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"Goddamn villains!" she shouts as she rushes into the mall. It's still standing but not for long. The structure is very weak and everything could collapse any second. She's not among the first to arrive on sight. In fact, she's pretty late. It really pisses her off.
There are too many civilians pouring out through the closest doors, so she opts to jump through the broken window of one of the many shops on the ground floor. Scattered stuff littered all over the place, mixed with chunks of debris of concrete from the explosion, all varying in different sizes. She runs towards one direction, trying to find any civilians to save or any villains to pummel.
She is greeted by Eraser, who is currently holding up a sizeable chunk of debris with his scarf, pinning it to the ceiling. Then, a bunch of civilians run under it to safety, herded by his pink skinned kid in her hero costume. She internally wonders why the kid is here but asking questions is for later.
For now, Hero time.
"That's all of them!" she hears the kid states and instantly the chunk falls with a loud thud. Eraser pants as his scarf winds itself around his neck. His face looks a little red from exertion but it quickly disappears.
"Eraser!" Miruko shouts as she drops by beside them. Both he and his kid turn towards her. "Sit rep."
"Left wing is all cleared, the dining areas are closed off and there are still civilians in the right wing. Fatgum and Kamui Woods are trying to find a way into the dining area. Ashido and I are about to head off to the right wing," Eraser answers instantly without pause.
"Let's go!" She quickly hops towards where the right wing of the mall is at, with Eraser and his kid hot on her tail. Eraser is working at a terrifying efficiency; not a single second is wasted as he throws his scarf to lift fallen debris or to catch falling civilians, and he does so without a slight moment of a breather in between. She could see that his kid is trying to keep up, but every one civilian she had saved, Eraser had saved seven.
But that is not to undermine the kid's ability. She is pretty quick with how she slides along the floor with her Quirk, which is surprising because if she remembers correctly then her Quirk should be acid or something similar. Acidic Quirk would be useful in this situation, melting any chunks too big, but they're not taking any chances to test the building's already fragile integrity.
"Three civilians at one o'clock!" she hears the kid shouts. Looking at where she is pointing, she sees them hurdled by a wall. The kid instantly reacts, sliding towards them. Suddenly, as the civilians and the kid make their way to safety, she hears a groaning coming from above. Just as she looks up, the ceiling suddenly breaks open and starts collapsing.
'Shit!' She can't catch to them. They're too far from her. But the kid reacts very quickly, pushing the civilians so they fall and slide along the liquid the kid had used before to safety. Unfortunately, the kid couldn't get away from the falling debris. She can only watch in horror as the massive pieces fall over the girl.
"SHIRAKUMO!"
She jumps when she hears at the shear loudness of Eraser's voice before he flashes past her and towards the blocked path, past the recovering civilians. Seeing that he won't be helping them out, she heads over to the civilians and points at a direction, telling them it is the exit before she turns towards Eraser again.
"ASHIDO!"
He is currently digging his way through the debris, moving every chunk in his way using his bare hand and using his scarf for any ones too big for him.
"ASHIDO!"
She rushes over to his side to help him with the debris, but he doesn't give her a single attention as his hands keep on moving. His eyes are wide and frantic and he is breathing hard.
"ADHIDO!"
"…ai…wa…!"
"MINA!"
His digging doubles in speed and frantic, moving the chunks much faster pace. Just as he moves one large piece with his scarf, a hand shoots out from a hole.
"MINA!"
"Mr. Aizawa!"
Miruko barely reacts before Eraser has cleared enough pieces for his kid to pass through. She watches as Eraser grabs onto the kid's waist and pulls her from the hole before he falls onto his ass, clutching the girl tightly to his chest.
"Thank goodness… Thank fuck… Fuck…"
She could see just how shaken Eraser is that it even affects his voice.
"Mr. Aizawa, I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm safe. The debris didn't fall on top of me. There was enough space for me. I'm okay now."
She hears the girl tries to reassure him, even rubbing his back. It's a little ironic that his kid, who had got trapped, is reassuring him, that he is a lot more shaken than her.
But the way Eraser reacted… it was a lot more explosive than what she had seen before.
'And who's…?'
Questions later. Hero time.
"Come on, let's go!"
It's not the League of Villains like she expected. It's a smaller group that got overshadowed by the LoV and decided to make their announcement of their presence very clear by an act of terrorism, to show the world that they exist and will not be overshadowed by the LoV again. She knows this because some Heroes had caught one of the members just outside the mall. He was shouting it all to the world as they pin him down to the ground.
'Fucking great, now we have another shitty meal on the dinner plate,' she thinks to herself in annoyance. The LoV is already big enough to deal with; to have a bunch of explosive-Os is going to complicate things and make them significantly difficult.
