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It never really begins. The signs were always there, only, they didn't seem like signs until Shota knew what to look for. Sure, they stood out, they certainly didn't seem normal, but they weren't enough to grab his attention. Not until one Tuesday night, out on patrol, when a villain attacked, ambushed Shota, seemingly coming from nowhere.
"I've been looking for you, hero." The villain sneered. A though slipped through his mind, This one seems familiar, but there wasn't time to stop and think about it. "You're a tough one to find, Eraserhead. A lot of villains don't even know you exist. Not me." The sneer turns malicious. "I know you. You took my brother. You're the reason they killed him." Shota gritted his teeth. He hadn't been paying much attention to what the villain said, he was busy fighting him after all, but something about his words didn't make sense. Shota hadn't taken anyone. Not that he remembered, at least. "And I'm going to kill you for that." The villain grabbed him by his capture weapon, lifting him into the air. It was then that it happened. Shota almost missed it. It was quiet, and completely unexpected. If he hadn't been a hero trained to keep a keen eye on his surroundings he would have missed it.
The tired little voice that could only belong to a child (a child!) echoed through the small alley. "Leave him alone." Shota risked a glance behind him, though the villain was just as distracted by the sudden appearance of a kid. A small kid with fluffy green hair was staring at them, completely blank faced with glowing green eyes. He opened his mouth, and the moment he spoke Shota was dumbfounded. "I said leave him alone." That kind of exhausted, emotionless voice sounded so wrong coming from a child that age.
The villain dropped him abruptly and Shota whipped his head back around, his quirk activating on instinct. Holding his hands up, the villain took a step back, a nervous smile on his face, but he wasn't looking at Shota. He was staring straight at the kid.
"Hey kid. I wasn't, um, well I was fighting Mr. Eraserhead here, but I'm not anymore, so, uh, could you not..?" Shota wanted to look at the kid, he wanted to know how he was reacting, but he couldn't risk looking away. He was already lucky that the villain hadn't taken advantage of him the first time he turned around. "I-I'll go peacefully and everything. Just, uh, don't..." It was obvious the villain didn't want Shota to know what he didn't want the kid to do and was being careful with his wording.
Before the villain could do, or say, anything else, Shota wrapped him up in his capture weapon. Besides a defeated sigh, the villain put up no resistance. Shota called the nearest police station, and once they dispatched someone to pick up the villain Shota spun around to search for the kid. Except the space where he'd stood minutes earlier was empty. He ran to the opening of the alley, looking left and right, but there was no sign of the green haired kid. He was tempted to just pick a direction and see if he could catch up with him, but that would leave the villain free to up and run.
So, with a sigh, Shota gave up on the little boy and returned to the villain.
The next morning, when Shota had returned to his apartment, he tried to recall what the boy looked like. He had messy green hair, which should make him rather easy to find, but those glowing green eyes must have to do with his quirk. He was small, so either very young or just short.The memory of another fight earlier that week came without warning. A small green haired child in the crowd had and the villain being distracted for a moment or two. If he really thought about it, Shota could recall seeing a green haired kid at a few of his other fights, even the ones at night.
With more questions than answers, he called Nedzu, who could probably make more sense of it than Shota could. Thirty minutes later found Shota in front of his boss. Shota knew better than to believe the cheerful smile on the rat/bear/dog/things face. He was trained enough to spy the evaluating look in his eye.
"So, Aizawa, care to tell me the whole story? Start from the beginning." Nedzu had a small notepad next to him but Shota knew he wouldn't use it. Still, Shota kept his attention on the notepad, picturing the scene as he described it, making sure he didn't leave out any details. Nedzu nodded once in a while, nodding along with the story. "So a little boy, you say? Well that shouldn't be too hard to find. Especially if he has both green hair and eyes. Those are rather rare genetics. I'll talk to Tsukauchi today and have him dig into some records to see if we can find the boys name. He would make such a great hero. So young, yet already trying to help" Nedzus eyes lit up, and Shota would have groaned if he cared enough. Of course Nedzu would try to recruit a child.
True to his word, Nedzu called the detective, repeating Shotas' description of the child to him, including the green glowing eyes. Shota was ready to climb into his sleeping bag and nap in the teacher lounge for a while, but Nedzu insisted he stay for tea. Sooner than expected, Nedzus phone was ringing and Tsukauchi was calling back.
