Work Text:
Aizawa sighed as he looked back down at the files strewn along his desk. He was exhausted, had been for years. But, it was only getting worse. With him teaching, doing patrols, and now being asked to help on a case of a fucking vigilante no less. He was dead tired. All he wanted was to go to sleep, however, that wasn't in the cards tonight.
Tonight, he was following his normal route, which was to leave his apartment, and then get texts during the next 6 hours of every anonymous tip that came in that was just a coordinate. Continuing the tradition of the past six months, of picking up every villain and criminal that ended up zip-tied to light poles or a drainage pipe. They had to be experienced, their take-downs were clean and they never used more force than was necessary to knock out their captures. If there were victims of the capture that were still present, they always had some sort of candy bar and water bottle by the time he got there. And none of them ever told him or the police anything about the vigilante. Only that they had saved them.
And they always left a note. Detailing what they had been doing to deserve the take-down, with references to shop cameras and even some witnesses having been asked by the vigilante to drop by the police station that night. But the strangest piece was that often, the notes had tips. Not just tips for taking down certain villains that were coming up in the area, but those were certainly invaluable. But also tips for how different heroes could better train and use their quirks effectively. And it wasn't that the tips were bad, or useless, or things other people had pointed out before. They were helpful tips. Tips that had, on several occasions, saved more civilians and even heroes' lives.
And yet the only thing that they had on the vigilante, was that he always signed his notes. Not with a name. But with a small smiley face and a D.
Aizawa could feel the migraine starting and he rubbed his temples before turning off his desk light and making his way out the door. It was time to patrol.
But, tonight was going to be different. Tonight, he had a plan.
---
Less than thirty minutes away, a masked and hooded man pulled himself back up onto a rooftop. Dusting his hands off and stretching his slightly sore shoulder muscles. He smirked underneath his mask. He'd already left Eraserhead a few gifts. Pulling out his phone and sending in his coordinates on the tip line, he started running along the roof, jumping and rolling onto the next with a slight huff. Tilting his head back to smile and laugh to himself under the mask.
Izuku Midoriya ran across the rooftops, scanning streets and alleys below, as he raced across the city. Light on his feet, and always full of excitement.
He only came to a stop on a roof's edge as he heard someone behind him, straining his ears he heard the near-silent footsteps and the slight rustling of a piece of fabric. He didn't turn, continuing with the jump he had planned already, smiling to himself as he heard the figure stop behind him. "Wait."
He turned slightly, holding up both of his hands and signing back Why? He could only hope the hero knew JSL.
"Just wanna talk. You've simultaneously made my life super easy and hellishly difficult for the last six months. But, you and I both know that being a vigilante is illegal, so w-."
But Izuku was already signing, cutting him off. Sorry, Eraser. But you are wrong. Not a vigilante.
He watched as Eraser rolled his eyes. "Sure, and I'm not a hero. C'mon kid, you've been doing great work for the last two months, why don't you just turn yourself in and we can work on getting you your hero license?"
Because I can't be a hero. But I'm also not a vigilante. Izuku signed back, almost exacerbated enough to start talking.
"Kid. You've gotta be kidding me. You are literally taking down criminals and vill-."
Izuku groaned and looked up at Eraser, his voice leaving his mouth before he could stop it. "Yes, I am taking down villains and criminals. But I'm not a fucking vigilante. Not according to a damn word the law says. Eraser, I literally can not be a hero."
"Kid, what do you mean you can't be a hero. Of course, you can. You've done more for this city in the last six months than most heroes have all year."
Izuku sighed and shook his head, a small smile on his face. "If only you knew how right you were. But, I still couldn't be a hero. And I'm still not a vigilante. Even if I did it for the next month or the month after that. Or if I did it forever." He gestured to the pair of shoes he had on. Bright red sneakers. Recognizable, by anyone that knew enough about quirks, which he figured Eraserhead did. He taught at U.A. after all. "Can't very well be a vigilante if I don't have a quirk. At least, according to the law. And, we all know there is no room for a quirkless hero."
---
Aizawa froze, staring straight at the small boy. To begin with, he was smaller than he expected. He looked young. Student young. And then he had gestured to his shoes. And Aizawa's heart jumped. He knew what those meant.
And everything was clicking into place.
The boy was a, well he wasn't but still, vigilante because he didn't think he could get a heroes license. Because, despite the media's constant bullshit chatter, the quirkless were treated poorly. He'd witnessed it firsthand plenty of times. Even by some of the top heroes. He knew the percentages. He knew they only got worse the older the child got. He knew that there was little he could do alone to change this one kid's life. But then, he had an idea.
After the boy had indeed confirmed that he was quirkless, he couldn't help himself as he smiled and let out a soft exhale of a laugh. "You, problem child, are perhaps the strongest person I've met. You don't have to tell me who you are. You don't even have to listen to me if you don't want to. But, I have some people that would personally like to thank you in person for your tips."
He watched as the boy shifted, almost nervously from one foot to the other. "Deku. It's what the D stands for." He watched as he continued to shift. Eraser thought to himself, Deku huh... Useless? Who hurt this kid... I just wanna talk... "A-And uh. How do I know that this isn't a trap to get me to turn m-myself in?"
"Well, Dekiru. You'd just have to trust my tips for once."
