Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Humans were complicated. The dragon had always known that. Simple creatures couldn’t have torn the world asunder the way they did. And simple creatures certainly couldn’t have rebuilt it from stone and steel. And simple creatures certainly could not have somehow managed to jumpstart the development of magic for their species. 

And yet that last point had opened up an opportunity. She could use this. She could use them. Just as they’d thought they could use her.

But she needed a perfect candidate. One that she didn’t need to waste time teaching basics. She needed one who could hunt and fight already. Her options were quite limited in this era, most humans lived sedentary lives. It was pathetic really. If she was so inclined, they’d make such easy prey. Lucky for them, she didn’t want the attention. As much as it pained her to dim her flames, to slink in the shadows. 

Fire was not meant to hide. It was meant to burn bright.

The obvious candidates were heroes. They hunted their villains, and fought them too. But choosing someone too bright would have consequences. It was only centuries of experience that allowed her to defy the need to burn. No, she would have to start with a soul aligned to shadow. One who was naturally suited to slinking through the dark. 

Seeking shadows meant joining them, and she found herself defying her nature further to shun the sun in favor of the moon. It ached. Her blood burned. Her scales itched, even when her form was human and they weren’t actually there. Her disguise was barely held together. 

For almost two centuries fire stalked the night. In defiance of nature, and in defiance of death. She would not be found. To be found was to die. And she would not die without planting the seed. Without making sure her species could begin again.

And if she got to burn humanity in the process? Well that would just be poetic. 

The humans even gave her a name. An honor she could share with no one. To be feared enough to be named. They called her Reaper. Certainly not unique, but an honor nonetheless. And ironic. She would reap a soul eventually. Just not for death.

The hint of magic burning within humanity was enough. Enough to enact a ritual as old as time. One that had been forbidden long ago. 

She would raise a human as a dragon. Ascend them beyond what they were. Make them worth something. 

It was only right she was picky. This human would be the first of the new blood. Her line would die with her, she was not interested in a human mate. She had to choose well. That was why it took so long.

But now, after nearly two centuries she had a potential mark.

The man could hunt efficiently. She’d taken to leaving him little hints. Things that nudged him towards prey he liked so she could watch. He never killed his prey, but that was the nature of heroes she’d noticed. They seemed to think they were better for keeping their hands clean. When his targets fought back the man showed his talent in battle. His instincts were good, well honed by experience. And he was naturally comfortable in the shadows, slinking unseen by all but the dragon herself. None were able to follow him without being seen either, again except the dragon herself. She wasn’t bothered by this exception though. She was an apex predator, every aspect of her built to hunt creatures like him. It was only natural she saw him and he didn’t see her. That could change. Even in the daylight, he naturally shifted away from attention. 

It was details like this that told one what kind of dragon a soul would be if ascended. Without a natural bloodline to decide, it was decided by the soul’s natural affinity. A man who spent all his time shrouded in darkness to stalk, slinking away when eyes turned his way was easily shadow aspected. Exactly what she needed.

She watched him for weeks. This couldn’t be rushed. He had a day job too, teaching young humans to fight from the looks of it. Another plus. He would teach the next generation well. But eventually nothing more could be learned watching his routine. She needed to test him directly. 

The reaper was ready to claim a soul.

Chapter Text

Shota Aizawa knew he was being followed. 

He knew there were eyes on him in the dark. But he just couldn’t pinpoint where. It was pure instinct that told him they were there at all. Instincts that had never failed him before.

So when his shift was supposed to end at three in the morning, he didn’t go home. He couldn’t lead a stalker there. Instead he moved across the city as fast as he could hoping to lose them first. But the feeling never left, and Shota was starting to feel a cold dread. He’d never met a stalker he couldn’t lose. What kind of villain was he facing if they could keep up with his best efforts to ditch them?

Still, he didn’t falter. He kept moving, hoping to catch a glimpse. If he couldn’t lose them, he had to confront them. It wasn’t until he’d nearly reached the far edge of the city he finally caught something. A flicker of movement. His reaction was instant, lunging for it with his capture weapon ready to grab whoever it was.

His weapon missed, but he’d found his target. The stalker sidestepped the weapon and laughed.

“Oh! You weren’t supposed to see me yet! Consider me impressed” a woman’s voice called out, sounding downright delighted.

The woman in question was dressed in dark clothes. Dark sweatshirt, dark pants. Exactly what one would wear to sneak around at night. The hood had fallen when she dodged the attack, revealing her hair and face properly. Her hair was a bright red in contrast, pulled back into a loose ponytail. And her eyes were piercing gold, watching Shota with what could only be described as amusement.

Shota had expected anger. Some jerk with a grudge, or someone who just hated heroes. Not whatever this was. But he wasn’t a pro for no reason, and he lunged into battle without hesitation. 

“Good instincts. But are you put off by fear?” the woman said.

Shota just wished he had any idea what the hell she was on about. Something invisible shifted though. Her very presence seemed to become more intense. Something about her caused a deep rooted fear to stir. This wasn’t just being afraid. This was a primal instinct, buried somewhere deep within screaming ‘ danger’ . Something deep within his very nature warned him that death was in front of him.

But none of that mattered. This woman had stalked him and clearly had a reason for doing so, no matter how confused Shota himself was by it. So he shoved that deep instinctive fear aside and kept up his attack.

His kick was dodged, as were the two punches that followed. And the woman never moved to attack. She just watched with an eager expression. 

Eventually instead of dodging, she caught Shota’s fist in her hand and twisted his arm painfully behind his back before slamming him down onto the flat rooftop beneath them. It was pure luck he managed to turn his head in time to not break his nose.

“I’ve seen enough. You’ll do nicely” the woman decided.

“For what ? I’m not doing anything for you!” Shota snapped.

There had been villains before who wanted him to do their dirty work. This had to be that right? That whole fight was implied to be some kind of test. Too bad for her Shota would die before taking orders from a villain. 

“You will become more than what you are now. The details can be explained later. I need to take you somewhere better suited, and something tells me you won’t go nicely. So sleep, we’ll talk later. When you’re worth acknowledging” 

Her hand reached for a pressure point Shota recognized instantly, but he wasn’t able to thrash away before darkness claimed him. 

—

Shota woke up feeling like he’d just fallen off a cliff. Everything ached. His head pounded. And something felt off he couldn’t place. It took him a long moment to realize he wasn’t even lying down. He was standing. More specifically, he was standing over the mangled body of what he assumed was a deer. And that was when he realized what was so off.

He was standing on four legs. An extra set of limbs extended from his shoulders. Another behind his rear legs. A glance back revealed wings and a tail . And a body covered in black scales. It appeared to be his own very sharp talons that had mauled the animal in front of him judging from the amount of blood decorating them. That would explain the metallic taste in his mouth. Had he been eating it?

Shota did the very sensible thing and cursed. Loudly. Because what the fuck? Was this some kind of shapeshifting quirk?

“Lucid again, are we?” a voice called in response. 

Shota whirled around, baring his teeth on instinct, wings flaring out to make himself look bigger. 

He was met with a familiar golden stare, but the creature it came from certainly wasn’t a human woman anymore. She looked a lot like him actually from what he saw, but her scales were a glittering ruby red compared to his dark ones that only shone slightly with a matte sheen. He was dark steel next to a sparkling gemstone. The glittering creature was lying on the ground, looking at him with her head tilted curiously.

His last memory was also of the person with that voice and eyes kidnapping him.

“Explain. Now” he growled. Literally, his chest rumbled ominously. He didn’t mind that at least. It got his point across.

“What do you think is happening?” she countered.

“I’m not in the mood for games. I don’t know what kind of quirk you’ve hit me with but I need you to explain ” Shota continued to growl, the sound only getting louder.

“Right idea, but you refuse to step outside your perceived reality. Allow me to expand it then,” she stood up and stretched, “I am a dragon. And now, so are you. I gave you my blood, charged with my power and ascended you beyond humanity” 

“I told you I’m not in the mood for-”

“You are standing in front of me cloaked in scales. Still decorated with the blood of your prey. And surely you feel the power in your veins? That’s not a silly ‘quirk’ as you call them. That’s old magic. True magic. Believe me or not, I have gifted you power beyond anything you could dream of before” the red dragon doubled down.

Because despite Shota’s misgivings, she was a dragon. At least in form. She could easily be like the dragon hero he knew and just be using some kind of quirk. But that wouldn’t explain him. Because he felt off. Aside from his body and senses. It was like something in his head had been rewired. His thoughts and memories were his, but the instincts running in the background that he’d always trusted had changed somehow. Some were familiar. He was still alert for danger, still ready to slip into the dark and remain unseen. Others were less so. Like his nose picking up the scents of animals and helpfully telling his brain ‘prey’.  

He flashed his quirk at her, hoping it would fix everything for him. It didn’t.

“Undo this,” Shota demanded.

“Can’t. Even if I wanted to. But I don’t. I spent nearly two hundred years picking out a human worth ascending. You don’t get to back out” 

“Stop fucking with me” Shota snarled.

He was getting tired of this. He was being toyed with. Expected to believe some impossible nonsense about magic and dragons. Seriously?

“By all the- you want to look human again? You can take human form. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but you get used to it. Just grasp at the power in your blood and compress it into the right shape. Should be easy for you since you know what it’s like to be human. That won’t take away the truth of things, but maybe you’ll be less of a snarly malum ” 

Shota huffed, but tried it anyway. What was there to lose really? It took a few minutes, time he spent glaring at his company while figuring it out. But eventually the world seemed to rapidly grow bigger around him as he shrank from roughly the size of a horse with wings back to the size and shape of a man. His clothes were still on thankfully, but his capture weapon was gone, and a quick check of his pockets revealed his phone was too.

“I left your things on the roof. Either someone found them or you can go get them” the red dragon shared.

“You’re going to let me leave? Just like that?” Shota questioned, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“You are clearly the stubborn type. You’ll learn through experience. Believe what you want, you’ll accept the truth eventually. I’ll be keeping an eye on you. A warning though - don’t go telling anyone what we are. Humans are cruel creatures, and those that know we exist would kill for dragons’ blood. I will do what I must to protect us from that. Anyone you tell I will kill. Are we clear?”

Shota considered attacking at that. But his opponent was currently a large scaly creature as tall as a large truck at the shoulders. Even if he went back to the larger form he’d been in, he was smaller. And unfamiliar with that body. Not to mention he couldn’t land a single hit when they’d met on the roof. No, it angered him but attacking was not a move he could make. He had no way to counter the threat, and he hated the helpless feeling it left him with. Another growl left him unbidden.

The dragon in front of him just laughed, “Do challenge me when you’ve grown a bit. It’ll be fun. But for now, I’m invested in your survival. If you need me, call for Reaper. That’s what your kin have named me” and with that she was gone, a massive gust of wind from her wings battering Shota as she took off.

Shota just stood there staring at where she’d been for a long moment. What had just happened? Had any of that been real? He’d think he’d hallucinated his own part if he couldn’t still feel raw energy of some sort buzzing in his veins. He knew the name Reaper. It was a killer the police had been looking for as long as Shota could remember. No one who saw them survived.

Apparently he was the first. Because Reaper had decided to fuck with him or something. She had to be lying, but the power he could feel was definitely real and not leaving even with her gone. He had no idea what was true right now.

Oh, and now he was in the middle of the woods covered in blood and dirt. With no idea how to get home. Truly a terrible day. 

He just barely managed to catch the scent of gasoline on a breeze eventually, and chose that way to walk. He needed to get home first. He could sort out the rest later.

Chapter Text

Everything was wrong. Nothing felt real.

People gave Shota a wide berth as he trudged through the city, the blood and dirt covering him from head to toe spooking them. He didn’t really mind though, if anything he was glad for the breathing room. His senses were so overwhelmed he felt almost drunk.

It turns out a sensitive nose picked up a lot in the city. Steel, stone, gasoline, all different people and animals. That was the worst problem by far. Every breath felt almost suffocating as information threatened to overwhelm his brain. The sounds were a close second though, his mind unable to keep up with the sheer volume. They were at least familiar though. The smells assaulting his nose had been completely beyond his perception before. 

That was just his senses though. What was really wrong was his mind.

It was something one couldn’t put into words. The way his mind was reacting to reality was fundamentally different. It was like someone had gone ahead and changed all the rules on him. And Shota had always been very aware of the way his own mind worked. It was off putting, to have a different idea of what it should be doing while it handled things in a completely different way. He would have to relearn his own perception of the world if this didn’t wear off somehow. It was terrifying in a way none of the other things were. He prided himself on making logical choices, but how could he do that if all the logic had changed in an instant? The rug had been pulled out from under him and it was like he was a toddler struggling to find his footing.

His mind was processing all this information and he could barely keep up with what it actually meant. He paid more attention to this than his surroundings, letting muscle memory guide him down familiar sidewalks.

Things like cars and machines were being pushed to the back of his awareness, while people and animals were pulled to the front. His eyes wanted to hone in on the slightest movement from those living things, but he found them darting back and forth as people moved all around him. His mind seemed to rapidly process things into one of two categories: ‘prey’ and ‘things’ and react differently to both. What was concerning was that anything alive was shoved into that prey category, including people. His instincts were prepared to attack . And Shota most definitely didn’t want to attack random people. He was always on alert for people attacking him, but he’d never felt his instincts run with a need to attack anyone like this. The other category was equally strange but a little less terrifying, his mind calculating some sort of value of the things around him. If he wanted them, and how much of a fight they were worth. He wasn’t sure what the value was based on. Something in his head just approved of some things more than others, seemingly at random.

That was all Shota managed to sort out before he made it to his own front door. He didn’t have his keys or phone, so he was forced to knock. He would have rather slipped into his own room unseen by his roommate, but unfortunately he couldn’t get inside on his own. Unless he wanted to cause property damage anyway.

