Chapter Text
So, here are the highlights of the last 48 hours for him; he went to jail, lost the man of his dreams, and got his ass handed to him pretty good. Still, things could be a lot worse, right?
Except of course, for the minuscule detail that he was currently falling to his death… Right.
If Yamada Hizashi was asked to look back on his life and pinpoint the moment everything went wrong, he would have to start sometime before he was born. Back when quirks first started appearing and society had to adapt to the rapid changes these mutations meant.
By the time Hizashi was born, about 10% of the population manifested some kind of inhuman ability, unique to them. With time the numbers had been brought up but at that moment, they represented one out of ten people. It wasn’t that much, even less when you considered that many quirks offered little to no major advantage in a dangerous situation.
However, within that margin, there were also the exceptional, the special ones, people born with a soul that longed to fight and protect and care for others. The ones that were born to be heroes.
When he was a child, Hizashi thought he could be a hero. His quirk, after all, was exceptional. Abrasive, powerful, and oh, so dangerous. One would think that was the perfect combination for a powerful hero. In many ways, it probably was, except that it was gifted to none other than Hizashi, with his loud personality and outbursts of energy that could take down buildings.
Maybe he was never meant to be a hero.
The world may never know.
If he could just get a chance to start over, to go back in time to the very day he sealed his fate…
Maybe…
*
Mic heard the yelling from the other side of the cell door, before anything else.
“What do you think you’re doing? Read on your own time! You have a job to do here!”
On his side, Mic couldn’t help but smirk from his lounging position on the bed. The room was fairly small, so his sleeping arrangements were just as such; a thin mattress pushed all the way to the corner, opposite to the metallic toilet that was the only other thing allowed in the room. And to top it all off, four stale, gray, naked walls, padded with sound-absorbing panels, thicker than any other wall in the building, to prevent any chance of his quirk coming through.
No like it would make a difference, though. Mic knew that as soon as he as much as raised his voice above the national average amount of decibels, the monitors over the room would go ablaze and the guards outside his cell would shoot him with enough tranquilizers to knock out an elephant.
Mic didn’t care.
He had plenty of fun humming to himself, trying to remember the lyrics of songs he discovered before his latest arrest, and making annoying questions to the guards until one of them gave up and sent the other one for a radio to put on some music. Served them right for taking his leisure privileges, he thought as he turned to the TV that had long since stopped working inside the cell.
Before he could ponder on whether it would be worth it to throw something at it to catch the attention of the cameras on the opposite corners of his space, the small window on the heavy iron door of his cell opened to reveal the warden, Shishikura, staring at him with a bored expression. Or as bored as one can be while looking at a convicted criminal.
“Ah, hello there. Here to make me some company on this joyous occasion?”
The warden sighed as Mic stood up to approach the door, trying his best to look casual as he walked over.
“Present Mic,” he deadpanned as a way of greeting. “Whatever could you mean by that?”
“Well you see, I’ve been counting the days,” Mic smirked. “It is an important date after all. And what do you know? Today of all days I feel like a changed man, ready to re-enter society as a solid citizen.”
The warden snorted.
“Excuse me if I don’t buy that with the whole being locked up thing you got going on, but I sincerely don’t think you mean that. Villains don’t change. And what do you know? That means you can’t leave either.”
Mic rolled his eyes, already getting bored with the conversation.
“You’re fun. Is there a reason beyond pure amusement why you’re gracing me with your presence today?”
The warden smirked and held out a small package up to the level of the window. Behind the bars, Mic could distinguish the part of the bow that had been broken to open it to look inside. However, despite this knowledge, the warden made a show of opening it again and taking out what seemed like an expensive-looking hand watch to dangle it in front of Mic.
“You got a present in the mail today from the Cloud hero, himself,” he explained as he took out the note attached to the box and began reading it out loud. “‘To Present Mic: to count every second of your life sentence.’ Huh. Not very unbecoming of a hero to gloat, but at least he has a nice taste.”
Mic suppressed a smirk as the warden made a show of putting the watch on his wrist, in a pathetic attempt at superiority. But to be fair, it was a nice watch. Mic would know.
“You’re keeping my gift, warden?”
“I don’t think you’ll be giving it much use inside of there,” the warden answered while flexing his wrist as if to check the accessory from all possible angles.