"There'd no one that fits that description." Are the first words Shota hears when Nedzu puts his phone on speaker mode. "I've looked through every legal record there is, quirk, description, area, even school records. There's nobody who fits that discription, and if there is, than as far as the government is concerned, they don't exist." Shota had been prepared for, even expecting, many different possibilities. A kid sneaking out, maybe one who's parents don't care, or who doesn't have parents at all. He was not, however, prepared to be told that this kid, one who may or may not have saved him from a villain, does not exist.
"Thank you, Tsukauchi. You've been very helpful." Nedzu says, before hanging up an placing his chin on his hands/paws/things. "This is quite the predicament. A child who doesn't exist." Shota nods, though it's barely more than a short jerk of his head. "I would certainly like to meet this child that does not exist."
"Me too." Shota manages through his confusion. "Me too."
Toshinori interacts with kids a lot. He's used to them. He likes to think that, as All Might, the Symbol of Peace, there's not a kid out there who can catch him off guard. He knows how to handle kids.
And then there's a fight in the middle of Tokyo, the villain is causing colossal damage to the building around them, and the civilians are panicking. There's a group of children nearby, and their teacher is trying desperately to guide them away form the fight, though she is having little success.
Toshinori is preparing to send another punch the villains way when said villain freezes. It only lasts a second, they just stop, staring at something behind him that Toshinori can't see, he mouth drops open, eyes wide, and then it's gone and they're back to normal. Toshi doesn't stop to question it. He takes half a second to wonder what the hell and then resumes fighting. He doesn't look behind him, he certainly doesn't ask the villain what's going on, an maybe that's his mistake.
The villain is captured easily enough, and as Toshi is cuffing them, he glances up to find himself being stared at. Granted a lot of people stare at him, he's the #1 hero after all. But this stare is different. It seems like he's being looked through, not at. It's a little boy with a scar across his forhead with bright green eyes that almost, almost, seem like they're glowing. His hair is messy and shines green in the sunlight. The kid is only one, maybe two feet away. Toshi takes a moment to panic because holy shit this kid was so close to the fight how did he not get hurt, but then he looks, actually looks at the boy.
He appears dead on his feet, the glowing eyes rimmed with dark circles that tell of sleepless nights and many tears. The scar across his temple isn't the only one, they line his arms and legs, just enough that you could see them, but not enough to really stand out. The boy smiles at Toshi, and the villain beside him lets out a sigh that almost sounds like relief.
"Good job, Yagi-san." The boy says, and that voice should not be coming from a child so young. His voice sounds blank, ridden of emotions. It takes a moment for Toshi to register that this child, who looks so young, sounds like a retired hero with a childs voice, he sounds like he's been through hell and back. It takes another moment to register what the boy had called him. Yagi-san. Not All Might. The boy had addressed him by his civilian name.
Aizawa steps from the crowd, and it's only then that Toshi notices the underground hero had been keeping the crowd back. His colleague races toward the child who is already walking away, blending into the crowd in seconds. Aizawa curses under his breath and turns to Toshinori.
"Finish up here," He says, while Toshi is still reeling. "You and I need to have a chat with Nedzu." There are four other heroes at the meeting but no new leads on the mysterious child.
Hizashi isn't fighting anyone that day. He'd been patrolling for hours but had yet to come across a villain, or even any common criminals. Nobody wanted to mess with Present Mic that day, not that Hizashi minded. No news is good news, and he'd take a quiet walk through town over a villain fight any day.
And then there's someone in front of him, running into him, staring up at him with wide green, glowing eyes that look trough him, seeing something nobody else can see. Hizashi has to take a step back and the boy steadies himself. The glowing eyes are slightly off putting, but Hizashi figures it's just the boys quirk, even though he hardly looks old enough to have his quirk. Hizashi looks the boy up and down, scanning green hair, a large scar across his forehead, and scared arms and legs. Once he's satisfied that the boy is uninjured, and kneels down to talk to him.
"You're Present Mic." He says in a matter-of-fact tone before Hizashi can even open his mouth. "You're not supposed to be here." Hizashi is startled by that. Not supposed to be here? What does that mean? The boy points to a building a couple houses behind them. "You're supposed to be in there, fighting the villains and saving Kohei-chan." Hizashi looks between the boy and the seemingly abandoned building he's pointing to.
