Chapter Text
Shouta notices the night was calm.
Ever since the start of his patrol, there weren’t too many interruptions in his nocturnal hopping on the rooftops of Musutafu, just some petty crime and stray cats too cute for their good. This is why Shouta decided he would do a last round around the district, do paperwork in the police precinct and go to his cozy apartment to sleep (so he can deal with the hellspawn, even though he expelled his whole class, Nedzu still insists he gets classes, the damn rat).
He jumps down the rooftop, quickly unwrapping his capture weapon and using it as a grappling hook to grab a lampost and launch himself across the street, he perches on another rooftop, rolling in the gravel to cushion his fall. He doesn’t take long to start running again and going around the other buildings, still vigilant to any sounds or sights down the dark alleys (he doesn’t acknowledge the feeling of freedom his patrol makes him feel, sure he always gets tired and he would rather prefer that crime didn’t exist, but it stills makes him content).
After finding nothing, he nods to himself and, once again, starts his way toward his home under the moonlight.
At first, he thought his way home would be just as calm as his patrol, how wrong he was.
Shouta is halfway to his apartment when a bundle caught his attention and, at close inspection, he realizes it’s a backpack, as yellow as his sleeping bag, but more hideous and worn-off.
Inside the backpack, there are just notebooks, one of them more destroyed than the others, a pencil case, and a medkit, which is rather odd, but the underground hero doesn’t dwell too much about it. The backpack, obviously, belongs to a student but it doesn’t make sense to be on a rooftop, abandoned.
Shouta isn’t the curious type, at least that’s what he tells himself, but he needs to identify the owner if he wants to return the backpack, that’s why he pulls one of the notebooks, the destroyed one and examines its cover.
‘Hero Analysis for the Future'
It’s hard to understand, at first, given the burned marks and blurred letters, but he is pretty sure that’s what is written.
The first page shows him a drawing of Hizashi’s hero persona, Present Mic, and Shouta finally understands what the title means. It’s multiple analyses of heroes and it isn’t that bad, it makes Shouta uneasy about how accurate those notes are, sure, it’s amateur and there are little mistakes, but considering this belongs to a student, not a professional analyst (though these analyses can beat many pros out there), he is impressed nonetheless and isn’t that terrifying? Shota isn’t known to be easily impressed. The kid probably has an analysis quirk or something like that.
He continues to peruse the notebook, page by page makes the underground hero think about how lucky he is to find this instead of a villain, those analyses could be dangerous in the wrong hands.
He even finds himself on these notes and he is freaked out. He is an underground hero, for fuck’s sake (he ponders about going to find the owner by himself, just so he can advise them about coding these notes)
The other notebooks aren’t analyses, there are just normal school subjects, and weird insults scribbled around the pages that aren't torn. After he looks through everything, Shouta finds reminiscences of red petals, and the sight of it, makes his stomach churn (with memories of his childhood, those cursed spider lilies stuffed in his backpack).
Deciding to ignore the petals, he is ready to bring the backpack with him to the police so he can find the kid when the sound of a cat, metal, and a curse makes him tense and peek down the alley under him. There is a child in the dark, with dark-green curly hair and what looks like a singed gakuran.
What are the chances? Shouta muses
"Hey, kid!"
The child quickly looks up and his expression of frustration morphs into surprise and recognition. Go figure. Shouta lifts the analysis notebook.
"Is this yours?"
The kid, who is probably the owner, tenses at the sight but nods, jerkily, his hands are curled in fists and his jaw is set. The reaction wasn't that surprising, Shouta would be pissed if someone messed up with his stuff (but the kid's reaction isn't just annoyance or anger, no, he can see the underlined fear, he just doesn't understand why).
Shouta is careful to put everything back in the yellow backpack before he slips off the rooftop and swiftly lands in the alley. He makes sure to not seem threatening when he gives it back to the kid, who visibly relaxes when his possessions are with him again.
Now, closer to him, he can see red bruises on his cheeks and chin, covering his freckles, dry blood on his, probably, broken nose, and a black eye. His knuckles are bruised and still bleeding, probably from retribution. His uniform is ruined, but not beyond repair, and, oddly, he smells like burnt caramel.