“Fair enough. Any chance you could give me the time at least? I wouldn’t want to be late for Loud Cloud’s ceremony today.”
“Oh, no! Look at that,” the man said with painfully obvious sarcasm. “It looks like you’re going to miss it. By several years.”
Mic made a mock hurt expression but before he could say anything else, the warden’s radio began going off, the telltale sign of someone trying to communicate with him from within the building.
“Mr. Shishikura, sir. We require you’re assistance in block C.”
The warden frowned as he looked at the device completely oblivious to the glint in Mic’s eyes as he recognized the voice from the radio.
“Block C? Who is this?”
“Officer Takama, sir. Could you hurry up? It’s very urgent.”
The warden sighed in frustration, before looking over at Mic again.
“Don’t forget to close my window before leaving,” Mic said cheekily, which only seemed to aggravate the other man even further. He half expected the warden to say something back, maybe close their conversation with a nice quip before leaving but instead, he just groaned and pushed the window of the cell closed again, leaving Mic in complete silence.
It figures. Uptight authority figures made the worst banter of all. Thankfully, he wouldn’t have to wait for long before his punishment was over.
So, he contended himself with going back to bed and humming to himself as he waited for what he knew was coming next. And sure enough within fifteen minutes, a familiar voice came on from the other side of his door.
“Present Mic?”
Mic frowned as he stood up once again.
“Warden?”
In response to this, the heavy door separating him from the rest of the prison fell open with a heavy thud, and on the other side, a very distinctly feminine figure entered and threw at him the watch that a few minutes prior had been in the warden’s wrist.
“You should really be careful with who you lend your toys.”
Mic’s only response was a smirk as he put on the watch and went on to hug the woman that was his best (and admittedly only) friend in the world, his most trusted confidant, and his partner in crime: the R-rated villain, Midnight.
“Good to see you too. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
*
“Heroes! Where would we be without them?” Fukukado Emi exclaimed excitedly at the camera pointing right at her. At the side of the young cameraman that had been saddled with her earlier that day, she could see the face of the familiar teen rolling his eyes at her in a somewhat fond manner. Gosh, children were so dramatic sometimes. She made a mental note to tease him extra hard the next time she babysat at his house, before proceeding. “Thankfully we don’t have to ponder on such terrible possibilities when we have a city full of them. And today of all days it’s our chance to celebrate.”
From behind the camera, Kaminari Denki, her assistant, and cameraman for the day gave her thumbs up, which she interpreted as encouragement to keep going. Emi smiled honestly at this.
“That’s right! Today here on Musutafu we get our very own Protector of Peace in the form of our very dear Loud Cloud, the Cloud Hero. And yes, yes, I know what everyone at home is thinking: no one can replace All Might. Six months since his official retirement and our hearts still ache for the Symbol of Peace. However! I, for one, believe wholeheartedly in the effort that has been made to protect his legacy. You just have to see how many heroes have risen across the nation to be declared protectors of their cities. And now is the turn of our Loud Cloud who, fun fact, began his work as a hero in these very same streets!’
“And ever since then, he’s been watching over us from the sky, protecting us from numerous villain attacks and caring for the city unlike any other. His heart is like an ocean on a bigger ocean with room for each and every one of his citizens, and today we are granted the opportunity of giving something back in return. As I speak, a large crowd has taken over the downtown area, where Loud Cloud will be appointed his new position in an official ceremony.’
“Now, I’m sure we’re all anxious to see this honorable event and I can guarantee you we’ll get a closer look at our beloved hero after the commercial break. In the meantime, though, we must all be mindful of the daunting task Loud Cloud is taking over this day and thank him, as well as the other heroes who have been kind enough to spare their precious time today to accompany him in his day. We received reports of pros such as Mount Lady, Kamui Woods, Ryukyu, along with the staff of UA Academy, and course, who can forget, Loud Cloud’s hero partner for over ten years now, the lovely, enigmatic, handsome, Eraserhead!”
At least, this part of her speech seemed to pull the attention of the teen standing beside Kaminari, Shinso Hitoshi, whose face seemed to be now stuck somewhere in between an expression of disgust and amusement. Emi counted that as success.
