Chapter Text
Aizawa was finishing up his patrol for the night. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, he glanced up at the rising sun; looks like it was morning now. He still had a few hours before class started; maybe he could use the time for a well-deserved nap.
He slowly worked his way back home, deciding to take the long route and enjoy the sunrise. Aizawa walking on a gently curving sidewalk took a small turn that laid out a bricked path towards Takoba Municipal Beach. This route from his patrolling section towards the school was currently his favorite since someone had cleaned the beach up a few months ago.
As the beach came into view, Aizawa took a moment to take a deep breath. He inhaled slowly, letting the fresh air fill his lungs. The sun’s rays glistened across the water, and peachy oranges and pinks swirled around the horizon. He let himself soak in the morning.
While the pro was relaxing, he saw a puff of green hair jogging down the sand in the distance. Aizawa paused, surprised to see Midoriya out of the dorms so early, and a little taken aback to observe one of his students doing something so... normal? Watching Midoriya make his way down the beach, he looked like any old high school student, enjoying the quiet morning.
Somewhere through Aizawa's bone deep tiredness, he felt a sideways melancholy. Happy moments like this could be the usual for Midoriya if he wasn't burdened with such a dangerous ambition to become a pro-hero.
The ocean breeze swept past Aizawa, his long hair catching the air. He took another slow breath. Pushing aside his stray thoughts of Midoriya's hypothetical high school life, a warm sense of peacefulness washed over him. Maybe now was a good enough moment to enjoy without the future looming over them.
As Midoriya made his way down the beach, he caught sight of his Aizawa. The kid flashed a smile, steering his running route towards the sidewalk Aizawa was currently walking on. Aizawa watched as the kid made his way over, a pang of something intangible suddenly running through his chest, like he had somehow interrupted Midoriya, like he had broken the peacefulness of the scene.
In a burst of green, Midoriya was next to him. “Morning Aizawa-sensei!” He greeted. Aizawa did not break his stride, keeping his head forward but glancing over to the kid, “Good Morning Midoriya.” He responded kindly. They walked in silence for a few moments. Midoriya eventually asked "How was your patrol? Any villains appear?"
Aizawa responded in a monotone voice, "Last night I spent most of the time searching for potential leads to a possible drug ring, but no breakthroughs."
"Well, I am sure something will come up soon! Besides Hawks, you have the best record of shutting down illegal drug trafficking networks!"
Aizawa nodded slowly, not surprised to hear an unusually specific hero statistic from Midoriya. The pair continued walking in comfortable silence for the next few minutes.
Of course, it couldn’t last.
A distant boom rattled the street. The tell-tale sound of breaking concrete and civilian screams echoed through the nearby city. Mildly lamenting the morning disruption, Aizawa jumped into action.
After a split second consideration, he spoke quickly, "Follow me Midoriya.” Aizawa really didn’t want to make his student handle another crisis, but Midoriya had his hero license, and it was always better to have more hands capable of evacuating civilians for city emergencies.
Midoriya nodded seriously, and in just a t-shirt and running shorts, he followed Aizawa towards the growing noises of destruction.
An entire city block was already in crumbles within the few seconds it took for the pair to arrive to the scene. The view confused Aizawa momentarily, this was a newer part of the city, but the place looked like it was falling apart after decades of wear. Buildings thought to be brand new were straining against crumbling foundation and the newly paved sidewalks were now cracked with small plants growing out of them. There were already a handful of pros at the scene. Rock lock was running around tapping crumbling building debris and throwing citizens out of harm’s way. Thirteen was clearing away some of the larger broken concrete pieces sticking up perilously from the ground. It looked like the destruction was radiating out from a the center of the block. Aizawa eyed the block's tallest building, noticing how the shattered concrete was creeping towards it. “Deku, go and evacuate anybody in the office building there.” Aizawa ordered, pointing at the tall building. Midoriya nodded, the kid’s eyes also honed in on the curious concrete patterns, he looked up with a confident expression directed at Aizawa and took off towards office building.
A shrill cry rang out from the center of the block. In the middle of this hurricane of destruction, a man was screaming while Gunhead was trying, and failing, to restrain the crying man. Aizawa stood at the edge of the scene quickly assessing the scene to determine his next move
The man Gunhead was trying to get a hold of was wearing strange clothes, the material shined iridescently in the sun, fitting the villain's body expertly with absolutely no inconsistencies or scratches. The unknown man was waving his arms around wildly, looking more like an animal caught in a trap unintelligibly thrashing around rather than a typical villain fighting. Gunheads bullets were streaming down onto the villain, but the bullets were bouncing off the man harmlessly, landing onto the destroyed concrete and disintegrating. Was that the villain's quirk Aizawa wondered - an impenetrability to bullets? After another roar ripped from the villain, Gunhead suddenly collapsed, it barely looked like the villain had made contact with the pro, but it was enough to KO Gunhead. Maybe the villain could redirect damage? Aizawa didn't have time to figure out the villain's quirk, he still needed to help Gunhead. Aizawa took off towards the center of the block.