Hizashi Yamada opened the door and his eyes widened in surprise. Shota just blinked at him. What exactly was surprising about his best friend and roommate returning? 

“Shota! You’re alright! Where have you been?” Hizashi ushered him inside like he might disappear. He was in his hero costume, but his hair was starting to sag like he had been working nonstop for far too long. And he looked exhausted, but relief was written all over his face.

Shota wasn’t much help in soothing him, everything still felt strange and wrong. But his body relaxed as he stepped into the apartment. Something deep in his messed up brain still recognized home, and upon recognizing his own scent in the place his body seemed to just relax. It was less overwhelming than outside, his own scent and Hizashi’s drowning out most others. Even if Hizashi’s hair smelled like the fakest fruit orchard in all of existence and Shota could smell it across the room. 

Hizashi himself was fretting, those the dazed look Shota couldn’t wipe from his face probably wasn’t helping. But he was distracted again, his brain was cataloging everything in the apartment. But these ‘things’ were his things and he was checking they were all still there. Why were the coffee mugs more valuable than the TV? Shota still couldn’t find the logic in the process.

And Hizashi managed to be an exception to the whole system. Based on what Shota had picked up outside, Hizashi should have been sorted as ‘prey’. But Hizashi had somehow ended up in the ‘thing’ category and was the most valuable thing in the apartment according to whatever instinct was sorting everything. 

At least he could agree with that rating. He’d never actually cared much for possessions before, but he’d always cared deeply for his old friend. Even if he didn’t express it much. 

“Shota? Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?” Hizashi prodded, managing to yank Shota out of his head. 

How many times had he called out? Everything felt surreal. Everything was sharper than it should be, the entire world was too loud and too smelly. 

“Sorry. Quirk. Blood isn’t mine” he muttered in response.

That was the best answer he could give for now. The villain had claimed all sorts of other things, but since none of those things should be possible Shota would have to look into it. Maybe see what he could find on Reaper’s case file. 

“What happened? Shota you’ve been gone for three days , we’ve had everyone looking!” anxiety crept into Hizashi’s voice. 

Shota flinched, “Three days?”

That didn’t make sense. Had he been unconscious for that long? He’d assumed it had only been a few hours.

“You didn’t even know ? What happened?” Hizashi asked again, his voice quiet. Which really said a lot for him. Hizashi had been terrified. 

Hot anger flared in Shota, surprising him. His kidnapper had hurt Hizashi by taking him. Nobody was allowed to mess with his things like that. Shota briefly considered taking off to rip Reaper apart before he caught himself.

That was. Concerning. 

Shota wanted to tell Hizashi everything. But there was a threat hanging over anyone he might tell, from an enemy he hadn’t been able to beat. He could always tell later. Once he understood the risk. So for now he summed things up with careful omission.

“I had an unwanted stalker. So I picked a fight and lost. Woke up in the woods earlier today with a dead deer, that’s where the blood is from. No injuries as far as I know. But I had to walk all the way back. My phone and other things are probably still on the roof where we fought” 

“Yeah, I found those. Tracked your phone when you didn’t come home in the morning” Hizashi still sounded worried.

What was Shota supposed to say? ‘Sorry for getting kidnapped’? He hadn’t exactly wanted it to happen.

But he could deal with that later. Once everything felt real again. If he was lucky, this would all wear off and go back to normal.

Unfortunately, Shota was not usually a lucky man.

Chapter Text

Shota was forced to take a day off from his teaching. He’d managed to fight it down to just one day, but apparently Nezu considered it completely necessary. Which was just ridiculous. He hadn’t had this much pushback after the USJ. Still, there was no winning against Nezu when he had his mind set.

All that meant was that Shota spent most of the day pacing his apartment. At some point he’d started rubbing his face against furniture like an oversized cat, which was just ridiculous. Still, something about it made him less… restless. And Hizashi was at work and not in the shared apartment to question it. So he just let it happen. It wasn’t worth fighting every little thing, better to save his energy for figuring out what the hell had actually happened. 

He was luckily given access to Reaper’s files. As a hero targeted by the villain, it wasn’t really hard to plead his case. It didn’t give him much to go off of. Reaper was wanted for multiple murders, but until Shota had been able to describe her there hadn’t actually been a physical description. Usually people didn’t survive meeting her, they only knew it was Reaper doing the killings because all the crime scenes matched. Nothing left save for blood on the ground. They’d given the name to the killer with no idea who it actually was. 

None of it explained what had happened to him. He knew what Reaper claimed but that couldn’t be right. Dragons didn’t exist, but dragon quirks did. She could be delusional, thinking she was actually a mythical creature. Shota had never heard of a dragon quirk that could somehow affect other people though. And it had done something to him. Even if he tried to write off physically being something else in the woods as some sort of wild dream, everything about himself was still all wrong. Dragon quirks didn’t go and rewrite someone else’s mind like this.

And he still couldn’t ask anyone else, the threat he didn’t yet know how to address hanging over his head. The file had only confirmed Reaper was dangerous. He couldn’t rush into telling anyone that he couldn’t assure would be protected. 

Safe to say, his day off was a complete waste of time.

Things had started to feel a little more real by the time he went back to UA. Nothing had gone back to normal, but as time passed he just got used to it. 

That didn’t stop Class 1-A from being far too loud. A growl tore itself out of him before he could stop himself, but luckily his students completely misinterpreted it. They started asking if he’d skipped breakfast, which led to the realization that he actually had. Not intentionally, he just wasn’t hungry and hadn’t thought about it. He still wasn’t hungry actually.

They did shut up though. And try to give him whatever snacks they had in their bags. Which he refused, of course. And then he had to calm them down properly and assure them he was fine after his brief kidnapping.

Teaching was surprisingly smooth after that. Though his students quickly became another anomaly in the system his mind had. Because at the start of the day they’d been sorted as prey like every other person. But by the end of their heroics class (which Shota had been supervising ever since the disastrous first class All Might had taught. Not officially, but if he was free for the period he was allowed to loom nearby and glare threateningly at the number one hero.) they had somehow changed their category. Every single one of them.

Except Mineta. And that was where the problem started. Because Mineta would not stop harassing other students. And while Shota had been keeping an eye on that situation to see if Mineta would learn or not, he’d never been quite this angry about it before. 

Shota was a practical man. He watched, he waited, and he acted when the moment was right. He was not someone to be consumed by fury and make rash decisions. Yet that was exactly what he ended up doing when Mineta tried to slip into the girls’ changing room after class.

“You are done” Shota had declared, unable to stop himself any longer as he grabbed Mineta by the arm and dragged him to Nezu’s office. 

Nobody even noticed how quick and angry the decision had been. Shota had been keeping documentation already in case he needed it, and so it looked to everyone else like Shota had just finally decided the kid was beyond redemption. But Shota knew. He’d felt the red hot anger, the energy that had been flowing through him since waking in the woods humming in his blood. 

He didn’t regret it in the end though. He couldn’t, not when various girls from the class spent the rest of the day approaching to quietly thank him. Perhaps this was how it would have ended for that particular student anyway. 

Still, Shota didn’t forget the way he’d acted. He desperately needed space to think, and the inside of the building suddenly felt way too small. So he didn’t go home after work. Instead he found himself up on a rooftop, trying to sort out his mind. Everything felt easier up there, high above the city. His head was clearer somehow.

He sorted through everything he knew. The categories everything was placed in. The anomalies to that system his class and closest friend presented. The way his emotions regarding those students had overwhelmed him. He’d channeled it into expelling Mineta, but something in him had wanted to hurt that child. He’d just appeased it by relishing in the emotional pain expulsion had caused. Whatever was wrong with him, it was genuinely dangerous to those around him. 

He stayed up there so long the sun began to set. And that was when someone decided to join him.

“Waiting for the moon?” a familiar voice asked.

Familiar enough that Shota readied himself for a fight, scarf gripped tightly in his hand. 

“Easy. We both know you won’t fare well in a fight with me just yet” Reaper just smiled like she was amused. Red wings were half folded against her back, reminding Shota of a demon.

“What do you want?” Shota demanded. Because she was right. He hadn’t even touched her in their last fight. Playing for information was the better move.

“I did say I’d be keeping an eye on you. Figure yourself out yet?” Reaper asked with a tilt of her head. 

“Why do you care?” Shota snapped.

“Because I want you to survive. You won’t survive if you refuse to listen and do something stupid” 

“Why me? You’ve killed countless others! I saw the files!” 

That was the real question after all. Why would Reaper, a villain nobody ever saw and lived to tell the tale, decide to specifically spare one random hero? Reaper seemed to actually consider the question, until she opened her mouth and revealed what had actually confused her.

“Files? Are they actually tracking exactly how many humans I kill? They really do take these things personally. You do know there’s around seven billion humans, right? Eating one here and there isn’t going to run them to extinction. And you are the one I chose to ascend. The first step in bringing my own species back from the brink of extinction. You had the right skills and instincts to survive, so I picked you” 

“You ate your victims?” Shota questioned, the rest of her response falling on deaf ears.

That was a horrifying note to add to the police reports.

“Yes? I don’t particularly enjoy eating humans, they’re too small and boney for my taste. But wasting prey is an affront to nature, so once I’d killed them it was only right. Do you expect me to leave perfectly good food to rot so I can go kill something else? If we all did that, the balance between predator and prey would fall apart” she just blinked at Shota in confusion like he was the weird one.

“What the fuck?” was all that Shota found himself able to say.

Somehow in all his years as a hero, cannibalism was one of the few things he hadn’t had to deal with. It was incredibly off putting, hearing someone talk about it like this.

“You don’t have to. Just make sure you eat once a week or so, or you will whether you want to or not. At some point instinct overrides our personal preferences” Reaper just rolled her eyes.

“You’re insane,” Shota decided.

“I’m perfectly sane. Just not human. You’ll understand in time. Just listen enough to go into the woods and hunt this weekend. You’ll be fine then. And take a flight under the moon. You look like you need it” Reaper said.

And then she was gone, with a gust of wind produced from the powerful wingbeat that launched her skyward. 

Shota just stared at where she’d been. What was he supposed to do now? Listen to the crazy murderer who apparently ate people? 

For now all he could do was wait and see what happened.

Chapter Text

Shota hated to admit that a villain might be right, but it was starting to look that way.

The rest of the week had passed relatively normally at first. If anything, he seemed to be doing well. He’d made record numbers of villains caught on patrols, something in him felt alive on the rooftops at night and his heightened senses made it difficult for anyone to slip away.

But now he was hungry, and it was proving to be a problem. While before his brain recognizing prey and categorizing it had just been a background process, he was finding himself distracted by it now. Considering how to catch each one near him before he caught himself and forcibly cut that train of thought. 

It was terrifying, honestly. If his focus lapsed for a second too long, somebody might be hurt or even killed. He couldn’t deny that. Pretending it wasn’t sure was a surefire way to make sure it ended up going wrong.

He had tried to eat regular food. Both at home and in the UA cafeteria. Both attempts had tasted like ash and made him sick. So apparently his body was outright rejecting anything else. He’d even tried just eating meat from the food, but it had tasted like cardboard and left him oddly thirsty. And it hadn’t been nearly enough. It meant the changes weren’t just mental like he’d been focused on. Something in his physical body had been changed too, and it wasn’t going to accept what he’d had before.

All of this meant he had to consider Reaper might have given him good information about his condition. And he wasn’t sure what to make of that. It meant she was telling the truth in some capacity, and that she knew something despite how insane she seemed. And that she really didn’t mean any ill will, at least for the moment. 

Either way, the logical answer was to find prey that wasn’t people. And deal with how he felt about that later. If he was correct in assuming based on his instincts that he was an obligate carnivore, he needed to somehow catch an animal. And he’d never been into hunting, so he wasn’t sure how to do that. 

That was how he found himself standing in the woods in full hero gear on a Saturday night, the moon high above his head. 

He felt ridiculous. What was he supposed to do out here? He was fast with his capture weapon, but he’d never chased wild animals. He was picking up the scents, and something wild and dangerous in him wanted to go. The ever present energy that buzzed in his veins seemed to rise closer to the surface, threatening to burst. He could give himself over to it. It would be easy. Relaxing even, after all the time he’d spent keeping it in check. But was that safe? Would he be able to pull it back later or would he become some kind of rampaging animal?

“You’re overthinking. Stop” Reaper called from somewhere above him in the trees. Because of course she was here too. The moment he was pulled out of his mind he could pinpoint where she was, his heightened senses locking onto where she crouched in the branches.

His instincts considered her a threat and he was inclined to agree.

“Can you stop stalking me?” Shota snapped.

He hated being stuck with a villain he couldn’t actually catch. He knew not trying to fight again just yet and getting what information he could was the right move, but that didn’t mean he liked it.

“Once I know you’re adapting well. Now what’s the hold up? I know you want to run and fly. You’re barely holding that form. Suppressing into a smaller form is difficult to maintain. Eventually you need to release it” Reaper questioned, dropping into view out of the trees.

Shota was torn for a moment. Asking seemed like a bad idea. Voicing one’s concerns to a villain never ended well. But her information was starting to seem good. Even if she was insane, she might know the answer.

“Will I be able to stop?” he finally asked, hating himself for needing to.

“Of course. Letting your instincts do their job doesn’t make you some mindless beast. As long as you don’t totally starve yourself you will be in control of the situation. You’ll enjoy this, actually. You already like to run and leap, flying is even better”

“I’d better not regret this” Shota warned, making it very clear this did not mean they were on friendly terms now.

Reaper didn’t say a word, just smiled again like she knew everything and slipped away.

Shota waited until he couldn’t detect her at all anymore to do anything else. Reaching for the energy rushing through him was almost like using his quirk. But it was far more powerful, and a lot less focused. His quirk already knew what it wanted to do - erase - and where it wanted to go - his eyes. This power just wanted to explode with no real direction. He decided to bite the bullet and let it.