"Thanks...uh, Eraserhead?" The kid mumbles and stares at him, his bangs hiding his narrowed green eyes
"Eraserhead" Shouta confirms and the kid's eyes widen with admiration that makes him awkward, he isn't really used to people recognizing him and looking at him like they look at limelight heroes "And you are?"
"Izuku, just Izuku" the kid, Izuku, says, carefully hugging the backpack close to his chest, probably minding the bruises he definitively has under his clothes "Uh, thanks for finding it, Eraserhead-san"
"Don't need to thank me, kid" he says, sincere and pauses, pondering how much it's worth to poke it and settles in risking it "What the hell happened to you?"
Izuku flinches and Shouta winces at his own choice of words, but, to be fair, he doesn't think there is another way to ask, the kid looks like a wreck and that is something coming from him, the guy who never sleeps, and survives because of coffee and spite.
"Just assholes, nothing to worry about" Izuku mumbles, and, unfortunately, the pro-hero can relate
"Ah, villain quirk?" He asks, slightly curious
The kid is silent for some moments, clearly hesitating, until he tightens his jaw again, lifts his chin up, and stares at Shouta with deviance, his eyes shining with a toxic green, and would have been intimidating if Shouta wasn't an underground hero, Izuku wasn't a child and if he didn't notice how he pressed the backpack against his chest, his hands clenching in fists and shooking from nerves.
"Quirkless, actually," he says, and Shouta deliberately ignores the crack in his voice
"I see, well, that still sucks. Though it's impressive considering your notes, was thinking of an analysis quirk or something" Shouta says, nonchalantly, and the kid blinks, twice, not really relaxing, but more confused than fearful (though he can still see the fear in his eyes)
"... you, you don't hate... you aren't disgusted?"
Shouta falters at the choice of words, very specific words, but he recovers quickly
"Nah, that would be hypocrite of me, since I fight quirkless, which is something you probably already know," he remarks, more amused than angry or freaked out "I'm even impressed"
The kid blushes and mumbles something like "it isn't that impressive", that he is pretty sure he shouldn't have listened
"I disagree. Most people don't recognize me and your skills are better than some professional analysts, and I'm not easily impressed, kid"
The kid is silent, staring at him with a fragile hope that squeezes his heart in his ribcage. Ugh, emotions. Izuku looks at him with so much doubt, probably because no one praised him considering his quirk status. Fuck, he hates this quirkist society.
"Do you mean it?"
"Yeah, I do, kid" (shouta doesn't realize how his eyes soften and he has a tiny little smirk, but izuku, who trained himself to watch and understand micro-expressions so he could protect himself, sees it and, oh so hesitantly, thinks that maybe eraserhead is safe)
"To be quite fair, why analysis? I'm a teacher, and I know most teenagers don't find analysis interesting enough..." he learned that the hard way, since the second year's subjects, cover field analysis and Shouta heard too many groans whenever he announced that classes "...so, why analysis?"
"I like quirks..." he shrugs and opens his mouth, but shut it, and closes his eyes, sighing "... and I wanted to go to U.A"
Oh, now he can understand the carefulness
"Hero course or Support Course?" He asks, quietly hoping it's the hero course
The kid opens his eyes, widened, like a deer caught in headlights.
"You think I can be a hero?"
"Well, there are some things that you need to have to stay in my class. Like potential"
"Does a quirk classify as potential?" Izuku asks (quite dumbly), unconsciously snappish but he doesn't mind
No, Shouta actually snorts "Hell no, if quirks were a sign of potential then I would be the worst teacher to graduate a bunch of kids with high egos and a stick up their asses"
It's the turn of the kid to snort, but the humor dies as quickly as it shows up.
"I'm... glad then," he says and he looks solemn now "I... I wish you were a teacher to some heroes out there"
Well, Shouta can't deny he wished that sometimes, staring at the news of incompetent heroes going around like the city was a fucking playground.
"Answering your question," he changes the subject and Izuku fully focuses on him again "I can't say you can become a hero, at least not until I see your potential. However, considering your analysis, I can say you have some potential, just need to work more on the physical part, since a hero, as much it isn't just about muscles, it isn't just about brains."