As for her, she is standing near an ambulance. Not to get checked out, she ain't weak and no small scratches could hinder her. No, she's here because Eraser had been incredibly insisted to get the kid checked out as soon as possible, despite the kid saying she is absolutely fine. He hadn't the kid's side since the trap, always keeping her close and within his sight.
Thankfully, Eraser and his kid return before she could become bored. He still has a hand on her shoulder protectively, holding her close.
"All good?" she asks to either of them.
"Yeah," the girl answers with a nod. Nothing is wrong then and that is good to hear.
"Everything's taken care of. Let's go back now," Eraser states before turning around and heads over to where she thinks UA is at, guiding the girl with one hand on her back now.
"So why are the two of you here?" she finally asks as she matches their stride.
"We were patrolling nearby," the girl answers.
"At this kind of time?" she asks with a confused frown. Eraser patrols in the dead of night. Right now it is just past noon.
"Ectoplasm supposed to take Ashido on patrol, but he is unavailable," Eraser clarifies. "So I took up the offer to replace him."
That answered one question. She thinks this is the same kind of situation with her and the frog girl not too long ago; a practical work or something along the line. She's about to ask the second, more burning one but she feels like it is too personal to ask just yet, especially with the girl nearby. Not to mention that said girl keeps glancing at Eraser worriedly. It seems she's not the only one who noticed his reaction earlier.
The rest of the journey to UA is a silent one. None of them are saying any words. Usually, she wouldn't be bothered by it, more likely to be bored by it instead. But it is bothering her a little bit. This is not the silence she is growing accustomed to with Eraser. It's a little different that she couldn't put a finger on. Eraser has yet to take his hand away from the girl's back, keeping it firmly there.
It's more of an assurance to himself than to the girl.
And before she even know it, she finds herself standing in front of a large building away from the main one, one of the numerous dorms that UA has built for the students, she thinks. She watches as the girl hesitantly enters the door, throwing one last worried look at Eraser before finally disappearing.
"Who's Shirakumo?" she finally asks as soon as the door closes.
She doesn't expect Eraser to bristle up.
"Don't ever bring up that name," he growls out with a tone that promises death, accompanied by his eyes flashing red. It sends shivers up her spine so she backs down.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," she says quickly with her hands up in surrender. He clicks his tongue before turning around and walks to the main building with looking back at her.
That's the first time he ever done that to her.
Despite his deterrence last time, the question is still burning in her mind. She is just too curious, desperate for answer. Since she couldn't ask the man himself unless she wants to be harmed (She knows full well he will do so, and she is not a masochist) she decides to ask the next best person. Present Mic or Midnight; whichever she comes across first. From the interaction not too long ago, the three of them are incredibly close. She suspects they had been friends for a while now.
So she is back at UA, earlier than usual. She enters the lounge without knocking on the door. Looking around the room, Eraser is not here, thankfully. There are a few teachers there and they look up when she entered. Mic isn't with them here, unfortunately. But Midnight is here and that's good enough.
"Yo, Midnight," she calls out as she approaching the R-Rated Hero.
"Hey, Miruko," Midnight greets back glancing up at her before looking back at the paper on the table she is scribbling with a red pen; grading probably or something.
"Who's Shirakumo?"
Her hand instantly stops as Midnight freezes. She gazes at Midnight in confusion before the R-rated hero gently sets down the pen.
"…How did you know that name?" Midnight asks with a quieter voice.
"I was with Eraser and one of his kids yesterday in the mall attack. He was screaming the name when a bunch of debris was falling on his kid."
The downcast in Midnight's eyes becomes evident as she looks down at her feet.
"…Oh…" Her voice has dropped down into quiet whisper. Now, Miruko is more confused. "It's… It would be better if you don't mention him around Mic or Eraserhead, especially Eraserhead," she says, finally looking back up at her. She has a sad smile on her face.
"Why?"
"Sensitive subject. Even now, it is not something we talk."
Midnight doesn't say it outright, but it is enough to tell her to drop the subject.
"Okay," she finally relents. It seems she won't be getting any answers anytime soon.
"You're here at an unusual time," a voice interrupts them from behind her. Turning around, she is facing the man of the hour.
"Eraser."
"Hm," the Underground Hero hums in greeting as he walks past her and towards his table, which is not far away from Midnight's.
"…Sorry… about yesterday," she says awkwardly.
"It's fine," he grunts back, gathering the stack of papers neatly into his hands.
'It's not fine,' she replies in her mind.
She watches as he walks out the lounge and to his class. At first glance, there is barely any difference, but a longer look can tell this his head hanging lower than usual, his hair is hanging in a way that it is obscuring his face from view. They're subtle, but they're enough to say it.
'It's not fine at all.'