His blood seemed to boil as power filled his entire body and it took barely a second before he was suddenly standing far taller than he had just been, and catching himself with his arms that were now scaled legs because he could no longer stand on just two.

So the whole shapeshifting thing hadn’t been some weird fever dream. That would also be filed away to examine after he solved the immediate problem of needing food.

Solutions to that immediate problem practically threw themselves at him, the scents crowding his nose. This body knew how to hunt, and it was easy enough to let his instincts guide him into a crouch and slink into the shadows. A creature this size had no right being as silent and invisible as he was, but not a single sound was made as he crept through the trees. It was only when he glanced down at his own feet he realized why. He was creeping quite literally into shadows, his body slipping into them like they were water. It reminded him of that one kid in class 1-B’s quirk, actually. Another thing for the list of ‘things to consider later’. 

Shota had never been squeamish with blood. He saw a lot of blood and death in his line of work. It was still strange to lunge out of the trees at a group of deer, take one down, and tear it apart eating it. It just seemed… vicious. And it was odd to know he was the one making that mess and not a villain. It was at least cleaner than whatever he’d woken up to last time (had that been him? He was starting to wonder). Nothing was left behind save the blood staining the grass, and he was uncomfortably reminded of Reaper’s file and her admission she’d eaten all those people. He’d even instinctively licked the blood from his scales, which hopefully meant he wouldn’t find his clothes covered in it later.

Shota had no idea what he was anymore. Normal people didn’t spend a Saturday night terrorizing woodland animals like some kind of monster. Normal people didn’t have to worry they’d end up terrorizing other people.

And unfortunately the time to process it all was now, because the immediate problem had been solved. He found his eyes looking to the sky. He’d always liked to think high on the rooftops. His wings half spread instinctively, ready to take the leap. He moved before he could second guess himself, launching upward with powerful wingbeats that shook the treetops as he rose above them.

It almost reminded him of his patrols, spent sprinting from rooftop to rooftop, leaping briefly into the air between each one. But now gravity was merely a suggestion, and the right updraft carried him high above the clouds easily. The stars were bright, decorating the expanse around him with twinkling lights. His entire body felt alive, his mind soothed by the wind and moonlight. 

This was good. This was the best he’d felt since his kidnapping. Perhaps even longer. 

Up here, Shota could think more easily.

What was he, actually? Because dragons weren’t supposed to exist, yet that was what he appeared to be here in the clouds. People certainly didn’t become giant flying reptiles on the daily. There was only one dragon hero Shota knew of. And she didn’t have half the problems he did as far as he knew. And Shota already had a quirk, one that still worked. He’d never heard of any quirk that could alter someone else this much. But Reaper had clearly done it, somehow making him similar to her. 

In the end, all he could really decide was that he might need to reconsider what he thought was real.

Chapter Text

Life didn’t stop for existential crises. 

Shota still had to go and send his students off for internships at the start of the week, even while their departure made something fierce and possessive burn within him. 

He attempted to channel the restlessness it left him with into research. In an incognito browser on his private computer. He was not going to explain to anyone why he was suddenly interested in mythology. Modern stories about dragons were useless. Honestly there were a lot of weird romance books out there. Shota needed the old ones, the ones that might be rooted in fact somewhere. 

Dragon myths were pretty much universal, but Shota narrowed his options based on his own appearance. He’d gotten a better look at himself last night, having only registered black scales the first time. He was fairly sleek, and roughly the height of a horse at the shoulder he believed, but his wings made him look way bulkier. And his eyes were an ominous red like when he used Erasure, though instead of a glow they just had pupils slit like a cat’s. A pair of horns a shade darker than his scales had decorated his head. Pretty typical European dragon really. He hadn’t been into fantasy, but he hadn’t lived under a rock either. Though he did wonder why he looked like the winged European myths and not Japanese ones if he was supposed to be a dragon. He was born and raised in Japan after all, and so was his whole family. 

Though his family had never been dragons, so maybe that was a moot point. 

On occasion he’d look away from the screen, blink a couple times, and wonder if he was really starting to believe this. Maybe he was going insane. Reaper already seemed pretty far gone. 

The research wasn’t even helping that much. The universal belief seemed to be that dragons like him burned villages, kidnapped princesses, and hoarded gold. Which seemed ridiculous at a glance. But Reaper did seem like the village burning type, and Shota was still fighting off an aggressive possessiveness of his absent students. Why gold though? Gold wasn’t exactly useful. 

That created an awkward conversation a couple days in. Because lost in thought, Shota had gone to the kitchen for a drink only to find himself arranging the coffee mugs on prominent display atop the counter and muttering about how they were way more useful than gold. Hizashi walked in with groceries just as he finished and just kind of stared.

“Uh, why are the mugs on the counter?” Hizashi had asked.

“So we can see them,” Shota helpfully supplied.

“Alright. Why do we need to see them?” Hizashi spoke slowly like he was questioning a child.

And Shota suddenly couldn’t comprehend why that needed to be asked, which is what pulled him back to his senses. Those were his mugs! Why wouldn’t he want everyone to see them? Even in the moment he’d been preening with pride of some sort while Hizashi eyed the mugs.

Shota blinked in surprise, realizing he hadn’t even noticed the odd train of thought.

“I’m. Not actually sure. I just wanted to see them” he eventually answered.

It was an impractical place for mugs. They couldn’t use the counter like this. But putting them back in the cabinet meant hiding them, which suddenly bothered Shota. He mentally smacked himself as he realized what was going on. Gold was useless. And he was hoarding mugs. Wonderful. 

The bigger problem was what clicked for him moments later. He was hoarding his students too. The way he’d felt about the mugs had been the same, though he got the feeling the students were more valuable. That was why he’d been feeling so bad while they were gone. And that probably meant Hizashi was in the hoard too. Great.

“We will need our counter back eventually. It’s quite a party out here actually, I didn’t realize we had quite so many” Hizashi pointed out.

As if some god had heard the comment, one of the mugs chose that moment to fall off the counter and shatter. Dark blue fragments scattered across the kitchen floor.

A keening sound tore itself from Shota before he could stop it as he crouched down next to the pieces.

“Oh shit, Shota?” Hizashi panicked, probably expecting some kind of injury based on the noise.

But there was no injury. Shota was busy mourning a broken mug like it had been his child. He pulled the shattered pieces closer to him. Or started to, before Hizashi grabbed his arms, saying something about hurting himself. The sense of loss was intense. It had been his and now it was gone. And there wasn’t even anyone to blame, no retribution to be had. 

He slowly stood up and moved away, leaving Hizashi to his self imposed task of cleaning up the mess. It was without thought he moved straight out the front door, ignoring the voice calling after him. Despite not having his capture weapon, he eventually found himself on a rooftop via a fire escape underneath an orange sky.

No amount of research would tell him why a broken mug had felt like someone dying. He actually wanted that stupid villain to show up and give him an answer. It was pathetic really. Mourning a mug on a rooftop, hoping for a literal murderer to show up. What was he becoming?

And for better or worse, the murderer did show up.

“I think I know that face, but I’ll let you explain it” was all Reaper said, dropping down behind him. 

“Why am I having a fucking breakdown over a broken mug?” Shota demanded. 

“Knew it. Don’t think I’ve heard of hoarding mugs before, but everyone has their thing. I don’t know how much you have, but your hoard is likely still small. That makes every loss hit quite hard. Is it just the mugs, or do you have something else as well? They’re essential to us, a source of pride and a way to impress others. Gifts for each other’s hoard are even essential in courtship. I quite miss mine. Don’t try living without one, feels like shit” Reaper actually sounded mournful at the end, it was the first hint of anything other than amusement or seriousness she had shown.

“Is hoarding people normal?” Shota then risked asking.

Because it didn’t sound normal. People were alive, they weren’t collectible things like coffee mugs.

“Ah. That makes sense. You have a roommate, you would have considered him yours from the start since he lived in your space. It happens. Hoarding living things is less common, but it happens. I had a human princess once. She stabbed me in the talon, and I found her amusing so I kept her” Reaper 

“Are you seriously telling me you actually kidnapped a princess?” Shota snorted at how ridiculous it sounded.

“Stories come from somewhere. And I’m old enough to take credit for some. Though I think my mother is to blame for many of the more… fiery ones. The Romans called her ​​Terror Astrorum, a name she adopted with pride. She never liked humans” 

“I don’t know what’s going on anymore. I start to believe you and then you start saying shit like this” Shota sighed. He was tired of not knowing what he was. He just wanted someone to tell him whether this villain was stringing him along in some messed up game or if he really was a mythical creature.

“You still have doubts? Look at me for a moment. Your magic should be able to sense mine. To sense it is old magic. Perhaps I should behave a little more seriously for a moment” she straightened up, her expression hardening.

Shota had sensed the energy around her before, he realized. Subconsciously, as a sign of danger because the power before him was greater than his own. It seemed to flare up now, menacingly. Fire flickered faintly on the ground at Reaper’s feet as energy seemed to radiate from her, more intense than anything Shota had ever felt. Even her eyes glowed like golden embers.

“This is true power. True magic. Humanity has only just tapped the surface. It will be many more generations before they develop proper magic. A quirk can command fire. I am fire. It burns in my blood, in my very soul. I am the wildfire that scorches the earth that it may be born anew, and the warm hearth that awaits on a cold night. The heat of the sun and stars upon which life relies. Is that enough for you?” she spoke in a deep growling voice, slower and more intently than anything she’d said before. Gone was the carefree villain who brushed off murder like life was a game. In her place was something else entirely. Something wise and terrifying all at once.

Something Shota could take seriously enough to believe, as insane as it all was.

The moment he nodded, Reaper relaxed and the tension vanished. The glow faded, and the mirth returned to her eyes, “Good. I have my fun with you, but don’t doubt that I’m a force of nature. And you will be too, in time. Though you’re born of shadow rather than fire”

Shota was about to say something when the phone in his pocket blared out a very specific tone that had him yanking it out.

It was a hero alert. Calling everyone who could be there to Hosu because of an attack. Ida was in Hosu, and Endeavour had responded immediately, meaning Todoroki likely was as well. Shota gripped the phone so tightly that his knuckles went white. His students were in danger. His students. That terrible, possessive beast completely overwhelmed him.

“How fast can I fly?” 

Chapter Text

Izuku Midoriya knew the situation he was in was bad. Three students against the Hero Killer, with the only real hero present too injured to be of any help. Todoroki’s arrival had been a relief, but he couldn’t tell if it would be enough yet. 

Ida still couldn’t get up, Stain’s quirk keeping him paralyzed on the ground. So Izuku and Todoroki fought with everything they had to keep the villain back. They were managing, just barely. And things started to look up after a terrifying moment where Todoroki was nearly cut down when Ida finally managed to throw himself into the fight, destroying one of Stain’s swords in the process.

Then something shifted. Everyone suddenly halted, even Stain. Izuku could feel a strange sense of danger, some deep rooted instinctive fear telling him it wasn’t safe here. And the way everyone stopped and looked around wide eyed told him they felt it too. 

For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath. 

Then a monster lunged out from the dark, clamping its massive jaws around Stain’s shoulder and sinking sharp talons into his back, pinning the Hero Killer to the ground. And with the horrific sounds of tearing flesh and cracking bone, the beast tore Stain’s right arm clean off and cast it aside with a snarl. 

“We need to go, now!” Izuku decided. Whatever this was, they couldn’t fight it. They’d barely been fighting Stain. He grabbed hold of Native, helping the hero up and Ida was quick to try and help despite his own injuries. The little group stumbled their way out the alleyway, Todoroki leaving walls of ice behind them in case the creature decided to follow.

“What was that?” Todoroki asked when they stood breathlessly on the other side of the main road. 

“It must have been some kind of Nomu. The city is full of them” Ida suggested, sitting heavily on the ground.

“It could be. But aren’t the ones here grey? That one was black. Maybe like the one at the USJ?” Izuku noted. 

Truthfully, he had his doubts. While he couldn’t voice it, something had seemed off with the theory. He’d seen the USJ Nomu and the ones attacking here, and if one paid attention there was something almost… robotic about their actions. Like they were preprogrammed, and there was not a single emotion behind their actions. Whatever this was, it had moved more fluidly and seemed genuinely enraged. That attack on Stain had been genuinely vicious, not at all like something simply following a kill order. But Izuku couldn’t explain this in a way that made sense, so he kept it to himself. Objectively, the Nomu theory made the most sense anyway. And people might think he was crazy if he started spouting nonsense about monsters. Maybe he could ask All Might later. 

The heroes started arriving quickly after that. Izuku got lectured by Gran Torino briefly, but the older man just seemed mostly relieved he had survived. Izuku is able to recount what happened, with the others offering up their own additions. But even that can’t go smoothly, because just as Izuku starts to relax, he’s suddenly yanked up into the air by a flying Nomu. Its claws dig painfully into his back and the city quickly starts to race by below him, the wind stealing the voices of everyone crying out in alarm. And just as quickly he was falling, the only warning being a screech of pain from the Nomu that abruptly cut off. Izuku hit the ground hard, the air driven from his lungs painfully. 

He sat up gasping for breath, eyes landing quickly on the Nomu. It was dead, its head torn clean off. And a woman was holding the head, examining it.

“-desecration. Humanity really is too far gone” was all Izuku managed to catch of her muttering. 

She glanced his way briefly, golden eyes seeming to glow through the darkness that had fallen over the city. Then she tossed the head aside and took off on a pair of red wings that seemed to suddenly grow from her back. 