He watched as the boy's head shot up to look at him directly and noted that he was shaking slightly. "That's... I'm not..."
"Deku means useless, does it not?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Okay, well. You've proven in the last six months that you can keep up with and hell even sometimes outrun me. You're not useless. You can do, you have done, and if I have any say about it, you will continue to do great things. Dekiru. You're already a hero in my books."
He watched the boy sniffle and made the slight jump over to the next building.
"T-Thank you... N-No one has ever... E-Ever really b-believed in me before."
Aizawa sighed and pulled the kid into a hug, cursing himself as he could hear Zashi's voice. I told you you would adopt another stray. You just can't help yourself, Shou.
"Well, then you've been surrounded by some real idiots," Aizawa muttered as he pats the kid's back, letting him cry himself out.
As he watched the kid calm himself down. "So, what do you think, Dekiru? Wanna meet some of my friends?"
He watches the boy look up at him and nod. "S-Sure... I-I'm not in trouble, right?"
Aizawa sighs and shakes his head, starting to lead the boy toward the fire escape. "Nope. In fact, I have it in good authority that by the time this night is over, you might be my boss's newest 'project'."
"Project?!" The boy squeaked, and Aizawa couldn't help but smirk behind his capture scarf.
---
Of course, he hadn't been completely wrong. After Eraserhead had managed to get him to relax and breathe, he had gotten in touch with a few of the heroes that Izuku had written notes for. They wanted to meet him! Not only an extremely talented vigilante but also someone who could tear and pick apart their quirks and had given them all at least one thing that had helped them tremendously with their hero work.
And so, Izuku followed the hero. Only then realizing what their destination was once he saw the school's gates.
"U.A.?" He allowed himself to ask softly. His nerves kept him from filling up the silence.
Eraser had hummed softly. "It's safe, you can relax. And we can actually talk without the possibility of a crime taking place twenty feet away."
Izuku smiled and giggled quietly. "Okay. Y-You said your boss would want me as a... Project? Nedzu, I'm assuming."
"Yep. He's always interested in intelligence. And if you don't think you can be a hero, I have a feeling that Nedzu is gonna be the only one that can logically beat into you that you're much smarter than you let on. And that you're already doing the hero work, the only difference is that you haven't gotten a license."
Izuku shrugged and let Eraser lead him through the building, before knocking softly on a door they came to. Izuku went to speak up but jumped as a small... Creature opened the door that they had come up to.
"Ah! You must be the hero without a license I've been hearing about. Come in, you too Aizawa. Sit, sit. I have tea."
---
Aizawa couldn't help himself from smiling softly into the comfort of his capture weapon as he watched Nedzu and Dekiru talk.
"So, Dekiru is what you're going by? That's very exciting. It's a wonderful hero name, you know. And if we market this right, the heroes that know about you will all be clamoring for spots to get to train, intern, and meet with you. Your public image is already brilliant, the city knows you exist and they already see you as a hero of the average kind. The people you have saved, however, have never once spoken about what you look like. I do wonder, how did you manage to not be seen by them?"
"Oh, I've been seen by all of them. Prioritize the rescue, right? So, I make sure they're safe, or at the very least out of harm's way before starting to neutralize the threat. As to why they haven't told the police or any of the heroes. I just asked nicely for them not to give them anything that could get me caught." Dekiru was blushing behind the mask, Aizawa could tell.
"I see. You must have made quite an impression if not a single one of them did so. Even many of the criminals you've apprehended have been tight-lipped about your appearance, your voice, your quirk." At this Dekiru visually shifted in on himself before sitting up tall and staring directly at Nedzu.
"I don't know why. Appearance-wise I've always been pretty plain. The voice makes sense." He reaches up and turns a dial on the mask before speaking again, "And they would never be able to talk about my quirk seeing as I don't have one." The voice is deeper and not nearly as electronic as Aizawa expected it to be. He watched the boy turn the dial again. "I'm assuming that won't be a problem." The voice was now feminine and Aizawa couldn't stop the grin he was hiding in his capture weapon. A smart problem child.
If the grin on Nedzu's face was anything to go by, he felt the same. "Oh, nothing as trivial as a quirk status would be a problem here. You've already shown that you are skilled in many ways. We simply wish to hone them so that you can be your best."
With another turn of the dial the child nods. "So, I suppose you would like my actual name then. But before that I should warn you that I haven't been to an actual school in two years because I've already graduated high school, and I will be flagged as either suspected dead or as a missing person." Dekiru's gaze flits between Aizawa and Nedzu. "And, there are three others that I would like to be given the same... Opportunity."
Nedzu tilts his head and nods. "Marvelous. Can you tell us about the others?"
"Also vigilantes. Pyre, Mystique, and Siren. Eraser here said I've been causing him issues for six months, but I've been on the streets for longer than that. I only became a problem because I finally had support and help. Pyre and Myst are older than me. Myst by a year or two, and Pyre by six or seven. Siren is my age. Their stories aren't easy to hear, nor are they mine to tell. But, they are my friends. My family. And I want them to have the chance to get off the streets."
"That can be arranged." Nedzu says with a grin. "So, might we meet you properly?"
Dekiru sighs to himself and nods.
Reaching up he unlatches his mask and pulls it off, sliding his hood back. And the only thing that Aizawa can think is, he's so young. "Hello. My name is Izuku Midoriya."