“That’s right! Today is as much a special day for Loud Cloud. As it is for all of us, actually! So what do you all say we get closer to the main area and see what happens? I’m Fukukado Emi, reporting live from Loud Cloud’s ceremony and I’ll see you shortly after the break!”
“And cut!” Kaminari exclaimed happily, finally letting the weight of the camera drop from his shoulder, as he looked excitedly between her and Shinso. “Can you believe the stuff they write to be read on air, of all things? I don’t know how you keep a straight face the whole time.”
“I’m not sure her smiling like that counts as a straight face,” Shinso said in a deadpan manner that shouldn’t be allowed for someone so young, before turning to her. “Also, didn’t you write most of this stuff yourself?”
“As a matter of fact, I did! Thanks for remembering, kiddo.”
Shinso allowed himself the tiniest hint of a smirk, before turning back to Kaminari, who had now dropped his grin for a far more amusing, panicked expression.
“I – what I meant to say was that I can’t believe that they let, like, actual art get broadcasted on TV. It’s crazy!”
“Nice save,” Emi laughed in amusement.
She didn’t mind the kids’ comments or their expressions toward her attitude. She’d known Shinso for a couple of years now, and she was aware of how much of his demeanor hid inside a genuinely sweet and caring child. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree, she supposed.
As for Kaminari, it had been a mere coincidence the kid began working in the same station as her last summer, but she was grateful for it nonetheless. According to him, he’d wanted to make some extra money before school and since one of his parents worked there, it had been relatively easy to enter a somewhat low-level position running errands here and there, with flexible enough hours so that it wouldn’t interfere with his hero studies.
When she learned that not only was the kid part of the hero course at UA, but also had stricken a friendship and later a romantic relationship with her kinda-but-not-there-yet nephew, she’d been ecstatic. Shinso’s father not so much but eh, what could one do? Eventually, she managed to move enough favors so Kaminari could work alongside her most days he was in, which meant she also got to drag Shinso around whenever he wanted to spend time with his boyfriend.
And if that meant she could see more of the teen’s father whenever he came to pick him up then… Well, she wasn’t opposed to that.
Speaking of…
“Hey, kid,” Emi began, addressing Kaminari who now was fiddling with the buttons of the station-provided camera, most likely preparing for the moment she signaled him to turn it back on. “Why don’t you go ahead and enjoy the celebration? Get some good spot so you can watch the whole thing.”
Kaminari stopped what he was doing, turning to look at her quizzically.
“Huh? Don’t we still need to record the whole, you know, ceremony?”
“Well, yeah. But there is already a prerecording of me, introducing the whole thing so I can just sit back and be ready when Loud Cloud comes on stage to point a camera at him, since that part doesn’t require me talking, anyway.”
“But–”
“Come on, kid. Your school gave you the day for a reason. How many opportunities do you have to see a Pro Hero so close when the city isn’t in peril?” at their side, Emi could see Shinso open his mouth, probably ready to remind her that they were taught by Pro Heroes every day at school, but she continued before he could say anything. “Besides I’ll be fine. I have my press pass ready so going through the crowd won’t be a problem. And it’s not like the ceremony will require me talking so it should be fine. Once we have to wrap up I can look for you and that’s it.”
Truthfully, it didn’t take that much to convince Kaminari. The boy was already half nodding when she was halfway through her speech, so it wasn’t that surprising. Plus, he was a child and a hero in training. He deserved to enjoy this as any of his classmates did.
“Ok, then,” Kaminari agreed pleasantly. “Just text me if you need anything, ok? We better get going if we want to find a good place to sit.”
“Actually, I need to talk to Shinso for a moment,” she chimed before the teens could go. “If it’s fine with him.”
Shinso gave a half-shrug, which she chose to interpret as “sure” before turning back to Kaminari.
“This should be quick. Go ahead, maybe you’ll find someone from your class in the crowd. Just text me and I’ll catch up with you.”
Kaminari nodded and gave a quick peck to Shinso’s cheek before saying his goodbyes to the both of them. It was kind of amusing seeing someone as usually serious as he becomes red as a tomato at his boyfriend’s affection, but she didn’t say anything. She did however laugh, for a good while.
“Are you done yet?” Shinso asked tiredly. “How long is your commercial break anyway? Shouldn’t you be going back right now?”
