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Aizawa Shouta knew that he was screwed the moment the villains walked out of the purple misty portal. At least two-thirds of them had mutant-type quirks, and there was no end to them. For every villain he took down, another would take its place.
“Twenty-five. Twenty-three. Twenty. Eighteen. Fifteen. Sixteen.” The blue-haired villain rushed forward, hands outstretched.
Fuck off, Crusty Hand Fetish Weirdo.
Ignoring the numbers the crazed-sounding teen had just spouted, Shouta sent out a strip of his capture weapon that the villain used to reel him in, arms reaching for him. The hero ducked under the villain’s arms and slammed his elbow into his gut, just missing the solar plexus. His eyes stung with pain from trying to keep them open.
A cold, dry hand latched onto his elbow, grip as strong as steel. Shit.
“I can’t see since you’re moving around so much, but there’s a time when your quirk stops. Your hair falls, doesn’t it?”
Shouta grumbled, slightly out of breath, “Why can’t you stupid villains just be dumb.”
Finally, unable to keep his eyes open any longer, Shouta blinked.
And immediately, the black cloth of his uniform was greying and disintegrating under the villain’s touch, the skin beneath it following quickly. Shouta hissed in pain and pulled back, the exposed muscle on his arm bleeding and dripping crimson liquid onto the floor of the USJ.
The wound on his arm steadily throbbing, Shouta tugged on his capture weapon again, taking out another villain along the way. He glared at the blue-haired villain. If he hadn’t orchestrated this whole thing, Shouta wouldn’t be covered in sweat and blood. Bitch .
“You’re not used to this type of combat, are you, Eraserhead? But you jumped in, just to put your students at ease? You’re so cool .”
That sounded so wrong coming from a villain threatening him and his students. And the admiration that leaked into the teenager’s voice was horrifying, to say the least.
“Oh, and by the way, Eraserhead . . .”
A shadow fell over Shouta as he whirled around, coming face-to-face with the giant bird man that hadn’t moved since the villains had arrived in the USJ.
“ I’m not the final boss. ”
That was the last thing Shouta heard before he blinked. And in the split second it took for him to look up, his face connected with the concrete of the USJ floor, head letting out a loud crack and a sharp pain stabbing at his skull. For a moment, his vision went white from the sheer agony.
A large hand wrapped around his head with a bone-crushing grip, and amidst the discombulation and pain he was feeling, he heard a faint mutter. “Again, Nomu.”
He couldn’t even push himself to get up. Groggily, he thought spitefully, ‘I repeat my previous sentiment. Bitch!’
With that, he blinked away the blood washing over his face as the creature lifted his head above the ground, bracing himself for the pain—
It never came. Instead, the Nomu paused and he heard a melodic voice ring out, “ Wither and decay. ”
Midoriya?! He didn’t even question why his student was singing, just felt a thrum of panic rising in his bones as he choked out, “M-Midoriya… Ru-run…”
“End this destiny. Break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free.”
Shouta could hear shouting in the distance. “What are you doing to my Nomu, you stupid NPC!?”
Goddamnit! If only he could just turn around, get Midoriya to start moving.
“ Take what has been hurt. Grant them no mercy. ”
“NPC! HOW ARE YOU BEATING MY NOMU’S REGENERATION!? ”
Under the Nomu, Shouta could feel its weight lessening, his head falling gently onto the concrete. But Shouta still couldn’t do anything. His arms, at least from the sharp pain spiking every few, were broken, he most likely had split his skull open, and his ribs were aching and poking, evidently broken or bruised.
“ Bend and break the reigns, and set the spirit free. ”
“ NOMU! ATTACK THE GREEN NPC! KILL THE BUSH! ”
In Shouta’s chest, his heart stuttered. His Problem Child Number 1. Dear god, his student would be in so much trouble once this all blew over.
He heard thundering, stumbling footsteps before Midoriya’s voice sang huskily, a bit shakily, “ The spirit free .”
The footsteps fell silent.
He could hear the villain letting loose a scream of rage. “KUROGIRI! THE NPC BEAT THE NOMU!”
“Young Master, we should leave. Sensei will be upset.”
With a final shriek, the USJ near Shouta went quiet. The sound of small footsteps rushed towards him. Midoriya, no doubt. He could feel hands turning him over onto his back, and he winced at the bright light behind his eyelids. He rasped, “Midoriya… What was… that…”
Then Shouta heard the same voice again, but silkier and sweeter this time. “ Flower gleam and glow. Let your powers shine. ”
Incredibly, Shouta felt the pain in his ribs fading, his bruises lessening and his bones knitting back together. As a wave of warmth washed over Shouta, he almost let himself fall asleep right there. It was comforting, and reminded him of home.
“ Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine. Heal what has been hurt. Change the fates’ design. Save what has been lost. ”
The consistent throbbing in Shouta’s head faded, the pain in his arms following swiftly. Even the bones he had definitely broken were knitting themselves back together, the stabbing aches subsiding. Even the sensation of his chronic dry eye that had been there as far back as he could remember disappeared as well, leaving him with a sense of awe. Was Midoriya’s quirk really that powerful?
Then Midoriya’s song came to a close. “ Bring back what once was mine. What once was mine. ”
As Midoriya trailed off, the comfortable warmth of his quirk faded away as well, and only then did Shouta dare to crack open his eyes. “Problem Child.”