When he got close to the villain, Aizawa sent his capture weapon reaching for the man's shoulders. The fabric coiled around the villain. The man didn’t even register that Aizawa was restraining him, he was too busy continuing his unintelligible cries. Aizawa observed that the villain looked like an emotional wreck, tears streaming down his face while broken screams tore through his lips.
The villain tried to break free from the capture weapon uselessly, simply thrashing around without much apparent thought at all. The strangely dressed man suddenly stopped crying and locked eyes with Aizawa. "Eraserhead?" The villain spoke confusedly.
Aizawa glared back at the villain, how was this man able to identify him? The public was for the most part completely unaware of his hero identity. The villain, in his moment of seeming clarity, narrowed his eyes at Eraserhead, "How are you here?" Aizawa didn't have time to respond, suddenly he heard a loud crunch sound coming from behind him. Aizawa turned around to see the huge office building's first floor crunch down to the ground, a wave of dust hit his face. Eraserhead blinked.
Time slowed down. The wave of debris emanating from the collapsing building suddenly slowed to an impossibly small speed. Aizawa watched in horror as the particulates slowly covered the morning daylight, like a wave of darkness spilling out from the building inro the rest of the city. He also noted that the cracks in the concrete had just reached office building Midoriya was currently evacuating people from.
The villain seemed unaffected by the time-warping effects. He easily loosened the capture weapon and approached Aizawa. Aizawa tried uselessly to move, but his body seemed to be stuck. He watched helplessly as the villain walked closer, noticing cracks in the concrete spiderweb out from underneath the villain's footsteps.
Aizawa saw that the villain's face transformed from one of terror to one of... confusion. The man's eyebrows furrowed, his pupils sweeping around the landscape. With a good look, he could see a tightness in the villain's features, fear Aizawa recognized dully. If the pro didn't know any better, he would almost think that the man was lost.
The villain yanked the capture weapon out of Aizawa's frozen hand and unsheathed a small blade from somewhere within his iridescent clothes. He held the blade against Aizawa's throat. Time started again. Aizawa activated his quirk instantly, and the villain pressed the blade harder against Aizawa's skin, blood started pouring out from Aizawa's neck. “Where’s Deku?!” the villain roared.
Aizawa was once again left perplexed, why would this guy be looking for a student? How could he even know Deku's hero name since nowhere had the classes’ hero names been published to the media. He didn't have time to think about it right now. There's no way the kid didn’t hear that; Midoriya was on the site, evacuating civilians. While the kid proved time and time again that he could handle himself in a fight, Aizawa thought giving this man what he wanted was a terrible decision.
And Midoriya was reckless enough to make those decisions.
This knowledge gave Aizawa the spike of adrenaline to expertly knock the knife out of the villain's hands and swiftly swing his leg around to deliver a punishing kick to the man's abdomen. The villain's knees buckled and he hit the ground. Aizawa’s eyes were blazing and quick as a whip, his capture weapon coiled around the man’s waist. With the villain incapacitated for the moment, Aizawa delivered another kick to his chest.
The man was knocked back, but still conscious. A flash of green and Midoriya was standing next to him. "Midoriya, you need to leave!" yelled Aizawa, but it was already too late. The villain, knees bleeding on the broken concrete, had locked eyes with Midoriya. The villain's face returning his confused expression. "Deku?" the man said stunned.
Aizawa’s blood ran cold, “Midoriya get out of here." he said again. Midoriya shot his teacher a concerned gaze, noticing the blood streaming down from Aizawa's neck; “But I can help.” the kid responded, almost pleading. Green lightning arched across Midoriya's limbs, his morning workout clothes covered in dust from the building. Aizawa looked levelly at Midoriya, “Leave. Now.”
There was no room for argument. Midoriya glanced back again at the villain struggling against the scarf. After a moment, he nodded “I will make sure everyone is out of the office building.” Aizawa would have preferred if Midoriya had just left to get help from the school, but he could make sure help comes after he has this villain apprehended.
Aizawa knew his erasure wouldn’t hold forever, he needed another pro. From the corner of his eye, Aizawa saw Thirteen running towards them. Good, more help will come soon. Gunhead was lying on the concrete not moving. Where was Rock Lock?
That’s when he heard it, a low reverberating rumble.
It was the same sound that haunted his dreams as a teenager. The building behind him was collapsing. Rock Lock was missing, and Midoriya is supposed to be evacuating people. This is bad. Dust was flying everywhere; the ground was shaking. His eyes were burning. Fuck.
The villain was smiling impossibly wider. Now his focus had changed again to Aizawa, meeting the pro’s eye contact dead on. The teacher felt like he was going to be sick. He shifted his weight and swung his foot directly in the villain’s face. The villain was knocked back, his face bleeding, but his smile remained.
The building was groaning; Aizawa’s heart rate increased, he saw raging arcs of green lightning surrounding the area. Midoriya was definitely doing something reckless right now. But Aizawa couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t move; he had to stay focused on the villain.