“Ah, not really,” Emi responded, wiping a small tear from her eyes. “Some other guys will fill the space interviewing heroes near the City Hall. As I said, I should be fine.”
“Sure.”
“Speaking of Heroes…”
“Here we go.”
“Aw, come on, kid,” she said, throwing her arm around the teen’s shoulders. “I’m sure this is a special day for you as well. Don’t you have anything to say? Like, at all?”
Despite his best efforts, Emi could see a hint of a smile slowly creep on Shinso’s face. Without even thinking, she smiled back.
“It’s good, I guess. Last night he came to our apartment to talk with dad about today. He seemed kinda nervous, but dad calmed him down pretty quickly.”
“That sounds like your dad.”
Shinso snorted, something akin to amusement in his eyes.
“He’s going to be very mad at you when he hears the last part of your segment.”
“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Emi responded with a wink. “In all seriousness though, how is your old man dealing with all of this stuff? The last time I saw him he seemed about to drop dead of pure stress. Well, more than usual, at least.”
“Why don’t you ask him?” Shinso shrugged, nodding towards one of the buildings behind them. Even in the middle of the day, she barely missed the shadow that had moved across the rooftop of the place, as soon as she turned her head. She chuckled involuntarily at how much she should’ve predicted this.
“Of course,” she said in good nature. “Well, no point keeping you here with me anymore. Though, I’m happy to hear everything’s fine with you, kid. Now go ahead and enjoy the rest of your free day, why don’t you? I’m sure your boyfriend already has a seat saved for you somewhere in there.”
Once again, Shinso flushed red at the word “boyfriend” but turned around quickly, before Emi could try and make a joke about it.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you later, if not tonight, I guess. And say hello to dad for me. I couldn’t say goodbye this morning before he left.”
Emi nodded and waved goodbye at the teen as he walked further down the street where the crowd was getting heavier.
After that, she turned in time to see the shadow move again, now towards a different building. She took note of the direction, before making a quick job of gathering her equipment and locking it in the company car, she had conveniently parked nearby. Finally, when she was sure everything was fine and dandy, she made her way away from the main street, to the direction the shadow had gone towards.
It didn’t take long for her to reach a dark alleyway that was far enough from the crowded area, that it was unlikely anyone would notice if she went in. And so she did.
As soon as she set foot in, the familiar voice of the shadow spoke.
“You really have zero regards for your personal safety, don’t you?”
Emi couldn’t help the bubbly laugh at the man’s deadpan tone. She had no idea when he climbed down from the roof but soon, in the poor light of the alley, she saw his figure emerge from further down. Clad in his usual, dark, and frayed hero attire, with only his capture weapon and yellow goggles as points of contrast, the Pro-Hero Eraserhead looked as mysterious and handsome as he usually did in her eyes. Though, to be fair, Emi found him that way even when he wasn’t in hero mode.
“Nah. I know if anything happened, you’d come to save me, my hero.”
Eraserhead sighed as he took off his goggles, to reveal the tired gaze of one Aizawa Shouta, her best friend, and not-so-secret crush for over two years now. Emi had the usual urge to greet him with a hug and only barely managed to refrain from doing so.
“Oh my God! Is this how I find out your secret identity?!”
“Yes, that joke never gets old. And please, speak louder so anyone nearby can hear.”
His features were as cool as ever, and his voice was deadpan. She couldn’t help but smile. One of these days, she was sure, she would get an actual proper reaction out of him.
“Oh, please,” she laughed. “We both know you wouldn’t have come out over here if you weren’t sure we were in a secure area. Classic Eraser.”
Aizawa rolled his eyes, without any real malice in his expression. Emi supposed that sort of thing came from the familiarity between the two of them. Much to her delight, she was even able to elicit a snort from the man, which was more of a huff than anything but from such a serious Hero, it felt like full-on laughter.
“It’s good to see you’re in good spirits,” he said plainly.
“Well, it’s a nice day! Even for us civilians,” she countered. “You know the new neighbor I told you about the other day? With the drums playing all the time right above my place? Even he went to sleep at a normal hour last night, so I got a full night of sleep for today.”
“Lucky you.”
