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1.
The first time Aizawa Shouta met the vigilante, he was outnumbered in an alleyway.
Thing is, the hero could only erase the quirks of people he could see, but if the person had a quirk that disoriented and blinded the target, then that task would become impossible. Add on to that them teaming up with a guy with a gorilla mutation that makes his punches harder and Aizawa was fucked.
The downside to being an underground hero in his area was that there weren’t many other underground heroes. For the most part, due to how close U.A. was and the many heroes that patrol the area in the day, it was pretty quiet at night. So there wasn’t as much of a need for heroes to patrol there. Therefore, even though Aizawa called for backup fifteen minutes ago, there was still no one there.
It was expected of course. The hero had a lot of experience being in tight situations like this. He just had to hold out another five minutes for police to arrive, if his mental clock was correct.
It was just as he thought this and he tanked another surprise swing from a gorilla-quirked arm, that he heard a thud.
Next thing he knew, the alley wasn’t so dim any more and he could finally see where his opponent was standing without a slight blur. Instantly, he shot out his capture weapon and wrapped it around the man who was attacking him. When struggling from the villain threatened to tear the scarf, Aizawa was quick to knock the man out.
Then there was a whistle.
Quickly the hero spun towards the sound, eyes red and capture gear at the ready.
“Wow Eraserhead, that was quick. Didn’t expect you to knock the guy out.”
Shouta’s eyes narrowed on the small figure that stood before him. They were probably up to his chin with an all black hoodie and regular plain medical mask. The only thing that really even stood out about them was their bright red shoes.
Oh, and the fact that they were obviously a child out in an alley at 2 a.m with a crowbar in their hand and a knocked out villain next to them.
And he wasn’t talking about guerilla-arms.
“Whoa! No need to get hostile.” The kid exclaimed as he dodged the capture weapon that lashed out, dropping their weapon in the process. “I just thought I'd give ya a hand when I saw you were in a pinch.”
Shouta huffed. “What are you doing out here so late at night kid?”
“Not a kid.” Said child huffed in response. “And if it wasn’t obvious, I was just passing through when I saw you were in trouble and decided to drop in.”
The phrase caused the hero’s eye to twitch. It was said casually yet the searching look the kid gave when he said “drop” seemed to imply something. What? He didn’t know, but he intended to find out.
Before he could try though, there were sirens heard making their way closer.
“Welp, looks like I gotta go. Take care of these guys for me will ya?” the kid called out cheekily as he made his way to a roof.
Shouta cursed as he glanced towards the end of the alleyway then back to the criminals knocked out on the ground. He wouldn’t be able to chase the kid without leaving them alone, having to wait for the police to arrive before he could go anywhere.
Before the kid left however, he poked his head over the edge of the roof again. “Oh, I almost forgot! If you run into Tsukauchi, tell him Rain dropped by.”
With that, the kid was gone and Shouta was left to wait.
2.
Once the police had custody of the villains, Shouta beelined it to detective Tsukauchi’s office.
Said detective was obviously tired from overwork but still put in the effort to smile when the hero walked in. That was immediately followed up by the man slamming his head onto his desk with a groan when Shouta brought up rain.
Apparently Rain Drop, more commonly called Rain, was a vigilante who had been running around the last few months. Tsukauchi was put on the case because of course he was and as soon as the paperwork was filed, the vigilante started his reign of terror.
Said reign of terror wasn’t really much. Sticky notes addressed to the detective left on villains describing their quirks, coffee from his favorite cafe left on his desk, and emails with details on gangs said detective was trying to take down. It all seemed helpful on the surface but was driving the man insane trying to figure out exactly how the kid seemed to do it all.
The only thing he was able to confirm about the vigilante was that he hadn’t used his quirk in a fight as one encounter between the two had the kid cheekily stating “well last time I checked, I wasn’t using a quirk to fight so I’m not technically a vigilante.”
That particular tidbit ringing true seemed to really frustrate the detective.
To add insult to injury, once the name for the vigilante got out, said kid thought it would be funny to start bringing a spray bottle with him on patrol and use it on criminals like one would on a misbehaving cat.
Didn’t stop him from using the catch phrase that was his name sake but it did make it seem more accurate.