Pulling himself up to standing position slowly with the help of Midoriya, Shouta half-expected to feel lingering tension or pain from his injuries, but surprisingly, there were none. Even the cricks and aches in his joints were gone.
“What the fuck, Problem Child.”
Midoriya flinched slightly. Shouta’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as he aimed a nervous smile at him. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to forget any of this, Aizawa-sensei?”
“Sure, kid,” he drawled, “I’ll definitely forget that my life-threatening injuries were just healed with a song. No problem.”
Midoriya winced. In an attempt to distract him from the topic, although he had to have known that it was inevitable to have this discussion, Midoriya said, “Uh, before I start, Aizawa-sensei, do we need to find the rest?”
Shouta almost smashed his head into the concrete again, cursing himself for forgetting to check up on his other students in favour of listening to the drama that was Midoriya’s life. “We’ll be following up on this once—”
The rest of his words were cut off by the USJ door loudly slamming. “I AM . . . HERE?”
All Might had arrived, bashing through the steel door like it was nothing. His face melted into one of confusion.
Shouta sighed. Honestly, the man should have been there sooner and not later. But noooo , he just had to use up all his time. And now, he was straining himself. At least that meant the other UA staff were coming.
Turning to Midoriya, Shouta said, “Can you heal Thirteen too?”
“No… My quirk… my quirk doesn’t work like that. I can’t hurt and heal at my own discretion.” Midoriya’s voice was quiet, and he ducked his head down, as if ashamed.
Shouta resisted the urge to sigh a second time. He would have to deal with so many things after this. Holding back tears from the mere thought of more paperwork, he called out, “All Might! Please help to round up the rest of the villains —”
“YEAHHHHH!” A loud scream interrupted him.
At the door, the UA faculty had finally arrived.
Shouta shook his head in exasperation. If the students had been any closer, they would have had their eardrums burst for sure.
Grumbling the entire time he made his way up, Shouta tugged along a reluctant Midoriya in his capture weapon, making sure that he wouldn’t be able to escape from the upcoming conversation.
When they reached the top, most of the Pro Heroes breathed a sigh of relief, but tensed again when they saw the blood he was drenched in. Midnight had concern painted across her face. “Eraser, you sure you’re okay? You’re covered in blood…”
Shouta retracted his neck further into his red-dyed capture scarf. He lied, “It’s not mine, I’m fine. Help round up the students and bring Thirteen to the hospital. I need to take care of Problem Child here.” He jerked a thumb back at the boy he had been dragging around.
For his part, Midoiya didn’t so much as react when the rest of the UA faculty rounded on him. He just sighed, “Aizawa-sensei, I am not a problem child.”
“The day you’re not a problem child,” Shouta shot back, “is the day I’ll stop drinking coffee.”
“Fine. Point taken.”
“Thank you.”
The UA faculty watched them bicker with raised eyebrows, before Nedzu said, smiling, “Well then, let’s leave them to it. Midnight, please assist All Might with rounding up the stragglers, and King Vlad, help perform first-aid on Thirteen. The rest may gather the students.”
With their instructions, the teachers dispersed.
Meanwhile, Shouta had pulled Midoriya to a seated position, and the two watched the Pro Heroes complete their tasks.
“After my quirk came in,” Midoriya said softly, his voice lilting with a slight melodic tone to it, “my mom always told me that I would be a villain. Or that my quirk was useless. When I was five, my mom was being mugged, and the mugger cut my mother’s throat.”
Dear god, Shouta could already tell that this was going to be a fun story.
“That was the first time my quirk activated. But I didn’t know at that time that my quirk had a drawback.” Midoriya took in a deep breath. “I can’t heal without hurting, just like how I can’t hurt without healing. Otherwise, my quirk will attack whatever is nearby. I found that out the same time I discovered my quirk.”
With mounting horror, Shouta realised that Midoriya’s quirk must have harmed someone or something in the vicinity after healing his mother.
“I wasn’t able to control my quirk, and before I knew it, my father was dead and the alleyway was destroyed.”
Shouta hissed lowly. Midoriya smiled sadly at him, continuing, “My mother hated me for that. She hated that my quirk healed her but caused her husband’s death. After that,” he let out a shaky breath, “I wasn’t allowed to use my quirk.”
“Oh, kid,” Shouta breathed, only hesitating for a second before placing a comforting hand on his student’s shoulder. He thought carefully about what to say next. He said slowly, “Your quirk… does not equate to your worth. And no matter what, my duty as your teacher in your three years at UA means that I will always, always put my students’ wellbeing above my own. And Nedzu will be more than happy to destroy any dumb person who challenges him.”
There was a brief lull in the conversation, as Midoriya leaned the slightest bit into his touch. They both soaked in each other’s presence in silence, before the younger said quietly, “I never told my mom this, but I named my quirk.”
“Oh?” Shouta raised his eyebrows. He was genuinely curious. The kid who was known for quirk analysis in his class had named his quirk himself, so it had to be something interesting.
“Karmic Song.”
Shouta let his lips curl into a tiny smile, completely unlike the wide, Cheshire ‘it’s a logical ruse’ grins he normally gave. “That sounds perfect, Problem Child.”
The two continued sitting there until the rescue efforts were done, and even then, Izuku drifted around Shouta the whole trip back.
Not that Shouta minded.
In fact, a month later, Midoriya Inko would be arrested on the grounds of severe child neglect and Midoriya Izuku — soon to be Aizawa Izuku — would be placed in the care of Aizawa Shouta.
That was the birth of Siren, the Karmic Hero.