People surrounded Izuku within moments, checking him for injuries. Even more heroes, and police arrived, as well as ambulances. Endeavor was using his flames to melt the ice wall into the alleyway they’d abandoned Stain in. Izuku never got to see what they found back there, too busy being fussed over by paramedics. But later on he would hear all that had been found of the Hero Killer was a dismembered corpse and an alleyway painted in blood. 

—

“No, I know about the attack! I’m telling you, something was wrong before that! He was acting weird!” Hizashi Yamada argued on the phone.

He’d called the only other person he could think of when Shota didn’t come back by midnight. The hero Midnight, ironically.

“Yamada, you haven’t told me what was weird. Aizawa going out for a moonlit stroll isn’t exactly unusual, especially with his students near this attack”

“Right, sorry. It’s been a long night. I came home from the store and he’d moved all our mugs onto the countertop. Said he wanted to see them? I’ve never seen him do anything so strange! And then one fell and broke and he just bolted! He looked like he’d just watched someone die!”

“That’s… I don’t even have a good joke, that’s not normal” Kayama admitted.

“Should I get him help? What if it’s some kind of mental break? He’s been a little out of it since that whole kidnapping incident…” Hizashi fretted. 

“I would talk to him before committing him to the psych ward. You know how he is with his problems” Kayama reminded him. 

“Yeah I probably should-” Hizashi started, but he stopped abruptly at the sound of the balcony door opening.

Shota stood there looking downright haunted.

“He just got back, I’ll call you later” Hizashi quickly said, ending the call before rushing over, “Shota! Are you alright?”

Shota barely glanced his way, and Hizashi recognized the signs that he was lost in his own head.

“Hey. What’s bugging you?” he tried again, much more gently.

“I… It’s nothing” Shota answered, starting to walk away.

Hizashi grabbed his arm and Shota completely flinched. Hizashi let go immediately, and Shota hurried into his own room before any questions could be asked.

Hizashi stared at the now empty space for a long moment before pulling out his phone and sending a text to Kayama.

Yeah, something is really wrong.

—

Tomura Shigaraki was cursing up a storm as he returned to his hideout. 

Nothing had gone the way he wanted. Sure, people were talking about him. But they thought he’d killed the Hero Killer! And that was what they cared about! And the worst part? He hadn’t! Whatever had killed Stain hadn’t been a Nomu. 

The doctor had confirmed it. He’d only given Tomura the grey Nomu. There hadn’t been any black ones like the one he’d brought to try and kill All Might. There’d been a whole argument about it.

But both Tomura and the doctor agreed on one thing, though. Whatever had killed Stain would be incredibly useful if they could get their hands on it.

Chapter Text

Shota knew an intervention was coming. 

It had happened a few other times before. Shota kept his problems to himself. Hizashi and Kayama, who had known him since high school, could recognize the subtle signs that something was bothering him. One or both of them would eventually corner him and demand to know what was up. Usually he’d get annoyed enough that he’d just confess and they’d actually help him with whatever the issue was.

He couldn’t really do that this time. For one, Reaper had renewed her threat after their return from Hosu. 

“I swear if you try to turn yourself in I will torch the place myself to get you out. We got incredibly lucky that those kids thought you were one of those monsters. But you cannot go blabbing about it. I will silence anyone who knows too much. There’s already a chance the wrong people will connect the dots. Have your crisis alone, and let it go. You aren’t human anymore, and defending what’s yours is a natural instinct. You did nothing wrong, so sort that out in your head and keep quiet” she had said with the tone of someone trying to slap some sense into him.

And honestly, the more Shota learned about himself, the more afraid he was of what Reaper could do if she really tried. So he took her threat seriously. But even if he didn’t, he’d be confessing to murder if he told anyone.

Shota had killed before. It was an unspoken reality of heroics - sometimes you chose yourself over the villain when the stakes were high. He hadn’t been there as a hero on scene though. He couldn’t claim that when he hadn’t done anything to help the actual situation. And the stakes hadn’t been dire. Stain hadn’t even been able to fight back. That wasn’t heroic in the slightest. It was straight up murder.

So all he could do was try and pull himself together alone. To just get over it. And infuriatingly, it was almost easy. Something in him wanted to be proud of defending his students. And he could almost let that overtake the guilt. But then new guilt would rise up, guilt about feeling good about it at all. He’d never been so disconnected from himself in his life. The closest had been Oboro’s death, and at least his entire mind could agree that was awful. 

The relief at seeing his students all arrive to class when their internships ended was a small help at least. He’d done something terrible, but at least he had protected them. But their stupid gossip got to him quickly. Because of course all they could talk about was Hosu and Stain.

“Did the League really just off Stain then?”

“That’s what everyone is saying. They’re debating if Reaper was involved too. Apparently they saw her there”

“Isn’t that the villain that kidnapped Aizawa-sensei? Maybe that’s why he seems out of it?” 

“Oh yeah. I didn’t even think of that”

It didn’t even matter who was speaking. Every conversation was similar, with the exception of Midoriya, Ida, and Todoroki who were all notably less interested in the topic. Shota’s sensitive ears didn’t let him tune it out as easily as he’d like. Still, he was respected enough by this class that they all went silent when he called for their attention and started the day.

A couple weeks went by, and it didn’t get better. Shota was being too soft on his students, suddenly terrified of what would happen if he let himself get mad at them. Even Shinso, who had been respectful to a fault since being offered training, had started snarking at him. 

So when Hizashi threw an arm around his shoulders at the end of the school day one afternoon with a hero grade smile and started guiding him somewhere, Shota knew he was done for. He was out of time, and his friends wouldn’t let him go until they knew what was wrong.

The two of them ended up in an empty classroom, where of course Kayama was waiting, sitting on a desk with her arms crossed. 

“This is an intervention, I assume?” Shota just sighed in defeat.

Internally he was trying to make up excuses. They would never understand that he could not tell them.

“That’s right, listener!” Hizashi declared with his iconic finger guns. Like he was a hero rather than a concerned friend.

“You don’t need to be Present Mic at my intervention” Shota grumbled.

He knew what it meant. Hizashi was trying to mask his own distress behind his hero persona. 

“Sorry man. I’m just really worried about you. You’ve been really out of it lately” Hizashi conceded.

Briefly anger at himself flared up in Shota. One of his people was hurt and it was his fault. He desperately shoved it back down. At least it was only on one front. For some reason, Kayama had not yet been hoarded in his brain. Probably because he hadn’t really had time to spend with her in a while. Then again, the only non-student he seemed to consider one of his was Hizashi. Who lived with him.

“I would think it’s obvious I’ve been stressed. My students keep nearly getting themselves killed” Shota tried, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

“That doesn’t explain everything. You’ve been off for a while now. And the coffee mugs? What were you even doing that day?”

Of course the stupid mug incident would be an issue. Shota had made a distressed sound that could have rivaled Hizashi and bolted. And hadn’t spoken about it since. He’d been too caught up in the other events of that night to remember to clear that up. And he really didn’t have a reasonable answer.

“I don’t even know why I wanted to look at the mugs. But I guess I liked that one more than I thought” Shota tried to shrug it off.

“You have never cared about any possession other than that sleeping bag of yours in your life” Kayama chimed in.

The sleeping bag was considered a prize possession in his little hoard. Not that Shota would admit that.

“Well apparently I liked that mug,” Shota snapped back. He was just as unhappy about his stupid devastation over a mug as they were.

“We just want to help you, man! You know that, this isn’t the first time” Hizashi reminded him.

Shota just grit his teeth. He did know that. But he also knew they couldn’t this time. And he was getting angry, and anger could be dangerous.

“Just. Leave it be. For once in your lives just fuck off” Shota hissed out, far harsher than he intended.

He needed to be alone right now until he could trust himself again. He stomped out of the room, refusing to look at either of them.

Chapter Text

Hizashi sat on the couch in Kayama’s apartment that evening, both of them wearing grave expressions. 

“I’ve never seen him this bad. Not since we were kids” Hizashi sighed.

“He doesn’t usually get that defensive when we prod. Usually he sighs like a dramatic grouch and then confesses” Kayama agreed.

“I ordered a new mug. I was desperate" Hizashi confessed.

Kayama actually laughed at that, “Are you going to confess to Aizawa with coffee mugs now?” 

“Shut up. Not the time” Hizashi jabbed her with his elbow.

Usually she’d remind him it was never the time to confess the seemingly eternal crush he’d had on his roommate but for once she was silent. It really wasn’t the time.

“You live with him. When exactly did he start seeming off?” Kayama pried instead.

“Let’s see. He recovered fine from the USJ. Went right back to how he was, I think his self esteem took a hit but nothing dire. Then he got kidnapped… we never really talked about that actually. He was definitely a bit off afterwards” Hizashi sat up.

“The timing matches up I think,” Kayama nodded.

“Did you see the report he gave on it? Maybe there’s details there? He didn’t tell me, but he must have told the police, right?” Hizashi asked.

“We can look,” Kayama decided, grabbing her laptop from the coffee table in front of them.

A couple minutes of clicking followed as she went ahead and signed in to her hero account on the database and found the right report. Then another moment as she took it in and frowned.

“This is… quite vague actually. But he did meet the villain again,” she said, turning the laptop to Hizashi.

All Shota’s report on the incident summed up to was pretty much what he’d told Hizashi when he first showed up. He’d fought a stalker who identified herself as the known villain Reaper, lost, and woke up three days later in the woods. He gave a physical description of Reaper, and was noted as the first one to survive an encounter with the villain in the larger record centered around her. He’d provided more information from a future encounter later on, saying the villain had some kind of fixation on him and had confessed to cannibalism with her victims.

Then there was nothing. Despite the reported fixation no other encounters had been reported. 

“What he said implies the villain wasn’t going to leave him alone but there’s nothing else here. Could she have something on him? Some way to keep him quiet?” Hizashi muttered, his mind racing to put together pieces.

“She was seen in Hosu. Which was the same night he completely freaked out” Kayama added.

“But what would she have on him? Shota’s record is clean. He has no ammo and no audience for a scandal” Hizashi wondered.

He pulled up his friend’s record on the laptop just in case, but it was exactly as he remembered. 

“And how does that connect to losing his mind over a cheap coffee mug?” Kayama was thinking as well.

They were missing pieces to this puzzle, and Hizashi hated that. 

“I’m going to look into this villain more. Maybe we’ll get some answers that way” Hizashi decided, passing the laptop back to Kayama. 

“Just be careful. A few heroes have tried to corner her now, and none of them made it back” Kayama warned him. 

“Except for Shota. And the reason for that will have to tell us something if I can find it” Hizashi insisted.

Villains were often terrible people. Especially repeat killers like this. But they always had a reason, no matter how twisted, for their actions. Reaper had a reason for killing people. And a reason for not killing one specific person. That had to be the biggest piece they were missing.

So Hizashi went home, pulled out his own laptop, and started digging through Reaper’s records properly. They went back surprisingly far, it was rare a killer like this was loose for so many years before being caught. The name had been given to her by the police after the third case linked to the same killer, and Shota’s eventual report suggested she’d adopted the name they gave her. Nothing was ever found beyond blood, and they didn’t even have a description of the villain until Shota provided it. 

Hosu had been the second time someone was able to describe her. And it had been Midoriya who did so, giving a description of the woman who’d taken down the Nomu that tried to fly off with him. He hadn’t known it was Reaper, but the police had matched the description to Shota’s description of the villain quickly enough. And that was an oddly shaped puzzle piece. Why would she have saved Midoriya? Nothing else in the case Hizashi was building gave a reason for that at all. It must have to do with her recent connection to Shota, but it didn’t make sense. If she was taking advantage of him somehow, why would she save his student?

At two in the morning, Hizashi had to admit defeat for the night. But the next day he ended up pulling Midoriya aside after class with a serious expression.

“Hey listener! You’re not in trouble!” he was quick to assure the boy’s nerves. He knew firsthand from his own high school days how terrifying it was to be kept back by a teacher and not know why.

“What is it, Mic-sensei?” Midoriya asked. He still looked a bit nervous even with the reassurance. Like Hizashi might know all his secrets or something.

Hizashi was not interested in some teenager’s probably boring secrets though, and he didn’t know if Midoriya had any.

“I’m looking into a villain, and the last sighting just happened to be yours! Figured ya wouldn’t mind helping me out with a case if that’s alright? You saw Reaper in Hosu, correct, listener?” he leaned fully into his hero persona, aiming finger guns at the kid. 

“Oh! Yeah I did, but only briefly. I don’t know if I can actually help. She ripped the head off the Nomu that grabbed me and left not long after I fell. I didn’t even know who she was until the police told me” Midoriya explained, more relaxed now that he knew what was wanted from him.

“Is there anything you didn’t say in that report? You won’t be in trouble if you missed anything! I’m just trying to collect all the details, ya dig? Even the stuff you think isn’t important could be a huge help! Right down to the tiniest detail!” Hizashi encouraged him.

Midoriya thought for a moment, his eyes far away as he sorted through the memory.

“She was muttering something. I only heard a sentence. Something about humanity being too far gone?” Midoriya offered.

It wasn’t much, but had to mean something. It could be part of a motive for her actions. So Hizashi grinned at the kid and gave him a thumbs up.

“That’s super helpful, listener! If you think of anything else, feel free to talk to me anytime! Go catch up to your buddies for now, I’m sure they’re missing ya!” he dismissed the student, who nodded and ran out to catch up with his friends.

Hizashi filed what he’d learned away mentally. A general disdain for humanity could explain a motive for the murders, but it didn’t explain anything he actually wanted to know. What about Shota would make him an exception to an opinion like that? Or useful to someone with that opinion? 

Present Mic often could come across as airheaded and stupid, but that was just a facade. Hizashi Yamada was incredibly smart, and had a talent for solving the cases placed in front of him. 

So he knew what he had to do. Shota wouldn’t talk. There was a reason he wouldn’t and Hizashi couldn’t brute force his way past it. So he’d have to get answers from the other party involved.