Emi laughed once again before noticing the earnestness in his tone. Upon closer inspection, she took notice of some of the stuff she had missed before. His hair was matted and tangled in some places like he hadn’t had time to brush it properly in the morning, the bags under his eyes were even more prominent than usual, and even his posture seemed more gaited as if his shoulders had been carrying an invisible weight for who knows how long.
Oh.
“How are you feeling about today?” she asked empathically. “I imagine these past few weeks have been kind of hectic for you.”
Aizawa sighed tiredly again and brought a hand up to rub at the bridge of his nose.
“Try these past few months. No offense, but your kind are vultures.”
Emi snorted at his honest attempt at a joke, although, to be fair, she could very well see where he was coming from.
For as long as she’d known him, Aizawa had been a pretty private person. It only made sense with how much he tried to keep his identity a secret and how adamant he was to maintain his status as an underground hero. Most heroes’ lives were out to the public due to necessity and because of course, the more open they were, the more marketable they became. Aizawa never cared for such things, though. He seemed pretty comfortable with fading into the background and avoiding the press whenever possible.
That was until these past few months.
“If it makes you feel any better, my boss is still salty about that time you left in the middle of an interview. So, I don’t think he’ll bother you much in the near future.”
“Oh. Good.”
Emi sighed and began rubbing Aizawa’s arm in a weak attempt at comfort.
Despite his best efforts, there was always something that made Eraserhead a prime subject for the public eye and that was his long-standing partnership with Loud Cloud. Rumored to have been friends since their UA days, both heroes shared an obvious bond that was easy to take notice of by most. And boy, did some villains take notice.
Given their closeness, and the nature of their relationship, anyone knew that the best way you could get to one hero was the other one. This wasn’t a big deal for Loud Cloud, as most of Eraserhead’s work as an underground hero limited the type and quantity of criminals he had to deal with, most of whom wouldn’t even dare to mess with someone as high profile as him. Eraser on the other hand had his work cut out for him, with numerous attempts over the years to kidnap him in order to get his friend’s attention. This came with… varying results.
Most often than not, villains couldn’t even get near Eraserhead without getting their asses kicked, in a manner of seconds. However, some still managed to slip through the cracks and get a better hand in a one-on-one battle. One villain, in particular, came to mind.
It was not like it mattered, since in any case it always ended with either Eraser getting free and besting the villain or Loud Cloud coming to his aid and both of them defeating them together.
Pro-hero friendships were something to witness. But even with all of that into account, it was still plain to see their biggest challenge yet came with the new wave of publicity pushed onto them for the past six months.
At last, Aizawa gave another exasperated huff before slumping into the nearest wall, his body finally giving in under pressure and tiredness. Emi couldn’t remember the last time he saw the man look so run down and it pained that there wasn’t anything she could do to help him, other than keep the press off his back and warn him whenever a reporter was coming his way.
“It’s not– I’m happy for him, ok? Even if I think the whole “city protector” deal is a bad idea, I recognize how much of an honor it must be for Loud Cloud as a hero.”
“Hm, Shinso mentioned he seemed nervous when he visited you guys yesterday.”
“He was, but I think he was mostly over it by the time I left for my shift. We couldn’t talk much, though.”
Emi nodded. She could only imagine how much his schedule had changed over the past months. Between his usual hectic work late night as a hero, his day job at UA, and the kids, Aizawa barely had time to breathe most days. Now adding to that the balancing of public appearances as Loud Cloud’s trusted partner and the increasing awareness of his persona, it was easy to see how the guy was more than a little stressed at the moment.
And no wonder she had gotten so many late-night calls to last-minute babysit as of late.
“Have you talked about this with him?” she asked earnestly, only to receive a single raised eyebrow as a response. “Huh.”
“I’m planning to,” he said, avoiding her gaze. “But it’s not as simple.”
“Why not?”
“I’m… Shit, I guess I might as well tell you now,” he said and turned back to fully look at her, his tone as serious as ever. “I’m adopting Eri, officially.”
“Oh… oh.,” she gasped at the realization from Aizawa’s words. “I mean, that’s great of course. But it certainly will make things more complicated for you.”
Aizawa nodded solemnly.
“I told him a couple of days ago, but I don’t think he fully understood what it meant.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I just… I’m proud of him. I am. And even if I prefer to stay away from the public eye, it never really bothered me to partner up with him on occasion. But the more I spend with him, the more risk I run. Last time Mic almost managed to get my goggles off mid-battle.”