"Kohei-chan as in Kohei Matagawa who was kidnapped two months ago?" Hizashi asks. It may just be the imagination of a little kid, it may not lead to anything, but the Kohei case was about to go cold and any lead was worth at least looking into. The boy nods, grabbing Hizashi's hand and dragging him to the building.
"Don't worry." The boy says out of nowhere. "Everything turns out fine now. I saw it." Hizashi doesn't question his words, simply opens the door and makes his way through the abandoned house. He doesn't even notice the boy following him until he spots the glowing eyes out of the corner of his eyes. It almost gives him a heart attack. Hizashi calls in back up, specifically Aizawa, since he's been on the Kohei case since it opened. "It's fine. I made sure." The boy says, and though he never enters a room before Hizashi, he gets the feeling that this boy knows the house already.
A few minutes later Hizashi finds a bunch of criminals passed out on the kitchen table, and secret door in the wall swung open to reveal stairs down to a secret basement. There Hizashi and the boy find Kohei Matagawa, the missing girl. The boy isn't surprised, but Hizashi is.
"How did you know?" He asks, and the boy follows him up the stairs again. Hizashi is carrying the poor girl, who started crying as soon as she saw them.
"I saw it." The boy says, his voice completely monotone. "You were supposed to die, but I didn't want that, so I made sure you got here safe." Die? Saw it? Hizashi glances back at the boy as they step into the kitchen. Aizawa is waiting there having handed the criminals over to the police.
"Mic." Aizawa says in lieu of a greeting, as he accepts the sobbing girl being handed to him. Hizashi turns around to face the boy, and its then that Aizawa notices him and curses quietly. The boy stares emotionless, which is beginning to worry Hizashi.
"You saw it? What exactly did you see?" He questions. Aizawa runs to get the girl to a paramedic outside.
"You're death. That's what I always see." Finally free to take a look at the boy, really look, Hizashi does not like what he sees. The scars he'd seen earlier are far to common on his pale skin, his eyes are surrounded by eye bags that do not belong on a child his age, and the messy hair looks as if it hasn't been brushed in weeks. "It's my quirk. A future sigh of sorts. But I only see when people die, usually important people. Sometimes I can get there and stop it. Sometimes." The look in the boys eyes speaks of horrors no one should have to see, much less a child.
"Right." Hizashi says nervously, right as Aizawa coming sprinting back in.
"You are not getting away from me this time, mystery child." He yells, but the boy is already on his way out the back door. Aizawa is quick to follow him, leaving Hizashi behind and very confused. It isn't until Aizawa returns a minute later, empty handed, that Hizashi gets an answer.
"You'll have to come talk to Nedzu too." Aizawa sighs. They end up at U.A a little while later, with All Might on the phone, and a large group of heroes there in person.
Nedzu runs into the boy at the store, which is the last place he'd expected to meet him. It seems as if the boy had been looking for him specifically seeing as he ran right up to Nedzu, tugging on his arm to get his attention. Nedzu turns to the boy, used to being grabbed by curious children, he blanks for a moment when he catches sight of curly, messy green hair that seems all to familiar, and glowing green eyes he's heard about so many times. The boy looks exactly as Nedzu pictured him, small, scarred more than a child his age should be, tired eyes that seem to look through him, not quite at him.
But this boy has a smile, a bright cheerful smile Nedzu had never been told about. It almost makes up for the dead look in his eyes. Almost. The boy blathers on, rambling far too fast for Nedzu to hear what he's saying, much less understand it. He seems like little more than an excited child, and if Nedzu hadn't heard the testimonies of over 20 heroes regarding this mysterious boy who does not exist, he might think that's all he is. An easily excited kid.
But the boy is talking about things most kids don't make a habit of talking about. Hero fights nobody saw, heroes nobodies heard of, names nobody is supposed to know, and deaths that never happened. And then the boy stops to breath, and when he resumes talking he speaks slow enough for Nedzu to listen, to understand.
"Don't." The boy says, suddenly serious, his glowing eyes trained on Nedzu. "They'll all be alright, everything will turn alright. There's no need to worry or do anything. Don't try to save anyone. Don't." Nedzu does not quite know what he's talking about, but he listens closely, combining it with all the information he's gathered about this boy. Eventually he figures the boy is trying to warn him, to keep him from doing something that will eventually kill him. "Alright, Nedzu, principal of U.A. High School." That startles Nedzu, he wasn't expectinig the boy to know exactly who he is. "Don't do anything."