Present Mic would just have to hunt down Reaper.

Chapter Text

Life sort of returned to normal. Final Exams were approaching, and preparing for them was a welcome distraction.

Still, Shota grappled with what had happened. His mind was fighting with itself still, unable to decide if it should be proud or wracked with guilt. Reaper eventually started to get impatient with this. 

It didn’t surprise Shota when she snapped.

“Are you still moping?” she’d sighed upon seeing the way he watched the city a mere couple days before the exams.

“Excuse me for not just getting over murder” Shota growled back. He was starting to get really sick of her.

“You shouldn’t feel bad about it at all! Do you think those cats you’re always looking at feel bad when they kill a mouse? It’s not possible. It’s like a built-in protection. Predators do not empathize with prey. Your memories are the problem. Your mind isn’t built to feel bad anymore, but you’re making yourself feel that way through association with old memories. Just let it go” Reaper insisted.

“How many times do I need to tell you to fuck off before you listen?” Shota shot back.

“You-” that was the only word that left Reaper before speech was replaced by a snarl and without warning she’d lunged forward and pinned Shota to the rooftop.

He snarled right back and struggled to free himself, but she seemed to weigh more than she should as she pinned his arms and legs with her own. Power seemed to radiate from her, and some instinct rose up to warn Shota he was outmatched and needed to back down. Not that he listened to it.

“You just deny everything about yourself, don’t you? Even now you sense the power of an elder and still you don’t yield like you should. Stop playing human. They’re the monsters you’re so afraid of becoming. They kill and they take with no respect for this world. Do you think I became the last of my kind through bad luck? No, they saw power and they craved it. They destroyed every last bit of magic in this world for a chance to have it for themselves. Dragons’ blood, unicorn horns, phoenix feathers, they wanted all of it. And now there’s nothing left but the two of us. Do you really think killing one stultus who would have happily taken from you makes you so bad? Vae tibi! Kill them all you want. Discerpere eos!” she continued to rambled in what sounded like Latin for another minute before realizing it, “And you now have me speaking old tongues like my mother! She never could move on from Latin… I will find a way to encourage you to behave as you should if you don’t shape up. I didn’t want to do this with a heavy claw, but I don’t have much choice. I will not let you ruin everything I have worked for by being a fool and offering yourself up for death. It took me nearly two hundred years to find a suitable candidate. I will not let you fuck this up” 

Then she was gone, launching straight up into the sky from Shota’s chest. He sat up and rubbed his wrists, which now oozed blood from the tips of sharp claws digging in. He hadn’t understood every word, but he knew a threat when he heard one. Not that he could do much about it. She’d been following him for how long now? And he still hadn’t been able to think of anything to do about it. Even stopped trying for a while, just accepting she was part of his life now.

But she was a dangerous villain. And the sheer hatred she’d expressed had been a harsh reminder. He’d gotten too comfortable letting her hang around. He needed to get rid of her.

The fact she stopped bothering him on patrol after that should have been a relief, but it felt more like the calm before a storm.

Shota’s students mostly passed their final exams. And the ones who didn’t weren’t hopeless. It even gave him a reason to move Shinso into 1-A finally. He’d joined the exams to even out the numbers and had passed. Shota never really dealt with the guilt he felt. He didn’t like how easily his brain filed the event away eventually, but it did make dealing with everything in front of him easier. 

The approaching training camp was the big thing to worry about at first, until Shota realized why Hizashi had stopped pestering him about his feelings. That incredibly smart idiot had connected some dots somewhere, because now he was investigating Reaper. And with the threats hanging over Shota’s head, that was terrifying.

“Did the police put you on that case?” he asked one rainy evening after he’d seen Hizashi’s laptop.

He’d walked past the couch with a mug of coffee in hand and nearly froze when he recognized the case files on the screen. It was hard not to when Shota had dug through those same files himself not so long ago.

“Which one? They’ve given me a few” Hizashi answered.

“Reaper. Did they put you on it or are you just mad at her for kidnapping me?” Shota clarified.

Hizashi could get pretty angry. Shota had seen him destroy some eardrums a little more than necessary when villains had upset him. Or break some noses, which was a lot more funny. No one ever expected to be just plain punched in the face by Present Mic for some reason.

“Would you help me at all if it was a revenge case?” Hizashi teased, but something in his eyes was calculating.

“Everything I have is in the reports” Shota just shrugged. 

“Any idea why you weren’t killed? Not that I’m unhappy about that! But it’s the only outlier in this entire file aside from what happened with Midoriya in Hosu” Hizashi asked.

“None,” Shota shrugged again. It wasn’t entirely a lie. He still wasn’t entirely sure why it had to be him of all people.

“Have you seen anything weird since that second report? You said she was pretty interested in you and then there’s been nothing since” Hizashi continued.

“Nothing. Maybe she lost interest?” Shota’s next answer was a downright lie, and it tasted like ash on his tongue. But he could lie well when he wanted to. It was an essential skill for blending in.

“Could be. She’s back on her old pattern as of this morning” Hizashi nodded, but he didn’t look convinced.

Shota wasn’t actually surprised that Reaper was killing again, but it did startle him a bit to hear. Still, Hizashi’s obvious suspicion was the bigger issue. 

“Oh that all reminds me” Hizashi suddenly declared closing the laptop, “I got you a new mug. Looks just like that one you liked so much” his expression was carefully neutral. Like he was observing the reaction, even as he reached into his bag where it rested, slumped next to the coffee table, and pulled out a small box.

Shota wasn’t prepared for his own reaction either, honestly. He accepted the box, trying to ignore the sudden warmth that filled him at the gesture. It was just another cheap generic mug, why did he feel like he’d been given something precious? He pulled it out of the box, holding it gently like it would break if he gripped too tightly.

“Ah. Thanks” he muttered, unable to keep some of the warmth from creeping into his voice.

The slightest narrowing of Hizashi’s eyes indicated he’d noticed, but the other man didn’t say anything about it.

Most people knew Hizashi’s loud persona. They had no idea just how smart Present Mic actually was. How efficiently he could work out a case. Shota knew of course. And he knew exactly how his fellow hero got when deep in investigation. Quieter, more calculating. 

Safe to say, Shota knew he was done for. Hizashi was looking into this, and he was deep enough where he wouldn’t be stopped. And he had no idea the danger he was putting himself in.

“Hizashi. Please. Just leave that case be” Shota actually begged.

It was a massive red flag. He knew that. But Hizashi was already digging, and Shota knew he wouldn’t stop. 

Hizashi’s gaze shot up from the laptop, green eyes bright with alarm. Shota held his gaze, letting unspoken words pass between them. 

The real meaning of Shota’s plea was obvious to them both - Yes I’m in trouble. Keep yourself out of it.

“Well someone has to look into it! This villain has been out there awhile now. Might as well be me” Hizashi replied.

I’m going to help you. I won’t leave it be. - Hizashi’s words held their own meaning.

The two knew each other too well. And they’d been heroes for too long. The messages passed easily between neutral faces. Shota clutched the new mug closer to his chest. He wanted desperately to prevent it, but he couldn’t help the sense of dread that fell over him. 

This wouldn’t end well.

Chapter Text

It kept raining as the days went on. Shota did his best to avoid Hizashi. The dread curling in his gut had thrown him off, everything felt dangerous and his possessive streak wanted to lock his friend in their apartment and keep him there. Better to avoid him altogether than create a hostage situation.

Kayama noticed. Of course. But Hizashi must have said something to her, because whenever she spoke to Shota she carried a worried expression even as she made her usual crude jokes. She spent a lot of time speaking in hushed voices with Hizashi, which only made the monster in Shota more upset. Hizashi was his, and she was encroaching. 

Which was odd in itself. Other people interacting with his people had never been a problem before. It still wasn’t, most of the time. Kayama could teach his students with no reaction.

Speaking of the students, apparently they’d noticed. And only one was brave enough to bring it up.

“So are Mic-sensei and Midnight-sensei like dating or something? Because you seem super jealous” Hitoshi Shinso questioned during an after school training session. While Shinso had been moved into the hero course, Shota kept working with him after school to train specifically with the capture weapon he’d given the kid.

The question was bold, and actually threw Shota off in their practice, letting Shinso wrap the scarf around his leg and pull him off his feet. He’d been asking for it really, he knew as he hit the ground hard. He’d been encouraging Shinso to be less polite to him. To fight dirty with his quirk and say whatever he could to set people off. He’d done it fine in the Sports Festival, but the student seemed hesitant doing so with adults and Shota had been trying to train him out of that.

“They are not,” Shota grumbled as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. Before he could get up to begin another round, Shinso plopped down next to him.

“Are they flirting then? Or are you just a lonely old man who doesn’t like being excluded?” Shinso questioned.

Shota’s eyes widened in surprise. When did Shinso get that bold?

“Where are you getting this gossip from?” Shota questioned.

“Oh the entire class has noticed. But they’re all too afraid to ask. You keep wanting me to make you uncomfortable though, so I figured I’d try. An answer might shut them up” Shinso shrugged.

So that was the real motivator. Shinso was so annoyed by his peers gossiping he figured he’d shut it down with an answer. It was oddly endearing to realize, reminding Shota of his younger self. Though he would have just told them to shut up. He certainly wouldn’t have been nice enough to get them an answer.

Shota shook his head, “I’m not jealous. Never have been. What exactly screams that to you?” 

“You look like you’re going to punch Midnight-sensei whenever she’s touching Mic-sensei. Midoriya actually noticed first, but when we started paying attention we all realized he was right. It’s subtle, but you get tense and clench your jaw” Shinso shared, holding out a water bottle Shota hadn’t seen him grab like a peace offering.

Shota’s students were good. He hid his emotions well, only people who’d known him a long time would usually notice things like that. He was proud, despite the frustration it was creating for him. Even the possessive side of him was pleased, content in its choice of hoard by the show of intellect. 

It was pleased with Shinso in particular, all that time put into building his confidence was clearly paying off. And for some reason he really wanted to show Shinso to Hizashi. Why, though? Hizashi knew all the students and loved all of them. Why did Shota want to present this one to him like some kind of prize?

That could be considered after he actually came up with a response though. The silence had already stretched longer than it should have.

“Mic and I just had… a bit of a disagreement. It’s nothing you need to worry about” Shota finally settled on, accepting the water.

“Ah, so you’re dating and now that you’re fighting Midnight-sensei is a threat” Shinso decided.

Shota choked on the water, coughing for what had to be an eternity before he managed to force out the words, “We have never dated! Where are you getting this?” 

Shinso just shrugged, “Vibes. And Midoriya thinks you might be dating. He’s usually right”

“Tell Midoriya to stay out of my nonexistent love life” Shota grumbled, burying his face in his hands.

“Not my fault he has every teacher in this school figured out. Seriously. Did you know Recovery Girl-”

“If it’s about her love life I do not want to know” Shota stopped him.

Shinso stayed suspiciously silent for a moment before trying again, “Well, are you into him?” 

“Alright. We’re done for today. I’m not feeding the teenage gossip mill” Shota decided, getting up off the ground.

Shinso wisely dropped the topic as they put away the equipment, and Shota ended up back in the staff room blissfully alone once they were done.

Why had his students jumped straight to his love life? They fought with their friends, Shota always noticed when groups that were usually close suddenly weren’t hanging around each other. Why were they convinced whatever had Shota’s instincts bothered by Midnight had to do with some kind of messed up love triangle? Were they just bored and making up drama? No, Shinso had said Midoriya believed it. Midoriya didn’t stir drama for fun, and seemed too smart to genuinely believe anything made up for such purposes.

Shota had never had a crush anyway. Hizashi was undoubtedly his most valuable person, and the only one he let in quite so close. And the only person he was on a first name basis with, despite knowing Kayama for almost as long. But that didn’t mean he had a crush. Would he even want to date anyone? It wasn’t something he’d ever spared the thought for. Such relationships had always seemed impractical and distracting to him. But apparently his students were convinced he wanted one. Why?

He tried to imagine it as he typed some new lesson plans. What did couples do, aside from the incredibly detailed things Kayama described that were not something he wanted to think about at work? Like an idiot, he actually opened an incognito browser window and typed in the question. What a ridiculous waste of time. He closed it quickly, berating his moment of weakness yet still mulling over the results he’d skimmed in his mind. Holding hands? That seemed insignificant. Hizashi was the clingiest man alive already. Shota was used to Hizashi hanging all over him, and that didn’t tell him anything at all. Going on dates? What was different about a date and just going out? They did things together all the time. Were these why the students were convinced he had a relationship? 

The last one he’d seen was obvious. Couples kissed and made out. Shota had never done that in his life. Never thought about it. Like relationships themselves, he’d shoved it firmly into the ‘pointless distraction’ category in his mind. His lack of previous experience made it harder to imagine than the other two points. But it didn’t sound bad… His hand absently brushed his own lips. They were fairly soft. So Hizashi’s would be too, right? 

Something hot and fierce suddenly took over, and for a moment Shota could see himself bundling Hizashi into a nest of blankets he’d built and holding the other man there and- 

“Fuck!” he cursed to himself, his hand freezing on the keyboard. The cursor flew across the screen, Shota’s hand resting heavily on the space bar. He yanked it back like the key had burned him. His face was bright red. What was that? Did he actually have some kind of feelings? Because he didn’t like the feeling. Some sort of longing, mingling with that intense possessiveness he’d been grappling with. The same possessiveness that had already caused him to kill once before. Hizashi was his, and not just as something to hoard.

He stood abruptly, his office chair skidding backwards and falling over with a crash. This was bad. It had to be. He couldn’t deal with it. And it wouldn’t stop. He wanted to find Hizashi. Cover the other man in his own scent. Make it very clear exactly whose he was. But that would more than likely end in someone being hurt. 