In the end, Tsukauchi bribed his way into getting Shouta to join the case. The hero grumbled about it but honestly, he was intrigued by this kid. They were able to dodge his capture weapon with ease and had known his hero name. Being capable of one of those feats would catch his attention, being capable of both made him want to catch this kid and find out more.
Catching Rain proved to be a challenge though.
Every time they ran into each other, Rain would be able to get away. Either by using his obligations as a hero against him or somehow out maneuvering him. One time the brat even used his spray bottle to blind Shouta before disappearing. The game of cat and mouse seems to be never ending. As well as that stupid phrase.
“I just thought I’d drop by.”
“Figured I’d drop by.”
“Decided to drop by, huh?”
“Looked like you were hoping I’d drop by.”
It was honestly annoying. Every single time the kid showed his face, he’d always manage to somehow sneak “drop by” casually into the conversation. It almost seemed instinct at this point. Like the kid didn’t even think about it.
In the end though, after several months of chasing and coffee mysteriously ending up at the station addressed to him, it seemed the two got into a bit of a routine. One of them would be fighting someone, the other would show up and help, the kid would sneak in his catchphrase, then the vigilante would leave. Sometimes with a little wave as he called out, “See ya Eraser,” or other times he’d give a little tidbit about a case the hero’s working on before departing.
By that point, Shouta had given up on catching the teen. ( “I’m fifteen!” the vigilante had shouted after a comment about him being short for a twelve year old .) He didn’t see much point in it. They stayed out of the more dangerous fights, mostly providing distant support if necessary, and the fights they were a part of, the kid was able to hold his own. He seemed to be eating well and had fresh bandages applied every night if he was injured. Sure, he wouldn’t stay off patrols for long no matter the severity but Shouta could hardly judge.
Needles to say, the two have grown used to each other. Easily bantering and lending a hand when needed.
Knowing the kid so well, the hero couldn’t say he was surprised to see him in his predicament. All he could do was stand with his arms crossed over his chest as he raised an eyebrow at the upside down teen.
“Hey Eraser. Funny seeing you here.” Rain chuckled nervously as the wire hanging him to the roof spun his body slightly.
“Hilarious.” Shouta deadpanned. “What exactly happened, problem child?”
“I don’t know what you're talking about. I just happened to be in the area and decided to drop by. Hang out for a bit.” The kid answered with an unseen smile on his face.
The hero raised his brow higher.
Rain squirmed a bit, causing the wire to sway slightly before finally relenting. “I was trying to test out my new grappling hook. It had more of a kick then I thought it would and kind of lost control.”
After the explanation, Shouta couldn’t help but sigh. “What did I tell you about testing out new gear without me around to supervise?”
“I know,” said vigilante whined. “But I couldn’t help it! I’ve been waiting for it to arrive for weeks and I couldn’t find you on any of your usual routes.”
As Shouta watched the vigilante sway slightly, obviously sulking, he couldn’t help but smirk as he chuckled in his head. Rain sometimes made him forget that he was only a kid. He may be out fighting crime every night and walking off stab wounds like they’re nothing but he was still a dumb teenager who was going to do classic dumb teenager stuff.
What a problem child.
“Well, since you're just “hanging out” as you said, then there’s no need for me to do anything.” Shouta declared as he started towards the alley’s entrance.
“Wait!” Rain called. “You're not going to just leave me here are you?!”
The man just turned with one of his brows raised.
The kid whined. “You're supposed to be a hero.”
“Yes.” the underground hero conceded as he moved to fully face the teen. “And it’s a hero's job to bring in vigilantes. Especially minors trying their hand at vigilantism.”
Rain wiggled slightly in his upside down position. “You wouldn’t do that though. Since undergrounders are known for letting vigilantes off the hook?”
Shouta hummed as he moved closer. “Yea. Though most wouldn’t want kids running around at night. Vigilante or not.”
The kid stayed silent at the subtle jab.
The hero sighed. “I guess I could help you down.” Rain perked up at the words, looking at the man with wide eyes. “ If you let me look at your notebook.”
Instantly, the hopeful look was gone and was replaced with a glare. Shouta expected the response. Despite how they’ve grown closer, Rain would still slam his notebook closed and hide it away the second he realized anyone was near. He even refused to talk about it with the same vehement energy as the topic of his quirk.