The boy is gone just as fast as he appeared. He lets go of Nedzus' arm and turns around, walking away fast enough that Nedzu cannot follow but not so fast as to draw attention to himself. Nedzu contemplates the young boys words as he finishes his shopping, only to have his thoughts interrupted.
Three criminals burst into the store, guns blazing. Nedzu let's the boy drift from his thoughts, instead turning his attention to this new threat. "Give us all the money in the register." They demand of the cashier, one pointing their gun at the cashier, one watching the oor carefully, and the last waving his gun around and watching the shops occupants. "Else we'll take it upon ourselves to shoot up everyone else in this pretty little shop and take the money ourselves."
Nedzu is just about to step in, to say something that may stop the criminals, but the boys words echo in his head. Don't try to save anyone. Everything will turn out alright. Nedzu hesitates, glancing around the shop at all the civilians.
"I didn't see him leave." Nedzu murmurs. "He must still be in the shop. If I do something and they start shooting he may be one to get hurt, or worse, die." He takes a moment to consider other possibilities, other things he may be able to do to stop the criminals, or at lease help the civilians.
In the midst of his thoughts, the glass shatters, and Endeavor bursts into the shop, quickly taking care of the criminals. The civilians are quick to get out, met with some paramedics and police officers. The three criminals are detained. Nedzu spys a small green haired child at the edge of the crowd, scowling at Endeavor with a look harsher than any Nedzu has seen before. With quick, quiet steps, Nedzu walks up to the boy.
"Not a fan of Endeavor, I see." The boys scowl drops for a moment, replaced by the same bright smile Nedzu had seen in the shop.
"He's the cause of a lot of deaths I've seen. Slow, painful, fiery deaths. Even..." The boy hesitates, the glow of his eyes brightening slightly as his smile wilts a bit. "Even his own children a few times."
Nedzu hums. "I have a few questions about that." The boy shoots him a questioning look. "About your quirk." He elaborates. The boy says nothing, only watches him, so Nedzu goes ahead and asks. "What exactly does your quirk see? You told Present Mic you see deaths, but that is not incredibly helpful."
The boy is silent for a moment, and Nedzu worries he won't answer any of his questions. "If I answer..." The says finally, and Nedzu lets a bit of his anxiety fade. "You won't try to take me? Promise. If I answer your questions promise you won't take me." Nedzu smiles.
"I promise." The boy nods and thinks for a moment before answering.
"I see possibilities. Futures where someone might die. If I do the right things, change the present in the right ways, I can prevent the death. Sometimes they stop themselves. Sometimes someone does something without even knowing that stops their death." Nedzu takes a moment to just be horrified. This child has seen people die so many times. He's stopped people from dying. No wonder he looks as if he's a retired war hero.
"And you help the Heroes sometimes? I know quite a few who have met you."
"Yeah." His reply is quiet. "Sometimes I see their death, and their death causes lots of other deaths, and I figure if I stop the heroes death, than I can stop all those other deaths. It works most of the time." When Nedzu looks down at the boy, he sees his eyes have stopped glowing, and hes looking right at Nedzu, not through him. "My quirk doesn't turn off often, only when I sleep and when I force it off. I'm always seeing something from the future, another possibility." But not now, Nedzu adds in his head. The boy is in the here and now.
"And your name?" Nedzu asks, though he has a feeling the boy won't want to answer this question. Just as he expected, the question is met with silence, an Nedzu turns away from the boy to face the rapidly thinning crowd.
"Izuku." The answer comes so suddenly, that it startles Nedzu, however when he turns to look at the boy again, he's gone. Nedzu grins, laughing bitterly.
"Izuku." He says, as he calls Aizawa to meet him at U.A. "The disapearing boy who doesn't exist."
They search every database they can, but there's no record of a green haired, green eyes, boy names Izuku.
Aizawa swears loudly that he'll find the boy and keep him out of danger if it's the last thing he does.
Nobody doubts him for a second.
It never really begins. The boy comes and goes, saving lives nobody knows were going to be lost. He was almost always there, an he remains for months, a constant in the heroes lives. They become so used to the green eyes boy names Izuku, that they aren't expecting it when it stops.
It never really begins, but when it ends it ends abruptly.