Kayama chose the worst moment to enter the teacher’s lounge, her greeting dying on her tongue as she took in the only person in the room.

Shota looked bad. He stood in front of his desk, his chair sideways on the floor. His eyes were wide, his teeth bared in a silent snarl as two separate sides of his mind grappled on what to do next. He gripped the edge of the desk, suddenly aware of the claws digging into the underside. If he didn’t get ahold of himself Kayama would definitely see them. But he couldn’t even bring himself to utter a word.

She moved towards him immediately, “Aizawa? What’s wrong?” 

Shota was unable to repress a growl. She was wrong. She was the threat to his claim.

“Alright. That’s not normal and it’s not a sexy growl” she decided, but for some reason she stepped closer.

Shota snarled, and slashed his right hand without thinking. Kayama leapt back, but his claws tore through the flesh of her cheek. If she hadn’t moved, they could have easily taken an eye. The scent of blood was enough to draw Shota back to his senses. He blinked, taking in the scene and the memory that now covered the blank in his ability to think. The wound on his friend’s cheek, and the bloody claws on his right hand.

“Aizawa?” Kayama asked cautiously, a hand on her sleeve. She was ready to knock him out.

“Shit. I…” Shota tried, but he had no real words. What had he done?

He bolted from the room before Kayama could react. He had no idea where he was going, but anywhere would be better than here.

Chapter Text

Hizashi was standing on a rooftop in full hero gear, out on patrol when he got the call.

“Did Aizawa go home?” Kayama asked the moment he picked up, not even letting him greet her.

“I can check the cameras. Did something happen?” he said, pulling up the app for their apartment’s cameras. 

He’d been lamenting how the falling rain was going to ruin his hair, but the moment he heard Kayama’s serious tone he’d gone into full hero mode.

“He seemed out of it when I walked into the teacher’s lounge. Actually growled at me. Like some kind of animal. I tried to talk to him, and he ended up nearly clawing my eye out. With actual claws. Then he seemed to suddenly come back to awareness and bolted” Kayama said.

“Are you alright? Was it some kind of quirk?” Hizashi was quick to ask.

“I’m fine, just bleeding a bit. Nothing serious. A quirk is my theory, do you know if he got hit by anything recently?” Kayama asked.

“Not that I know of. He didn’t go home though. Nothing on either camera” Hizashi shared after checking both their door camera and their balcony camera. 

“See if you can find him then. I’ll look too, but he might not talk to me. You know how guilty he gets” Kayama sighed.

“I’ll try some of his usual haunts. I’m already high up anyway. Call me if you find him” Hizashi ordered, pressing the button on his headphones to end the call.

He’d been up here looking for any sign of Reaper, this was the area her last kill had been in. But Shota was more important, especially if he’d been hit by some unknown quirk. Hizashi’s mind raced, when had it even happened? Shota had been at school all day, and trained with Shinso after that. If he’d been hit by a quirk on last night’s patrol it would’ve shown itself well before now. Did it have to do with the trouble Shota was in? He’d basically admitted Hizashi was right that night when he’d pleaded with Hizashi to drop the case. 

The voice hero had no idea, but if it was connected he had to find Shota before the villain potentially did. So he raced across the rooftops, something Present Mic didn’t usually do. He preferred to work down in the streets with the people, greeting and reassuring them. But he was hunting for a man who navigated this city by rooftops, and his best bet was to do the same. He was moving so quickly, he nearly fell on his face when someone dropped from the sky in front of him.

The villain didn’t find Shota. The villain found him.

“I did not expect Eraserhead to be so terrible at keeping a secret. Perhaps I should have kept him closer, out of the city. I’ll have to do that with the next one” Reaper sighed, wings still fully outstretched as she met Hizashi’s eyes.

“What have you been doing with him?” Hizashi demanded, preparing for a fight.

A deep rooted terror, unlike anything he’d ever felt, seemed to rise up from his very bones. Some instinct, ancient and buried, told him this enemy was incredibly dangerous. But heroes didn’t let fear stop them, so Hizashi stood strong.

“I gave him everything. Not my fault he’s too much of a bleeding heart to take decent advice” Reaper shrugged.

She didn’t look like she was about to fight a hero. She looked mildly annoyed, like someone had just messed up her lunch order or something similarly insignificant.

Hizashi went to scream, but she seemed to notice his intake of breath. In a moment she’d launched over him, dropping down again behind him and digging claws she hadn’t had moments ago into the thinnest part of Hizashi’s speaker, where it went over his shoulders. The speaker was torn off, red hot claws slicing through Hizashi’s left shoulder along with it. The metal had started to melt under the heat, allowing her claws to rip right through it, he realized. And then Hizashi’s best bet at using his quirk safely was thrown off the edge of the building, clattering into the alleyway below. 

He wasn’t a hero for nothing though, and he threw a punch with his good arm while whistling at a frequency he knew at least hurt ears even if it didn’t incapacitate like he usually could with sheer volume. Reaper winced, but still sidestepped before digging claws into his back and slamming him facedown onto the rooftop. Hizashi heard his own nose snap, and blood quickly covered his face and filled his mouth as he gasped for air.

“That was annoying. Don’t do that” was all Reaper had to say.

“What do you want?” Hizashi demanded, writhing as he tried to free himself.

The clawed hand that wasn’t pinning his arms against his back went to Hizashi’s throat and he stilled instantly.

“I want your friend to behave himself. To accept what he’s been given. I told him if anyone found out, they would die. You and Midnight have unfortunately made the list. But we can wait for him first, he’ll smell your blood soon enough. I need him to learn from this. But if you irritate my ears again, I will cut those vocal chords out. I can keep you alive without them for a little while if I need to” Reaper threatened, digging the claws into his throat enough to draw pinpricks of blood.

“What was he given? What did you do?” Hizashi tried one more time, his voice quiet.

“Of course you haven’t connected it fully yet. Humans are still just as foolish as always. You’ll see though, you’re not worth explaining anything to. For now we wait” Reaper said, pulling Hizashi’s phone from his pocket and tossing it off the ledge after his speaker.

Hizashi couldn’t do anything other than lie there and wait. His shoulder hurt even more now from his arm being wrenched back, but any attempt to move was met with the claws at his throat digging in a bit more. Everything was going wrong. He’d wanted to help Shota, but now he was bait in some kind of trap. He'd completely failed to protect the person he cares about most. His mind was racing, looking for an opportunity to slip free but with the villain’s full attention on him he couldn’t even blink without it being noticed. He’d have to wait for Shota to show up and hope he drew her attention enough for Hizashi to slip out. As much as he hated letting his friend walk right into the trap, Shota was an incredibly capable hero. 

All Hizashi could do was wait, and hope that together they would be enough to win this.

Chapter Text

Kayama’s blood was sweeter than average, and Shota hated that he’d tasted enough blood to know that. Maybe because of her quirk? He’d tried not to taste it, but at some point in his panicked flight across the rooftops he’d instinctively licked his claws clean, the sticky blood getting annoying.

That only added to his guilt. What was he becoming? He couldn’t be trusted, not even around his own friends. He could have seriously hurt her. He’d wanted to. There was genuine malice in that swipe. Apparently his students were right. He was jealous. Dangerously so. 

He stopped eventually, out of breath in a familiar place. He had a few spots he went to when he wanted to think, and his feet had instinctively taken him to one. The rain was still falling, soaking his hair to his head and chilling him to the bone despite the summer heat. The city lights were slowly starting to appear, shining like stars as the sunlight started to fade. Something within him could sense the night’s arrival, welcoming the darkness as it fell.

He was a monster. There was no escaping it. He’d killed Stain, and he could have killed Kayama. And there was nothing he could do about it. Even if Reaper could undo it somehow, she never would. 

For a moment, Shota considered just ending it all himself. He was on the edge of a massive building. And if that didn’t work with his newfound instinct to fly, he had plenty of blades in his hero costume. His scarf too, but he wouldn’t use it for that. He wouldn’t taint that particular weapon. Not when he wanted Shinso to wield it too. Shota didn’t know how or even if a dragon could kill himself with any of the usual methods, but he was tempted to test fate and try. 

His phone suddenly rang, the caller completely unaware they might have just stopped him from taking his own life. Strangely, it was Shinso. His student had the number from their private training just in case schedules changed, but he never called. So Shota picked up right away.

“Shinso? Are you alright?” he asked.

“Sorry” Shinso said, and before Shota could ask why another voice spoke.

“Aizawa. I knew you wouldn’t answer for me” Kayama greeted him.

Shota went to hang up, but Kayama continued in a hurry, “Wait, before you ditch me, at least tell me if Yamada found you! He’s going straight to voicemail!”

Shota’s finger froze over the end call button. 

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

“He was on patrol, said he’d look for you when I told him what happened. But when I called to check in it didn’t even ring. And he never lets his phone die, especially not on patrol” Kayama added, sounding worried.

“You told him what happened?” Shota honed in on that terrible fact.

“Of course! He’s been worried, you idiot! We both have!” 

“I’ll find him” Shota swore, ending the call.

Because if Hizashi knew what happened and he had been out on patrol… Reaper may have taken action. Shota was moving in an instant, leaping across the soaking wet rooftops with deadly anger burning deep in his being. If she’d attacked Hizashi he’d kill her himself. End this whole accursed thing with his own hands. The rain made it hard to track by scent, but his night vision was perfect and only blurred slightly from the falling water. His goggles easily kept the rain from his eyes, so he pulled them on. 

He did eventually catch a scent, faint under the smell of wet concrete the rain left everywhere but still there. Blood. Hizashi’s blood. He practically flew towards the source, his scarf lashing out. But he yanked it back abruptly when he took in the scene. 

Hizashi was pinned to the ground, blood covering his face from a broken nose. The rain was only spreading the blood around, dying the rooftop a diluted red. His speaker was gone, and scorched claw marks tore through his hero costume over his left shoulder. Reaper crouched over him, one clawed hand pinning his hands behind him while the other was pressed to his throat. 

Shota snarled. Loudly.

“Let him go,” he demanded. 

“I told you what would happen to anyone who knows too much, didn’t I? And considering your attitude the last time we spoke, I thought you should see it. You need the reality check. You’re not one of them, not anymore” Reaper spoke, deadly serious in every word. 

The anger Shota felt intensified, going from burning rage to ice cold fury. She could not take Hizashi from him. He wouldn’t let her. It was pure instinct that led him into battle, another vicious snarl tearing itself free as he lunged, capture weapon forgotten as he tried to tear into Reaper with sharp talons. 

“Oh, you finally remember your claws!” Reaper just laughed, ducking beneath the blow.

Still, she had to move to dodge attacks, and Hizashi took the first chance he had to scramble free and move towards Shota, who was quick to place himself in front of his friend. Reaper just shook her head before lashing out with her own claws. The two of them fought like feral animals, claw against claw. Shota was entirely lost to the beast within, viciously defending what was his.

“How dare you take him from me,” Shota growled.

“If you don’t want your things taken, learn to defend them” Reaper taunted.

She seemed to realize something when she got yet another snarl in response, because from there she fell easily into taunting him.

“I’m going to rip that pathetic human apart limb by limb. And maybe by the time he’s dead you’ll realize he’s insignificant. That he was only ever a thing to you. They aren’t your equals, quit embarrassing yourself”, she managed to slip past Shota with that and leapt for Hizashi.

Before she could reach him though, a massive weight slammed her to the ground. In his rage, Shota had completely transformed. Hizashi stumbled back in alarm, and Shota looked at him, their eyes meeting for a moment. The man in front of him didn’t look like Present Mic anymore. The rain and blood had ruined his hair completely, his speaker was still gone, and his glasses had been lost in the scuffle. He was just Hizashi Yamada now, wounded and terrified. 

Some instinct had Shota offering him a purr-like rumble from deep in his chest, meant to calm the other man. 

Reaper laughed from where she was pinned beneath his dark claws.

“Seriously? You’re courting him? That makes this so much more interesting than I thought” she cackled.

Then her own body shifted, and Shota was sent briefly tumbling as she suddenly grew beneath his claws, becoming far larger than he was. Hizashi wisely retreated further away, watching with wide eyes. 

Red scales met black as the two clashed, both roaring fiercely. Shota knew immediately he was outmatched. Reaper was at least double his size, and burned with fire so intense it burned to touch her even through his scales. But he couldn’t back down. Not if he wanted to protect Hizashi. So he threw himself wholeheartedly into the fight, diving into the shadows the night offered him and lunging out to try and take Reaper by surprise. 

“Not bad” Reaper actually complimented when Shota’s claws tore into one of her forelegs, drawing blood that burned to touch.

He wasn’t being hurt beyond the burns from contact, and it didn’t take him long to realize she was just toying with him. That only made him more mad.

“I’m not a fucking toy! Hizashi is mine!” he roared, and this time he struck home as his claws ripped through Reaper’s left eye. This was far worse than the other wounds he’d left her, and she actually stumbled back in surprise. 

There was far more blood than before, still unbearably hot to the touch. Shota hissed in pain as it burned his talons, frantically shaking what he could off.

Reaper felt the bleeding wound with her own talon for a moment before pulling it back and tilting her head to get a look at the blood with her good eye. Shota settled himself in front of Hizashi again, growling. His wings were half flared threateningly, and he stood sideways to try and hide that his right front foot couldn’t hold his weight anymore.

“Unexpected. Inconvenient. But… you’re willing to fight like that for him…” Reaper muttered. She seemed to think for a moment before straightening up, “Keep him then. A reward for your ferocity. But my threats aren’t empty. Mislead the other one, or I’ll kill her. With less showmanship this time. This fight will have drawn attention. I need to go underground, deal with the consequences. Hunt the monsters I find there. They may come for you. Be wary. And don’t let them live. They will kill you. I’ll do what I can to keep their eyes away from you, but it may not be enough. And if we don’t meet again… may the stars light your way, little shadow” 

And with that she was gone, a red shape vanishing into the grey clouds above. Shota stared for a long moment, only moving once he was satisfied they were safe. Then he moved, curling himself around Hizashi and draping a wing over him to block out the rain. Shota then slipped his own head underneath the wing, meeting a shocked Hizashi’s eyes.