Does Shouta know he sounds harsh? Yes, he knows, but he can't lie and say to an unknown child that he can become a hero, just like can't say the other way around.
Izuku looks thoughtful, slightly sad yes, but not hopeless, and Shouta ignores his relief that the kid didn't shut down (just like he did when he didn't pass the practical exam, believing his dream was dead). Then, once again he asks.
"Do you think if a quirkless person had potential, they could become a hero?"
He can feel how fragile the trust the kid is putting in that question. Izuku probably heard a lot about how being a hero would be an impossible dream for a quirkless person.
"If they have potential, they can. As I said, a quirk isn't a sign of potential. A quirk is just a tool. Sure, it gives an advantage, but, yes, a quirkless can become a hero, if they put their heart into it. It will be hard, but what in life it's easy?"
After his little speech, Shouta assets the kid in front of him, with a broken nose and a black eye, his gakuran singed and tattered in the shoulders and around the cuffs. His eyes are wild, with a toxic glint of green, filled with determination.
"You said you wanted to go to U.A?" he asks
The kid nods, his hands, with bruised and open knuckles, shaking, fidgeting with the straps of the backpack.
"And you changed your mind because?"
Because there is no way this kid changed his mind by himself. This kid is smart to the bone, he saw the analysis, it's impressive, a little rough around the edges, but Nedzu would have a lot of fun picking the kid's brain apart. Kids like him should be encouraged to go to U.A., even if not to the hero course. There is a reason he doesn't want to anymore. He wouldn't be surprised if society broke Izuku until he gave up on his dreams.
The kid snorts softly, probably not even noticing. His smile is a snark, full of bitterness and sadness. It reminds him of himself so much.
"Quirkless kids have black marks. If I didn't receive them because of this..." his voice is hoarse as he speaks, gesturing to himself "...probably received them from something else. It's inevitable"
Ah
Shouta wanted so badly to doubt, say this kid is wrong, that he has a chance, that he can be a hero, but he knows it's true
If he didn't stand a chance in the exam and almost never entered U.A, imagine a quirkless wonder in a world full of quirks
"Do you want to be a hero, Izuku?" He asks, even though he knows the answer
"More than anything"
"Why?"
The kid hesitates, but he answers, sure of himself, straightening his spine, and the same deviance of before, when he declared himself quirkless, shows up once again.
"Because I want to save people. I want them to never feel hopeless like I did"
Shouta pauses and decides to risk it. The kid seems to have potential and he has a little bit of free time because of his stunt at the beginning of the year, besides, Nedzu would be glad to help him if he asked, as long as he could interact with Izuku.
"What do you think about training then?"
Again, Izuku blinks, this time twice until his face morphs into a septical expression, guards going up again.
"...why?"
Shouta tilts his head, confused "why what?"
"Just... why do want to train me?" Izuku also adopts a confused expression
"I just said a quirkless person could become a hero. In that case, you"
"No-- I mean, I know that it's just... it's different" he huffs, frustrated, he doesn't know if at himself or if at Shouta "You saying I can become a hero is different from you helping me. So... why? Why do you want to help me?"
Something tells him he should be honest.
"You remind me of myself when I was young. Also dreaming of being a hero and nearly being shut down but everyone else" Izuku's eyes narrows and he opens his mouth to speak, but Shouta beats him before he can interrupt "No, kid, this isn't a charity case. If you want to train by yourself, then that's fine too. I'm offering you a chance because, in my eyes, you have potential and you deserve one chance, just like everyone else. I don't say things I don't mean, Izuku"
Izuku thinks, and thinks, his mouth moves but no sound comes, after a while, probably trying to see if Shouta is safe (which is logical, but at the same time, sad) and takes a deep breath, and nods "ok, ok... so, you mean it"
"I mean it," he nods, confirming "One chance."
"One chance..." the kid echoes and smiles at him, sharp, with one of his teeth missing, his eyes filled with an emotion Shouta can't recognize "I would like that."
Shouta, the bastard, lets his trademark feral, Cheshire grin show up on his face.
Looks like he has an apprentice now.