“That was months ago and Present Mic is in jail now,” Emi rationalized, even though she could very well see Eraser’s point. A compromised identity was serious enough on its own, but when you factored in a family that would most definitely be affected by it…
“Regardless,” he continued, “I cannot take that risk again. Not when it means I could be compromising Eri’s safety.”
Emi nodded in understanding.
“So that is it, huh?”
“Maybe. For a while at least. I’d still do my main job at night but… I think it’s for the best that me and Loud Cloud part ways for the time being.”
“Well, I’m sure he’ll understand,” she said earnestly, only to be scoffed at as an answer. “Hey, come on, you guys have been friends since forever, have you not? Besides, just because you don’t work together, it doesn’t mean that you won’t be seeing each other anymore.”
Aizawa snorted.
“Yeah, I guess. Eri would be very sad if she found out I’m the reason Mr. Shirakumo doesn’t have dinner with us anymore.”
Emi laughed, before tempering herself once again and contemplating his words.
“How is she by the way? About… well, everything?”
“Right now or in general?”
“Both?”
Aizawa paused, thinking for a second before responding to her question.
“She’s getting better, more sociable. I brought her the other day to the dorms at UA and the brats were all over her, trying to see who could make her smile more.”
“Aww, that’s sweet.”
“I guess,” he shrugged uncomfortably. “When I told her she would be living with me and ‘Toshi permanently she seemed happy.”
“Of course she was.”
“Well, it is a weight off my back at least. But she’s still a child, so I haven’t explained the full adoption process to her yet. I don’t want to overwhelm her with everything that’s going on. And I’m not even sure how much she understands hero politics anyway. Yesterday when I left her at your place, I had to explain to her that Hitoshi was only allowed to skip class because he goes to a school for future heroes and as such, these sorts of events are important. But I think she was just sad that she couldn’t spend a free day with her uncle, like the rest of us.”
“Well, that certainly explains why she seemed so sad when I dropped her at school,” she mused. “And speaking of her uncle shouldn't you be spending this time with him anyway?”
“He can take care of himself for a few minutes,” Aizawa answered simply. “I just wanted to make a quick visit around. I knew Shinso was going to insist he came along with you and Kaminari today. So I thought I’d come to thank you for your help yesterday and also check that you two were alright before heading to the ceremony.”
“You worry too much about us, considering you are usually the one getting kidnapped all the time,” she said with a hint of laughter, which once again earned her no further reaction from Aizawa. “Also, you know it’s not a problem. You make it up to me by feeding me once a week and letting me choose the movie we watch after that.
Aizawa sighed, much more fondly this time.
“Better me than him, any day. And I’ll take it you already have the movie chosen for tonight.”
“Yup. And don’t worry. You’re only going to find it slightly annoying.”
“I wouldn’t expect less,” he said with finality as he put his goggles back on and took a hold of one end of his capture weapon. “I should be leaving but I’ll see you and the kids later, ok? Take care, Emi.”
“Sure thing, Eraser. And you be careful too,” she called as she saw him use the capture weapon to grasp the edge of the building and propel himself to the roof. “Oh, and also, Shinso says hi!”
She had no idea whether he heard her or not, as soon Eraserhead had disappeared among the rooftops, surely making his way towards the City Hall.
She paid it no mind as she made her way back to the car. The ceremony was a mere half an hour away so it was better she had everything prepared to televise the event. When finally reached back her car, she took a hold of her camera and microphone and was ready to close it again when something caught her attention. The dials of the radio player in the console were not as she left them, as if somebody had been fiddling with them or something had messed with the signal.
Emi shook her head, deciding it was most likely one of the kids had fiddled with it earlier. Nothing to worry about. And the company car was old anyway. The radio only really served to notice when people with energy-type quirks who could mess with the equipment were close anyway.
Of course, as she thought of this. She paid no notice to the invisible car driving near her, which contained enough far-hearing devices to mess with the signal of any vehicle in a 50 feet radius, and was slowly but surely making its way towards the direction Eraserhead had vanished.
Emi wouldn’t care for any of this, as she closed the car door and went on her way to the biggest event Musutafu has experienced in years.