Chapter Text
Aizawa Shouta liked to think he was a decent hero. Now, that being said, he wasn’t anything special. He went out, and did his best to save people in need. That was it really. He had wanted to be a hero his whole life, even when he was told he would never be anything but a villain. Some could say he became a hero purely out of spite, to prove all those people wrong, and he couldn’t exactly say they were wrong.
Aizawa had been through many situations where he genuinely considered giving up being a hero for good, however, every time those thoughts would enter his head, along would come a particularly special case that would remind him why he wanted to be a hero in the first place. Looking back on it, this was probably the time that would motivate him to continue being a hero through the trying times that would surely come after.
His night patrol had started off well, it always did when he followed his routine. Get home from teaching. Snuggle with the cats while grading homework. Eating dinner with Hizashi. Cuddling with Hizashi as his husband read one of his English books, and he read the news while listening to music. Getting ready for patrol. Promising Hizashi he would be safe and come home. Giving Hizashi a kiss. Leaving. Hopping rooftops. All down to the routine. Routines were good. Stable.
However, his routine would be quickly changing.
“Fuck!” Cried the villain as Shouta slammed his knee into the guy’s head, having him caught up in the capture weapon. The offender hit the ground like a sack of bricks, out like a light. Shouta made quick work of tying the guy up and notifying the police of his capture. As he sent off the alert however, there was a noise in the darkest corner of the alley he had just finished the fight in. Immediately alert and ready to fight, he gripped his capture weapon and activated his quirk, slowly making his way towards the noise. As he got closer, all of a sudden, there was a young and terrified voice crying out, “Stop! Please! D-don’t come any closer!”
A child? “Hello?” Shouta called out to the darkness. As he did so, a small boy with violet hair peaked out into the light of the nearest street lamp. The boy was covered in filth, dirt covering most of his features, and clothes run ragged. Shouta couldn’t tell exactly how old this kid was, but if he had to guess, he would say maybe around 7? Maybe 8?
“Hey kid, are you okay? What are you doing here?” Shouta asked as softly as he could, not being able to entirely cut out the gruffness of his voice however. The kid looked him up and down, almost like he was examining the hero.
“You’re a hero.” The kid stated, hesitance written all across his face.
“Yes? I’m a hero, although you might not have heard of me. I work underground.” Shouta confirmed, trying to ease the boy’s nerves at least somewhat.
“Eraserhead.” The boy said again, this time looking less like a terrified kitten. Shouta looked at this kid in shock, most hero’s didn’t even know who he was, much less pre-pubescent kids.
“Yeah, uh how did you know that?” Shouta asked, this time the kid had almost no hesitancy in his voice as he spoke. “My friend. He’s really smart. He likes to analyze heroes. He told me about you, to make me feel better about my quirk.”
“Is that so? What’s your quirk?” Shouta asked, curious. Immediately the kid froze and went back to looking absolutely terrified.
“None of your business!” The kid cried. Shouta raised his hands to show he meant no harm and backed up a step, trying to make the kid feel less scared.
“Hey, hey it's okay! Don’t worry alright? I don’t have to know I was just curious alright? You don’t have to tell me. I wouldn’t have really cared anyways to be honest with you.” Shouta said, being honest. He didn’t really care about what quirk the kid had. The child looked at him disbelievingly.
“Oh yeah? What if I was quirkless, huh? Would you care then?” The kid asked him, fire raging in his eyes - like he was challenging Shouta. Challenge accepted fluffy.
“Not in the least. Quirks are tools. They don’t make a person.” Shouta stated blatantly. The kid looked shocked for a moment, staring at him, trying to figure out if he was being honest or not.
“So. So you wouldn’t hurt a quirkless kid? You'd want to help?” Fluffy asked him, almost pleading with him. Shouta looked at him shocked for a second, before replying seriously, “I would never. Kid, are you okay? Do you need help?” Shouta knew the answer already, but he wanted the confirmation.
“Not me. My friend. He's sick I think, but he won't tell me what’s wrong with him. I don’t know how to help him…” The kid told him, trailing off. Well that’s, concerning?
“Does his parents know?” Shouta asked the kid, almost not wanting to know the answer.
“Hah, what parents?” The kid laughed without humor. Shit.
“Okay…okay can you take me to him?” Shouta asked fluffy. The kid looked up in alarm.
“NO! No, I-I promised him no heroes. Heroes won’t…they won’t help.” Fluffy said sadly.