Another loud crack and another wave of dust rushed over the area. His eyes were aching. A scream rang through the air, over the shaking concrete, from inside the crumbling building. It was Midoriya’s. As the dust settled, Aizawa saw a ball of lightning encompassing the construction.
Was the kid holding up the building?
No, this can’t be happening right now. Deku is strong but holding up a falling building is a losing battle, and Aizawa is intimately familiar with the death these situations bring. He can’t lose a student. He can’t lose another person like this, not again. Rock Lock runs out of the building holding a little girl. Through the storm of glowing green, Aizawa can see Midoriya.
The kid’s face was strained. His eyes followed Rock Lock and the girl as they ran farther and farther away from the terrifying creaking and shifting. Another low growl from the building and Midoriya’s face scrunched in pain. No, no, no, no, this can’t be happening. Midoriya can’t possibly hold on for much longer. Aizawa needs to do something; he can’t let Midoriya die! He still needs to become a hero!
A large beam crumbles, and concrete starts slipping down, crashing onto the ground. Midoriya opens his eyes and looks directly at Aizawa. Through the hazy fog of dust and green lightning, Midoriya gives his teacher a reassuring smile.
Aizawa moves before he can think. His hands drop his capture weapon, the villain barely an afterthought now. His feet are pounding against the splintering Earth, dodging chunks of rock falling from the sky. He runs into the impossibly bright green light dancing around the building. The air is electric with fizzling power.
The building is rumbling, and someone is laughing loud and boisterous, but Aizawa doesn’t hear any of it. He pushes himself forward. He needs to reach Midoriya.
A loud crack, Aizawa reaches out his hand, his fingers stretching. Midoriya’s eyes are shining bright green, illuminating the dust pouring from the ceiling above. The kid removes one of his hands from the tidal wave of rock, reaching, stretching. A deafening boom, a storm of brick and concrete rain down. Aizawa screams, but it’s lost in the monstrous cry of the collapsing building. He reaches, he’s almost there, he can make it.
Their hands clasp. Midoriya inhales deep, and with another thundering roar, he jumps with all his power. The pair take off, bursting through the descending building.
They’re flying across the block, tightly holding onto each other through the hurricane of destruction. They land hard onto the ground. Aizawa looks Midoriya up and down, every inch of the kid’s skin is covered in dust and blood; it’s probably the same for Aizawa. The pro’s hands grip tightly onto Midoriya’s shoulders. The kid is alive. He’s standing in front of him, beaten up, but breathing.
Aizawa doesn’t want to let go. Adrenaline makes him so shaky that he might fall over without Midoriya to hold on to. It was a terrifyingly close call. Both of them were milliseconds from disappearing under the wreckage of the building forever. But he’s safe now. Midoriya is here with him.
He doesn’t let go.
“We’re out.” Midoriya breaths. The kid looks equally as rattled as his teacher. His eyes glance back at the mess of concrete with a strange look. A righteous bolt of fury runs through Aizawa.
Midoriya was ok with dying just now.
Aizawa’s grip tightens. “You can’t ever do that again.” He growls. Midoriya whips his head to face Aizawa again, his eyes widening. But Aizawa doesn’t stop; he can’t stop. “You should have tried to get out! You can’t save people if you die!” He yelled, frantic. Midoriya is silent as he listens. “You can’t throw your life away at the first sign of trouble; to be a hero you have to live.” He pleaded; Aizawa doesn’t know it, but tears are streaming down his face, his grip bruising. Midoriya nods slowly. Tears are slipping down his cheeks as well. He holds on tightly to Aizawa. “I’m sorry.” He croaks, voice sore from the dust in the air. “I’m so so sorry.” He sobs harder.
Aizawa was going to respond. The words were on the tip of his lips. But a sinister laugh interrupted him. The villain steps across the ruined street, staring directly at them, laughing. Time froze.
Aizawa tried to activate his quirk, but it was too late. He couldn’t move; he couldn’t even track the villain with his eyes. Midoriya’s face was frozen in a mix between confusion and dread. Like the man had stopped time just when the kid realized their fatal mistake.
This guy had a time manipulation quirk. So, Erasure and Deku were helpless as the villain casually strolled across the block towards them. The white-haired eventually stopped right in front of the two. He looked at Midoriya curiously, assessing. Then he gave Aizawa a mischievous smile as he reached over and peeled one of Aizawa’s fingers from Midoriya’s shoulders.
Rage. Aizawa was in agony. He watched as the man lifted one finger after another from the kid. He wanted to scream, to beat this man into the ground. But he couldn’t move. All he could do was watch as the white-haired villain steadily removed his grip from Midoriya.
It only took a few moments, barely a hundredth of a second in real-time, for all fingers to be removed. Once Midoriya was completely free, the man swiftly knocked the kid out. Aizawa begged for his body to move, to activate his quirk, to do anything.
But the man hauled Midoriya over his shoulder and started walking away. He walked calmly, pushing frozen debris in the air aside. Aizawa’s fingers slightly moved, stretching out towards his student. But it was too late. They disappeared out of sight.