. The most he could do would be to save people, but just wandering the streets of a foreign land until he saw more people in danger wouldn't do him any good. Besides, he didn't have any understanding of his powers. He had been lucky so far, but what would happen if he tried to make a construct to support someone and ended up shooting a blast out instead? Or if he tried to reach for someone's hand and applied too much strength?

Wanting to save people from death. That was a motivation, but what could he do with it?

"What Eraserhead means to ask," Tsukauchi drew his attention. The man had a firm expression, but there was gentleness in his eyes. Perhaps sadness. No, Kage realised. Pity. That was what he was seeing in his eyes. "Is if there is anywhere you have to go after we let you out of here. That's the kind of thing we can help with."

"You're not suggesting keeping me in a cell, are you?" Kage leaned back as much as he could. "I thought we covered that I didn't do anything wrong."

"You're on thin ice, kid." Aizawa explained. "The reason this is just a talk and a warning is because of a technicality. If I can't erase your Quirk, then logically that means there's something different about it when compared to other powers. That abnormality in your power means that charging you with illegal Quirk use could be more difficult. We don't know if you were the one using your Quirk or if someone was using their own power through you. In theory, we don't even know if what you've shown is a Quirk at all."

"Not a Quirk at all? What else could it be?"

Aizawa shrugged. "I couldn't say. All I know for sure is that Erasure stops Quirks from functioning, and it couldn't stop you. That uncertainty is what's saving you this time."

"I was planning on saying things a little more delicately than that." Tsukauchi groaned a little as he turned around in his chair, casting a small glare at Aizawa. He sighed.

"He should understand the situation he's in." Aizawa said firmly. "It's pointless to sugarcoat it. Just because he's a child doesn't mean he's an idiot."

"It also doesn't mean he can't hear you." Kage said loudly, shaking the chains of his handcuffs to get their attention. He didn't like them talking around him. "You still haven't answered my question." Tsukauchi turned back to him and relaxed a little.

"Sorry, Kage." He held a hand up placatingly. "We're not suggesting that you go to a prison cell. We have procedures to handle cases like yours. Typically, we get an officer or a foster home to temporarily house someone until we can find a more permanent home. If you have any family, we'll do our best to get in contact with them as soon as we can."

Kage nodded. He supposed that made sense. The closest thing he could think of was cops sending people away on witness protection. His situation was, he thought, something of an opposite to that – instead of seeing too much, he had seen too little.

"Is that what Eraserhead is here for?" Kage asked. "Is he going to adopt me or something?" Such things had played out in a few fanfics he had read, so to him it was a reasonable assumption. To the others present, however, it seemed extremely bizarre. Aizawa made a face of utter bafflement. It was the most expressive he had looked since he arrived.

Tsukauchi looked over at Aizawa, then to Kage, and proceeded to have an extremely difficult time holding in his laughter. He had to clamp a hand over his mouth to avoid it all spilling out, but the amusement was all over his face. Aizawa shot a dirty glare at him and he coughed to calm himself.

"Sorry to disappoint, but no." He shook his head. "Eraserhead said you spoke to him in your earlier encounter, so we thought he might help put you at ease." Kage blinked.

"Did he also say how he attacked me and made me fall off a building?"

"I told you not to struggle."

"Oh, so that's what you were saying!" Kage gasped. "Sorry, I was kinda busy being restrained in some kind of metal scarf…thing. Made it pretty hard to listen."

"Fair enough, but you were the one who cut yourself down." Aizawa added. Kage slouched, conceding the point. It wasn't exactly his brightest move, but he was panicking at the time and had no idea what was going on. It seemed reasonable at the time, but basically nothing turned out to be reasonable about his situation.

"I feel like we're getting away from the point here." Tsukauchi laughed nervously as he looked between the two. "Eraserhead isn't able to take you into his care, but we've got a list of people available to act as a guardian for the time being. If you're alright to wait a few minutes, I can fetch it." Kage frowned. He didn't like the idea of sitting alone in this room again.

"Couldn't you just do it?" He pleaded. Tsukauchi blinked at him, clearly stunned for a moment.

"I…I think so, yes." He agreed. Kage let out a sigh of relief. Tsukauchi was a pretty nice character in canon, from what he remembered. He had a sister in the Vigilantes manga, so he probably had a spare room in his home now. Unless he had a partner, but if he did, they had never come up before. "Do you have anything else you want to say? I don't think we have any more questions right now, given your memory loss." Kage nodded.

"Just one." He stood up and looked at Aizawa, who uncrossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Earlier, you said I had the potential to become a hero."

"I did."

"When are the UA entrance exams?" Kage asked. "I want to save people, and becoming a pro is the only way I can really do that without ending up back here again." Aizawa studied his expression for a few moments. Kage wasn't sure what he was searching for, but in the end, he shrugged his shoulders, appearing satisfied.

"You've got a little under ten months to prepare, if that's what you want." He said. "But I'll warn you now, UA isn't an easy place to get into, especially for someone in your situation. You're going to need to study hard, both academically and with your Quirk. If you don't feel like dying by the end of it, it probably won't be enough."

"I've died before." Kage thought to himself. "Nothing could be worse than that."

"That's fine." He nodded. He needed to do this. It was the only path forward he could think of, the only route that made sense. If he was reborn for some kind of purpose, this was the only way he could find it. If he wasn't, then it still meant he could save people and stop them from dying. It didn't matter if they were named characters or bystanders – he couldn't stand the idea of seeing someone else face death like he did. Not if he had the means to stop it.

"Now, if someone can get me out of these cuffs, I think it's time I got started."

AN: The first chapter of this rewrite was published two whole years before the rest of it. I was busy and kinda forgot about it for a while in a sea of other stuff. You readers just get it right now! Lucky you! See you next time!