“Hey. Listen to me kid. I already said I don’t care about quirks right? I will never, ever hurt someone just because of a stupid thing like a quirk. I swear on my hero license, I will help your friend in any way I can alright?” Shouta said as sincerely as he could. The kid looked at him surprised again, but after a moment, slowly nodded his head. “Okay then, where’s your friend squirt?” Shouta asked him, holding out his hand for the kid to grab. The kid looked at him indignantly before shakily grabbing his hand and standing up. Now that the kid was almost completely bathed in light, Shouta saw how tiny this child was. His hands were incredibly bony, and his wrists were so thin…
“Hey kid, uh, how old are you?” Shouta asked, even more concerned. The kid ducked his head.
“10.” He stated simply. 10? Jesus christ.
“Okay, okay. Okay. Uhhh, what’s your name?” Shouta asked.
“Hitoshi.” Fluffy stated, monotonous.
“It’s nice to meet you Hitoshi, I’m Aizawa.” Shouta told him, hands still clasped together. Hitoshi nodded at him and began pulling him down the dimly lit street.
Their walk was quiet, Hitoshi pulling Shouta along like a man on a mission, and Shouta trying to figure out where the hell they were going. Soon enough, the pair reached a small abandoned shack.
“We’re here.” Hitoshi stated, immediately dropping Shouta’s hand.
“Alright, and do you live here Hitoshi?” Shouta asked, concern sky rocketing for the small boy.
“Yes.” Hitoshi said, pushing open the creaky door. However, after his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Hitoshi immediately started running as fast as he could to the middle of the small room. Shouta followed hot on his heels until he saw another small boy, even smaller than Hitoshi if that was even possible, collapsed on the floor and looked extremely pale.
“Izuku! No Izuku, please! Wake up! No! You can’t leave me! You promised! WAKE UP!!” Hitoshi cried, shaking his friend on the floor.
“Hey, hey. Kid you need to move okay? I need to figure out what’s wrong with him.” Shouta said, gently moving Hitoshi out of the way. Hitoshi nodded, and scrambled to find the worn down lamp that was hiding in the corner. After fiddling for a second, Hitoshi managed to light the lamp, showing just how bad ‘Izuku’ looked. The kid was far too pale, his lips tinged slightly blue with a bit of blood and maybe vomit surrounding his mouth, his dark freckles contrasting greatly to the tone of his skin. Shouta immediately checked for a pulse, thanking the gods when he was able to find one. Granted, it was a weak one, but it was there. Next he checked the breathing, very labored. Then Shouta noticed how much the kid was sweating, however the child didn’t seem to have a fever. Shouta quickly started looking for any signs of a possible trauma done to the kid, however when he went to lift the kids shirt to see if there was any bruising, Hitoshi immediately scrambled up and grabbed his hand to stop him.
“DON’T TOUCH HIM! DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM LIKE THAT! YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD HELP!” The kid screamed, frightening Shouta a bit. Shit - the kid thought…
“Oh god kid no! I would never! I was just checking for any signs of bruising, I promise. He’s showing signs of either a severe fever or internal bleeding. I want to rule out all the worst possibilities first okay? Look, you can sit right here beside me.” Shouta said, trying to placate the kid next to him in any way he could. These poor kids, what have they gone through? Hitoshi calmed slightly, but made no move to let go of Shouta’s hand. Shouta gently pulled Izuku’s shirt up to reveal severe bruising on his abdomen.
“Shit, kid, we have to go to a hospital.” Shouta said, immediately going to stand before Hitoshi grabbed him again.
“No! You can’t, they won't treat him. They refuse service to quirkless people. They say it’s a waste of medical resources. Trust me, we tried when Izu broke his arm again.” Hitoshi told him, seething.
“Fuck…okay. Kid come with me, hop on my back. I’m going to carry your friend in my arms and I’m going to take you both to UA okay? There's a healer on staff who lives on the campus. You might know her as Recovery Girl. She will heal him, I promise.” Shouta said, urgency in his voice. Hitoshi looked scared, but quickly nodded as he saw the state his friend was in. Hitoshi jumped on his back and was quickly secured with the capture weapon - making him light to carry, even though the kid on his own weighed almost nothing. Next Shouta carefully collected the second kid into his arms, being extremely careful of the wounds the child was sporting. Shouta then ran faster than he thought he ever had.