“Shota?” Hizashi questioned, tentatively. 

“I’m sorry” was all Shota could say. This had happened because of him. Because he was a monster, and couldn’t even hide that from the people around him. Couldn’t even protect them. 

He expected questions. Accusations. What left Hizashi’s mouth next was none of that.

“Let’s go home”

Chapter Text

It took awhile before they could actually talk about it. Both Shota and Hizashi were bloodied and battered. They’d needed to call Recovery Girl to deal with it, passed out from the healing, and then had to reassure Kayama they were alright the next morning. Hizashi had insisted they take the day off from work with how much had happened and Shota was too drained to argue about it for once in his life. Though he wasn’t exactly happy to miss the last day of the semester.

Eventually they sat on the couch in their apartment, the TV playing some movie neither one was actually watching.

Shota waited. He knew Hizashi would have questions. But the blonde was unnaturally quiet. His eyes seemed to be somewhere else, like he was lost in thought. Shota just let him think. It was a lot to take in. He’d taken so long just to accept it was real. He could give Hizashi the time he needed. It was the least Shota could do.

“This started when you were kidnapped, didn’t it?” Hizashi finally asked, his voice soft.

Shota hated hearing Hizashi so quiet. It didn’t happen often. Only when he was truly upset.

“It did,” Shota confirmed, “I wasn’t lying about being unconscious the whole time. I don’t know what she did but… well you saw” he shrugged. 

“Is it a quirk?” 

That was the dreaded question. But Shota answered, “No. I thought so at first, but I can’t erase her transformation. And if it was, it should have worn off of me a long time ago. I don’t think I’m human anymore”

He spoke with his usual deadpan tone, but he hated every word of it. He hated this was his life now. He didn’t mean to continue, but more words spilled out unbidden.

“Everything is wrong. I’m completely fucked up. I want stupid things. I’ve been rubbing my face on the furniture like a cat because it bothers me when the apartment doesn’t smell like me. I hoarded those stupid fucking mugs for some reason. And I hoarded my students so I keep thinking of them as things that I own even though they’re people. And you too! I don’t even know what the criteria is! I just suddenly think something or someone is mine! I can’t eat anything we have here, I have to go and kill animals in the woods every weekend and if I don’t I’ll kill people. Really if I do anything wrong I’ll kill people. If someone threatens one of my people I’ll kill them. I… I already did. It’s all fucked up and I don’t know what to do about it. I’ve become some kind of monster, and you should just kill me before anyone else gets hurt” 

Shota took in a shaky breath when he finished, suddenly aware of tears forming in his eyes. He rubbed at them, trying to hide it.

“It’s alright. You don’t have to deal with this alone anymore” Hizashi said. He was still quiet. His voice was gentle, and he shifted closer to drape a comforting arm over Shota’s shoulders.

“You shouldn’t-” Shota tried.

“No. I trust you. I’ve known you for fifteen years. I refuse to believe you’re a monster. We’ll figure it out. And I’ll buy you all the coffee mugs you need” Hizashi gave a soft smile at the end.

“Hizashi. I killed Stain. I heard my students were at that attack and I flew over in a rage and just-” Shota’s voice cracked and he stopped. He didn’t need to finish though.

“And that sucks. But there was always the chance a hero would have to anyway. And maybe it was extreme, but those instincts of yours were right to protect those kids. I would’ve killed him too if I had to. I’d feel like shit afterwards, but I’d do it for those kids” Hizashi pushed back.

“I didn’t have to though. And Kayama? I could have killed her and that was because I threw some kind of fit being possessive over you. There’s no noble cause you can argue for that one” Shota insisted.

“She’s fine. It hasn’t gone that far, and we’ll figure out how to manage it before it does” Hizashi said with far more conviction than Shota had. 

Privately, Shota thought the confidence wouldn’t last. But he couldn’t bring himself to tear Hizashi down after everything. So he let the other man hope for now.

“We can’t tell Kayama,” Shota said.

“I really hate that you’re right. And I know that’s why you didn’t tell me before” Hizashi sighed. 

“You’d be dead if she hadn’t made some sick game of it” Shota muttered, suddenly burying his face in Hizashi’s chest and taking in the scent. Reminding himself Hizashi was here and alive.

“We won’t let that happen again” Hizashi promised.

The rest of the conversation turned to practical things. What to tell Kayama and the police, who they had to make a report to after turning up with such serious injuries. The story they went with was a partial truth - Shota had saved Hizashi from Reaper. They would tell Kayama it was most likely a quirk that had affected him at the school, possibly from his patrol the night before. 

Kayama wasn’t even mad when they gave her that story over the phone. Which only made Shota feel worse.

Still, there was one thing they hadn’t addressed. Shota had hoped it would be forgotten, but Hizashi was too smart for that.

“Do you know why you attacked Kayama over me? I mean, I’m flattered, but she spends time with the students too and you didn’t try to maul her for that” Hizashi questioned, some of his humor finally creeping back in.

Shota didn’t want to tell him. But it was a miracle Hizashi hadn’t caught Reaper saying it, and Shota didn’t want him to remember that suddenly. And it was, apparently, going to make Shota act like an idiot. So he just ripped the band-aid off.

“Apparently I’m fucking gay” he said, throwing his hands in the air in defeat.

Silence followed. Then Hizashi burst out laughing.

“That’s your confession? No dramatic, ‘I love you’? Where’s the drama, Shota? You expect that to woo me?” he wheezed out between fits of laughter.

“I’m not sure what about me made you think I would ever do a dramatic confession of love”  Shota grumbled.

“You don’t even need words to make it good! I’ll show you!” Hizashi finally managed to stop laughing. 

And then he leaned in and kissed Shota. Who was so unprepared he just froze. Which only made Hizashi start cackling again when he pulled away.

Shota didn’t know how to react. It was warm and gentle and wonderful, but it also made something dangerous wake up. Something that was incredibly pleased that this man was his. And it wanted more.

“See! Look at your face! Now that’s dramatic!” he laughed.

“I hate you,” Shota said.

“No you don't,” Hizashi countered.

“Fine. But I can’t just date you” Shota sighed.

“Why not? I don’t kiss people at random you know! I do love you. Have for a long time, actually” Hizashi shared.

“Because we just had a conversation about how I’m some kind of monster that kills people. I can’t date you or anyone, it’s not safe” Shota reminded him.

“Look, I’ll let you think about it because this is all still fresh. But I don’t care. I know I’m being silly about it, but I’ve felt this way for years Shota. This won’t change anything for me. Don’t punish yourself by refusing to accept anything good. If you feel the same way I want something. Anything you’re willing to give” Hizashi declared, completely serious. His voice wavered with emotion.

He’d had no idea. No idea that Hizashi felt that way about him. He’d always known his friend cared. But he’d never guessed the feelings were romantic. Then again, he’d never noticed when people flirted with him. Kayama had always claimed he was dense when it came to these things. He didn’t want to reject Hizashi, not when he was the one to confess in the first place. But how could he have that kind of relationship? He might not want to hurt Hizashi, he could feel straight to his core how precious Hizashi was to him, but that wouldn’t make anyone safe. It would only put people around them in danger. Shota’s feelings were dangerous, they were deep and intense and he knew he’d kill for them. He almost had already. And Hizashi would regret anything he did the moment he realized just how much of a monster Shota was now. He didn’t understand, not yet. He’d only seen Shota defend him. He hadn’t seen enough yet to realize just how terrible it all was. 

No, Hizashi would leave in the end. And Shota would encourage it despite how much it would break him. He wanted Hizashi to be safe. It was the only way to protect him.

Chapter Text

Hizashi had a lot to process. He started by listing the facts in his head. 

1. Dragons apparently existed.
2. Shota somehow was one, and that was Reaper’s fault
3. Shota apparently liked him back. Romantically.

And the list fell apart quickly after that because item number three scrambled Hizashi’s brain. A normal man would probably be far more concerned over points one and two. Unfortunately he was an easily distracted hopeless bisexual. 

There was plenty more he should be concerned about too. He was fairly sure most people wouldn’t have taken the previous day’s conversation well at all. Shota was right to worry about the danger. Hizashi had just had a front row seat to it not long ago. And there had been a murder confession there too. Maybe it was the hopeless romantic in him, but he just refused to give up on Shota. The man couldn’t be a monster. Hizashi had known him too long to believe otherwise. He was just… different. And Hizashi refused to leave him for it. 

Sure, Stain had been killed. But Hizashi was a hero, he’d killed people before too. And Stain was a villain. A terrible one with an incredibly high body count. Perhaps a better man would find it unacceptable, but he was so desensitized to it all at this point. Sometimes villains died, and he was used to that. Shota killing a mass murderer wasn’t a huge problem for him. Really, Stain of all people probably deserved it, as dark and terrible a thought that was. Beneath his hero persona he hid a lot of anger at the villains who made his job necessary. And if that made him a terrible man, hopefully all he did as Present Mic made up for it in the long run. 

Which really left one important question: How could he make Shota accept himself?

Oh, and how did one flirt with a dragon? But that should probably be on the backburner until the first question was answered. He definitely hadn’t already ordered three more mugs just to see what would happen. Nope. And he definitely wasn’t holding the first one to arrive right now as he knocked on Shota’s bedroom door. 

There was no answer. But really, they knew each other well enough that at this point his knock was a warning, not a request. He was entering, and Shota had a moment to prepare. Not that it mattered, because unsurprisingly Shota was asleep. With seemingly every spare blanket in the apartment. Hizashi had been wondering where they all went. Shota had pushed the large bed into the corner of the room and built what looked like a nest of blankets and pillows that he was curled up in the middle of, the bright yellow sleeping bag he usually carried around clutched to his chest. When had he done this? Hizashi hadn’t been in here in quite awhile with how tense things had been. 

“Shotaaaaa. Time to wake up and look at what I got you!” Hizashi declared with all his usual cheer. And volume. The latter was what did the heavy lifting here.

Shota groaned, burying his face into the sleeping bag’s fabric. So Hizashi decided to sing, jumping into the random song stuck in his head with ease. There was more groaning and grumbling, but eventually Shota sat up and leveled a glare his way.

“Hizashi. It’s the weekend” Shota said.

“And I have brought you the perfect gift!” Hizashi declared, placing it in front of Shota.

“Not another one” Shota grumbled out loud, but despite his words his eyes were locked onto it.

Hizashi couldn’t help the smug smile that took over his face when Shota pulled it close to hold against his chest, “Looks like you like it”

“You are taking advantage of this. Stop buying me shit” 

“Don’t think I will. If coffee mugs are the way to your heart I’ll buy every mug I can find” 

Shota frowned at that, “Hizashi. Flirting with me isn’t going to change anything. This isn’t safe for you”

“Well I think that I’m a big strong hero and can decide what’s dangerous for myself!” Hizashi insisted.

He couldn’t help it. Everything he could ever want was so close, only held back by Shota’s self doubt. Hizashi wouldn’t let the man he loved most in the world slip away for something as ridiculous as that.

Shota sighed, “Neither of us know what I might do. You’re throwing yourself into this with no thought”

Hizashi was annoyed now. He had thought about it. Stared at his ceiling all night barely sleeping as he sorted through recent events. His mind was set. But before he could say anything about that Shota continued.

“Come with me tonight. I have to hunt. You… need to see” 

And the anxiety in that statement, so unlike Shota, melted Hizashi’s heart. Which was how he found himself in the woods in the middle of the night.

Shota was staring up at the moon through the leaves. It was bright and full above them, casting a hint of silvery light down through the leaves. Light that made black scales almost sparkle when he changed shape, growing to tower over Hizashi.

This was the first real look Hizashi had gotten of him like this. He’d been half delirious from blood loss in the pouring rain last time after all. And Shota was beautiful. Every scale gleamed like blackened matte steel, and the fierce red eyes that met Hizashi’s were so familiar. He was almost instantly petting a foreleg without thinking about it, feeling the way the scales overlapped like armor. Only a soft growl had him removing his hand.

“Sorry. I just…” but he was honestly at a loss for words.

He was looking at his best friend of fifteen years as a mythical creature. A breathtaking mythical creature. A dragon that wasn’t trying to kill him was incredible to look at. It was one thing to know it was true, to remember the dreamlike memories of that night in the rain. It was another to see it right in front of him without the adrenaline of battle or the haze of injury. 

Shota went to slink off, presumably to actually hunt something. 

“No, wait! Take me with you!” Hizashi declared. If he was supposed to see he wanted to see. 

“And how should I do that?” Shota questioned. His voice was slightly deeper than it was as a human, with a growly quality to it. Kinda like a distorted radio.

“Well that’s easy!” Hizashi decided, suddenly bold. This discomfort he could sense wouldn’t do. Before Shota realized what was happening, Hizashi had hopped up onto his back and settled between his shoulders, legs hooking in front of them.

“Onward, my steed!” Hizashi declared playfully, one hand gripping the neck spike in front of him and the other pointing forward.

“I am not your steed. And that spike could take your eye out” Shota grumbled.

“Not my mother either! So onward” Hizashi insisted, squeezing his legs like he was riding a horse. Which he’d only done once when he was like six.

Riding a dragon couldn’t be that hard! Everyone did it in the movies!

Shota’s expression shifted, suddenly reminding Hizashi of the evil grin that terrified UA’s students. Could dragons grin? 

“Fine then”

And Hizashi suddenly had to grab the spike in front of him for dear life as the leap Shota took nearly sent him tumbling. A quick glance when he balanced himself showed the trees were already far below them, tiny like toys. And then Shota was spinning and Hizashi was holding on for dear life again, his stomach lurching with the motion. 