To say the hero was curious was an understatement.
“I could alway just drag you to the station.” Shouta offered.
The kid’s eyes widened a moment before he brought his head down (up?) in contemplation. His brows were furrowed and he nibbled on his lip as he weighed the pros and cons. After a couple of minutes however, he deflated.
“I show you one of my notebooks and you’ll help me get down and not drag me to the police station after?”
One of? Shouta couldn’t help but think as he nodded.
“Alright. Deal. Now get me down. I’m starting to get dizzy.”
3.
Rain’s notebook was dangerous.
It was a book filled with information that could kill any one of the heroes mentioned in it. It even had a page on Shouta and how he was most likely Present Mic’s husband.
Which was correct but not the most shocking part of the whole thing.
No, the most shocking thing was that Rain was so secretive about it, not because of how dangerous its contents were, but because he thought he’d be made fun of for it. That his notebook would be destroyed right before his eyes as the hero laughed at him. That all those hours of research he did to clear his head and for fun would just be chucked in the trash.
It baffled the man.
He planned to correct the kid but before he could get another word out, Rain snatched his notebook back and ran off with it. He decided it was for the best to let the vigilante have a moment to compose himself before he confronted him on exactly why he would expect such a reaction, so the hero went home.
The next day was spent getting his class onto the bus and trying to get a bit of shut eye before they arrived at the USJ. Then there was chaos, fighting, and blacking out.
Next thing Shouta knew, he had bandages covering his eyes and arms as beeping could be heard by his head. Thankfully his husband was there to reassure him he wasn’t blind and all his students were alright. The heroes made it in time.
That night, after Shouta spent half an hour convincing Hizashi to go home to rest, he heard the window slide open and soft steps make their way towards him. The stupid heart monitor gave away that he was awake, despite staying still, causing the intruder to huff out an amused sound.
“Relax Eraser. I just wanted to drop by to check in on you.” Rain assured.
That caused Shouta to huff in return. “How’d you get in here, problem child?”
“Oh you know.” the kid started as he moved closer, probably to sit in the chair Hizashi was in previously. “Called in a few favors, climbed a couple stories, lock-picked the wrong window. The usual.”
The hero hummed in response. He would have rolled his eyes too but you know…bandages.
The two sat in silence for a bit after that. Just listening to the heart monitor as it beeped away and the two just breathed.
Eventually, Rain whispered. “I wasn’t sure you’d make it.”
Shouta was sure his heart skipped a beat at the statement but the machine stayed steady so the kid continued.
“When the news said that U.A. got attacked, I thought they were exaggerating. But then you didn’t show up to our regular meet up spot. It took awhile to find out where they brought you and when I finally got here, you were still asleep.”
As the vigilante spoke, his voice seemed to get quieter and quieter until there was a suspiciously wet quality to his speech.
“I overheard some nurses say you might not wake up.” Rain confessed. “That you might end up in a coma.”
Once that was in the air, the kid finally stopped to take a couple breaths, obviously having started crying. During this however, the monitor went silent. Most likely having done so in order to make sleep easier for the patient.
Shouta wasn’t sure if said silence is what made the kid say the next part. Him saying it with the thought that the hero was asleep or if he even realized he said it at all, but either way, Shouta heard.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you too.”
4.
After that night in the hospital, and after his arms were freed from their casts, the kid tried to act like nothing happened. He would just act as his usual cheerful self with his annoying catchphrase and go about the night as usual.
Shouta wasn’t having it.
Every time they met up on the roof, the hero tried to get the vigilante to explain what he meant by what he said. And everytime he blew him off. Changed the subject. Used his spray bottle. Tried to wave it away.
Despite his unwillingness to answer though, he would still show up on their roof every night. Still seemed to eye the hero as if assessing him. As if assuring himself that Eraser was still there and okay.
So when he wasn’t at their meeting spot one night, Shouta was reasonably panicked.
It wasn’t helped by the call he got from the hospital about two of his students. He cursed once the call ended, took one more look around for the vigilante, then started towards Hosu.
As much as he wanted to scour the city for Rain, his students came first.
Once at the hospital, he stormed up to the receptionist and was given the location of his students. The long journey did not help his nerves and so when he finally made it to the room, his students understandably paled. He probably looked like a demon who just arrived to drag them to the underworld.
He didn’t really care however as he laid in on them for being stupid enough to go after a serial killer . Once he calmed down though, the chief of police was finally able to come in and inform them of how lucky they were that Endevor agreed to take the credit, allowing them to get off scot free. Where the law was concerned at least.
This statement, however, was met with a scoff.
Shouta leveled a glare towards Todoroki but his student stayed defiant.
“My father taking the credit for the arrest of Stain, of which he had no part in, would only boost his ratings.”
“So you would rather be charged with vigilantism?” The hero questioned. Todoroki should know the possible consequences such a mark would have on his future career as a hero. After all, Shouta gave a test about the laws surrounding vigilantism not too long ago.
Todoroki turned away from the police chief to give him a glare that was uncommon on his face. “No. I’m saying that all the credit should go to the vigilante that saved Iida’s life.”
At that, the man stiffened. “What vigilante?”
Before Todoroki could answer the question however, the chief interjected. “We don’t think it’s smart to give credit on the take down of such a high level villain to a vigilante. It would give them more publicity, woof.”
That caused Shouta to turn his glare on glare towards the dog-faced man. “So you would rather flat out lie than give a partial truth ‘cause you don’t want people to know that a vigilante was the one to take down a serial killer that the police and heroes failed to bring in?” He was all for covering up the truth to keep his students out of any long term consequences this misstep could cause but for that reason? That was starting to sound like the police had another agenda.
“I- no!” The police chief sputtered. “I just don’t believe it’s in the best interest of the public to promote vigilantism, woof. An act that, as a hero you should know, is illegal.”
Shouta saw what the man was trying to do, as he finally calmed down enough to think more rationally, and decided to shut it down. “Then don’t tell the public who brought Stain in. As I’m sure you are aware, the man has been amassing a small following as of late. Wouldn’t it be better for the people to release a quiet statement stating his status in custody rather than attaching such a big name to him and possibly increasing Stain’s popularity?”
The room went quiet at the statement and when the chief seemed like he was about to argue, Shouta simply raised a brow.
Finally, the dog headed man sighed. “I will take that into consideration, Eraserhead.”
With that, the man bowed, gave his thanks to the teens for their actions despite the threats he gave before, and left. Manual, who was also in the room for the interaction, shared a few words with Iida before he went on his way as well.
As they were all alone once again, Shouta decided it was time to ask his most pressing question. “Which vigilante was it?”
“I’m not exactly sure of who the man was as he didn’t state his name but he was quite short.” Iida answered.
“He didn’t have any obvious quirk either.” Todoroki continued. “He seemed to know how Stain’s quirk worked though. He kept any blade Stain had blood on away from the man.”
“Oh!” Iida exclaimed right after his classmate finished. “He also said to tell you something Aizawa-sensei.”
“What was it?” he asked. Depending on what it was, he could possibly identify which vigilante it was that saved his students. Then, again, leaving a message for him already narrowed it down quite a bit.
“I’m not quite sure.” Iida stated sheepishly before explaining. “I was starting to feel the effects of the blood loss by that point.”
“I think,” Todoroki cut in, “he said something along the lines of “Sorry the rain couldn’t drop by tonight.”” Then the teen looked up and asked, “Does that mean anything to you, sensei?”
5.
Honestly, Shouta was furious.
Not the, “imma beat the ever loving cheesecake out of you” angry but more of the “I’m going to bubble wrap you and never let you out of my sights” mad when he realized Rain was the vigilante that had defeated Stain. The second the kid showed up at their meeting spot, already spouting “Sorry I’m late, had to drop by-,” the hero wrapped him in his capture weapon and dragged him closer to inspect for injuries.
The action obviously startled Rain quite a bit as he freaked out and tried to escape, but Shouta wouldn’t let him. After confirming that the vigilante only seemed to have minor scrapes and bruising, he started to lay on him just as he had done to his students. The kid tried to justify his actions and even drop his stupid catch phrase again, but Shouta wasn’t having it.
“You could have been killed, Rain.”
The kid scoffed, “Yea and? Your student could have been killed too but that didn’t stop him from seeking out a serial killer. ”
“What he did was reckless and he will be receiving severe consequences for his stupidity. But we’re not here to talk about Iida.”
“Yea well, Iida is still in training. I’m already going out every night on patrols so really I knew what I was doing.”
“You're still just a teenager, problem child. You shouldn’t have fought a murder.” Shouta explained, again , trying to get it through the vigilante’s thick skull that what he did was stupid.
“So I should have just let Iida get killed?” Said vigilante countered, crossing his arms over his chest.
“No, you should have called the heroes.” Shouta reiterated for what felt like the hundredth time that night.
“The heroes were busy,” the kid stated with an eye roll. Also obviously done with this endless cycle of a conversation. “And besides I was right there . What’s the point in calling heroes when I could just handle it?”
“The point is Rain, you're not a hero.” Shouta finally snapped.
His statement caused the kid to tense up before looking up at him with wide eyes.
“You’re just a teenager, Rain. Playing pretend every night, running around as a vigilante, it’s going to get you killed. I let you off the hook cause you kept to low profile criminals but this time you took it too far. No more.”
“W-what? Eraser y-you can’t just-”
“No Rain. I’m done with you pretending to be a hero. Go home.”
+1
Rain Drop did end up going home.
He looked stunned and almost hurt by Shouta’s words before finally turning around and running off into the night. The hero stayed on the rooftop for a few minutes just to breath and calm down before going home himself.
The next day he started to regret what he said. Sure, he was angry, furious even, but it all came from the worry he had for his kid. He had spent the hours before they met up thinking about all the what ifs. Of how it could have gone so much worse. How the police could have found a body in that alley way instead of just an unconscious Stain.
So yea, he wasn’t really thinking straight when he said what he did. It was all objectively true but he shouldn’t have said it the way he did. After all, the hero knew how insecure Rain was. It’s the reason the kid decided to become a vigilante instead of trying for a hero course. Shouta shouldn’t have used that insecurity to prove a point.
Shouta planned to apologize that night for what he said. Had even headed out a little earlier than usual just to make sure he didn’t miss Rain.
Rain never dropped by.
For three days Shouta spent his patrols running around, trying to catch any glimpse of the kid he could to no avail. There weren’t even any mysterious villain drops left for the police or anonymous tips called in about an unconscious villain left somewhere.
Shouta felt like he was going crazy with worry and guilt over the kid.
It didn’t reach its peak until one night, a full week after they last spoke, Tsukauchi brought up that a package was left in his office. A package of notebooks.
The hero rushed out of the station after hearing that and started his search, trying to find his kid.
It felt like an eternity of hopping from roof to roof before he finally saw him.
A small blob standing on the edge of a roof.
On the wrong side of the rails.
Without any thought, Shouta ran. Praying to any deity that would listen that he would make it in time. That Rain wouldn’t fall.
Just as the child started to tilt forward, Eraser shot out his capture weapon.
It caught onto something, and without thinking, Shouta tugged.
Out of breath, adrenaline coursing through his veins, Shouta clung onto Rain. He never wanted to let go. That was too close. Way to close. Never again. He didn’t want that to happen ever again. He wouldn’t let it.
The child, shaking and obviously a bit in shock, tried to wiggle out of his grasp but his arms only tightened. “Wha-.”
“Rain Drop.” Shouta interrupted, voice trembling.
“What- How- I’m not- How’d you know?” the kid questioned, sounding close to tears himself.
That statement however, caused the hero to realize his kid wasn’t wearing his mask. He had what looked like his school uniform with a hoodie over it, allowing the hero to finally see his kid’s face. To see the wild green hair his hoodie usually hide and the freckles his mask normally concealed. It allowed him to see the dark bags under his eyes caused from lack of sleep, stress, or both. It even exposed faint scarring on his cheek that came from a deeper one running down his neck and under his clothes.
But none of it could distract him from Rain's familiar large, watery, green eyes.
“Just did, problem child.” Shouta finally answered as he dragged the kid closer, practically burying him into his chest.
They stayed like that for a while. Shouta gently rocked his kid as Rain started to sob; the hero running his fingers through his kid's hair in a way of reassuring himself that his kid was okay and alive and there .
That night, not a single raindrop touched the ground.