“Fine, fine! You win! Not my steed!” he yelped.

Everything stilled instantly. Suddenly they were smoothly gliding high in the air and Hizashi was able to settle securely in his seat again. 

“Satisfied?” Shota questioned smugly, his head twisted to look at his pale and trembling passenger.

“You jerk! What if I’d puked on you? Wouldn’t be so smug then!” Hizashi pouted dramatically.

If there was one thing he was good at, it was lightening the mood. And his antics had certainly done the trick. All the tension Shota had when they’d arrived was gone. Though maybe there was a better way for his own sanity than jumping on a dragon and demanding a ride. It really was a miracle his dinner hadn’t made a reappearance.

“If you puke on me, I’m dropping you” Shota deadpanned, turning his neck back to look where he was going.

“No puking here. As long as there’s no more spinning anyway. It’s actually nice up here when I’m not about to fall to my death” Hizashi noted.

It really was. The stars almost seemed close enough to touch. And it was quiet, only the two of them and the wind. The rest of the world was far below them, far enough to fade from thought.

“It is. This is… the only good thing I’ve found” Shota admitted, so quietly the wind nearly swept his words away.

“This isn’t all you have. You’re still good. I’m not giving up on you” Hizashi insisted firmly.

Shota didn’t respond, but he let his wings carry the two of them across the sky for a little longer. Eventually they’d have to land so Shota could actually hunt. And he’d probably try to scare Hizashi off again with how gross and bloody it was or something. But for now? Hizashi was content to share this moment with him. Where the two of them were alone with the moon and stars.

Chapter Text

Izuku cornered Shinso the moment he got the chance. It wasn’t hard. The purple haired boy was exercising in the gym at his usual time after school even without his teacher.

“Do you know why Aizawa-sensei isn’t here today? He never misses class” Izuku questioned.

“Why are you asking me?” A disbelieving Shinso demanded.

“Because he trains you personally. He must have told you himself he wasn’t coming” Izuku said.

He’d thought about this all day. None of the teachers would give him answers. Mic-sensei was out too, which only added more questions. But Present Mic wasn’t the one who never missed a day. Though it wouldn’t surprise Izuku if it was connected. The two were close from what he could tell, even if they tried to hide it at school. It wasn’t hard to see if you paid attention. Which most of his classmates apparently didn’t. They hadn’t even considered the connection until he suggested it. Izuku had mulled over who to get a real answer from all day before landing on his answer when he caught sight of Shinso in class. Aizawa-sensei would’ve had to tell Shinso he wasn’t coming in. Maybe he’d revealed more in that message than the other teachers would share with the class.

“He did. All he said was that training was cancelled today” Shinso shrugged.

Izuku demanded to see the text. Others often missed obvious subtext. Unfortunately it held as little information as Shinso had claimed.

“You’re weirdly invested in this,” Shinso muttered.

“I told you, he never misses class. Even after the USJ attack he showed up covered in bandages” Izuku insisted.

“He missed class when he got kidnapped that one time,” Shinso pointed out.

“True. Maybe he was kidnapped again? I hope not…” Izuku muttered. He started taking notes, and Shinso just stared.

“Are you… taking notes on Aizwa-sensei’s absence?” Shinso questioned.

“Something is up. I know it is. He’s been off recently, and now he misses class? All of us are worried so I’m trying to figure it out. The other teachers won’t tell me anything” Izuku was quick to explain himself.

He would have been more nervous explaining his need to know things before. Kacchan always found it weird and creepy when they were kids. But his new friends at UA always praised how smart he was. And Aizawa-sensei even took notice of it! It was the first time a teacher had really seen him. 

(All Might didn’t count. Izuku would never use the word, but he was kind of starting to see All Might as a new dad. That was not the crisis at hand though.)

All of it had given him more confidence though, and a strong affection for everyone who had helped him get here. So he was determined to make sure his teacher was alright.

“He has been a little off,” Shinso said thoughtfully, and Izuku’s eyes snapped up from his notes.

“What did you see? Tell me everything” 

Shinso sighed, as if accepting some sort of defeat, before speaking, “He’s been… less harsh? He’s been yelling less. I haven’t been dragged away from doing something stupid by his scarf in weeks. And he’s almost clingy? Not like actually, he didn’t start giving hugs or anything. But I feel like he looks at me more. It’s weird. Not like creepy weird, but just weird. Like he’s worried I’ll be gone if he looks away or something”

There was more. Izuku knew there was. Shinso looked hesitant. Like he had something he didn’t want to say. But if Izuku kept talking maybe he’d share anyway.

“He’s been nicer to my class too. I haven’t noticed the staring, but there’s also a lot more of us training at once… I suppose he’s been sleeping through our class less though? He’ll go in the sleeping bag, but he’ll just watch from there instead of actually napping. I thought he was just nervous since we’ve been attacked so much, but you haven’t been attacked at all…”

Shinso buried his face in his hands for a moment while Izuku rambled on.

“Fuck it. Midoriya, something happened last night and Midnight-sensei told me not to tell anyone. If I tell you, will you calm down? And keep it a secret so she doesn’t kill me?” Shinso finally broke.

“Of course! I won’t tell a soul!” Izuku swore.

“I had stayed late in the gym because Aizawa-sensei left early for some reason yesterday. I think I got on his nerves trying to question what was bothering him. He wants me to make him upset usually, says I need to be comfortable making adults squirm to use my quirk as a hero. I told him some of the stuff you’d noticed and he kind of fled. Midnight-sensei showed up as I was about to leave and demanded I call him on speaker. She was really serious so I did. He picked up and they had a conversation. It sounded like something had happened and Aizawa-sensei had left and refused to answer her calls? And Mic-senei had gone looking for him and stopped answering the phone. I assume that’s why Midnight-sensei decided to use mine. She must have been desperate when she couldn’t reach anyone and somehow noticed I was still on campus. Probably abused his promise to always answer if I needed help. But Aizawa-sensei promised to find Mic-sensei and hung up” Shinso spoke quietly, eyes darting around as if he expected to be caught sharing this information.

“So something happened to Mic-sensei and now they’re both absent…” Izuku muttered, chewing on the end of his pencil. 

“Midnight-sensei assured me he was alright when I asked. So he’s alive at least” Shinso offered.

Izuku nodded and noted that down, “She’d probably tell you that even if he was in the hospital though. Wouldn’t want students to worry too much. And we wouldn’t be able to find out if a pro was in the hospital, their records are locked down for security. Unless we wanted to try and hack in but that’s really illegal…”

“We?” Shinso questioned.

“You must want to know! He’s your personal mentor! And we won’t see him until the training camp, today is the last day!” Izuku argued.

“I mean yeah, but he might kill us for stalking him”

“Or praise us for our incentive and information gathering skills? He’s a weird teacher like that”

“Probably both… But fine. Your anxiety is making me anxious. We can just go visit him if you’re so worried” Shinso conceded.

“You know where he lives?” Izuku nearly screeched.

How on earth did Shinso know that? And what kind of place was it? He had so many questions!

“Shut up! But yes. I got a concussion during training once, Recovery Girl was already gone for the day, and he refused to let me go home with it. He was going to drive me home until he learned I’d be home alone that night. Then he insisted on babysitting. Apparently that’s allowed. Him and Mic-sensei are roommates, so we’ll figure it all out if we just go there” Shinso sighed yet again. 

“Ok! Does Monday work for you? I have plans this weekend” Izuku eagerly planned.

Shinso sighed, realizing his mistake. But that was fine with Izuku. He was going to solve the mystery and make sure his teacher was alright.

—

Reaper knew she’d messed up. Losing her eye would be a problem in the long run. A blind spot was dangerous, especially one everyone could see she had. And the scar was quite noticeable. Even in human form she doubted she could hide it. Even if she was willing to tolerate that gross stuff they called makeup on her face, it wouldn’t work with how misshapen the area around her eye was, obviously gouged by large claws.

She could work with this though. The surge of power in that fight had been a lot, but she was fairly sure hers must have masked the younger dragon’s. If not they’d have a problem. She didn’t like what she was hearing underground right now. 

She admired the gleam of a golden ring under the streetlight. Her last information source had been wearing it, and the woman’s fingers seemed to be the same size as her own. How she wished she could keep beautiful things like this. She’d always loved artwork, and jewelry was particularly beautiful with how it sparkled. But as much as her soul ached and exhaustion weighed upon her being, she couldn’t have it. It would only be a liability if someone took it. Just look at what her little fledgling had done when one of his silly humans was in danger. It was centuries of self control that let her remove the ring and toss it down a nearby sewer grate. At least nobody else could have it that way.

The information was more useful. Though not as pleasant. The League of Villains was interested. And had somehow picked up the power surge. Which they shouldn’t have the resources to do. The League was newer, they weren’t aware of the existence of dragons. They shouldn’t have a reason or a method to be looking for magical power surges. Quirks simply didn’t create surges like draconic magic did.

She never should have let that power surge happen. She’d gotten carried away. The fire within her longed to burn bright, and she’d let it go too far. Draw too many eyes. Eraser wouldn’t have exploded if she hadn’t provoked him. Though it was also in part a miscalculation. She’d known that was his human, but she hadn’t realized it had evolved into a courtship. That kind of possessiveness was beyond what already existed for one’s hoard. It was a competition after all. Courtship required keeping all other potential suitors away until the potential mate accepted the bond. Protecting a mate from other suitors and threats was part of the courtship. It proved you were strong enough to protect any offspring.

Not that Reaper had any experience. Nor would she ever. These new dragons would all be hatchlings compared to her even when there were plenty someday. And she would never consider a human mate. It was a lonely existence, being the last of her kind. At least she’d have the younger ones to watch over.

She continued down the dark street, only to jump in surprise when footsteps sounded on her blind side. She whirled around to face them, taking in the strange scent before her eyes even landed on the new arrival. The scent of death was familiar from the monsters in Hosu. But this one still smelled human despite the decay woven into it. How odd. The man was shrouded in some kind of dark fog, blending in easily with the night.

“Reaper” he greeted. That was it. No real greeting, just her name as if that counted.

“And you are?” she carefully kept the growl from her voice.

It really was annoying that people knew her appearance now. The missing eye must have been added to that information too. No way Present Mic could go without reporting those injuries he’d gotten. As long as he lied where he needed to, it didn't matter. But it was annoying.

“My name is Kurogiri. I come with a message from the League of Villains”

Oh. Well this might be interesting. The humans who hunted her before had never tried to talk. Wait until they found out just how little she liked playing their games.

Chapter Text

“Sho- Aizawa, your kids are here?” Hizashi called from the door, confused.

Shota sighed and rolled out of his nest, moving slowly out of his room. He’d been quite comfortable there in his misery.

Hizashi was the most persistent optimist Shota had ever met. Not the infuriating kind who sat there insisting everything would be fine. The kind who decided everything would be fine because he’d make it fine. Who’d smile while covered in blood to reassure the people he’d protected that he’d saved them and it was alright now because he’d fought tooth and nail to make it that way. The only way to avoid his determined affections was to hide. And ever since he’d caved with all his stress and let himself build an actual nest from the blankets it had been the most soothing place to nap. Everything was easier from within the nest. 

Needless to say, he did not want to be dragged out.

“What do you mean my kids are here? This had better not be another gift” Shota grumbled, only to freeze the moment he could see the front entrance. Because his kids were actually here. Shinso and Midoriya stood in his doorway. Shinso looked resigned, and Midoriya anxious but determined. That explained why Hizashi had used his last name.

He wasn’t supposed to see his students until the training camp, and the sight sent a rush of happiness through him that he had to quickly shake off. He needed to stop hoarding the students somehow. He’d already killed for them once.

“Why are you two here?” Shota questioned.

“Sorry to bother you Aizawa-sensei! You missed the last day of class and well… you never miss class! I just wanted to make sure you were alright! And Shinso knew where you lived so-” Midoriya quickly explained.

“He was giving me anxiety so I offered to bring him over,” Shinso added, sounding utterly defeated.

The old Shota would have immediately made it clear Shinso was in massive trouble for sharing where he lived with a classmate for no real reason. The new Shota was busy grappling with his instinct to herd his students to his nest and keep them there and far too worried about causing someone harm to actually give the kid any trouble. He couldn’t let himself be angry, anger was dangerous. What kind of scary teacher was he now? How the mighty fall…

Shota also had a feeling he knew why Shinso would be anxious though.

He pinched his nose, “Did Kayama reassure you at all after stealing your phone to call me?” 

“She said you were both fine when I asked in class on Friday. Wouldn’t give any details though. And then Midoriya pointed out she’d say that even if you were in the hospital to avoid scaring a student so…” 

Fantastic. They’d both enabled each other’s anxiety about the situation until it led to them both showing up at his door.

“Aw! It’s sweet that you care so much, listeners! As you can see we’re both right as rain! Just a tough villain encounter, but nothing to worry about!” Hizashi sounded genuinely touched by the students’ worry.

Hizashi liked these students. Could Shota give them to him? Hizashi had been giving him so many gifts for his hoard… No. Shot mentally slapped himself. He had to stop thinking like this. He was rapidly losing the fight in his mind though, and ended up ushering the students inside and settling them on the couch. Now they were in his space where they were nice and safe.

Hizashi looked baffled and Shota just sighed and offered him a single word in sign language: Hoard. Hopefully neither of these kids knew it. Shinso definitely didn’t but Midoriya… Shota had no idea how much that kid actually knew. He seemed to pop up with completely random knowledge all the time. And he was already fluent in English. But he didn’t act like he’d recognized the gesture, so if he did he’d hidden it well.

The blonde man accepted this with a knowing grin and started offering the kids whatever snacks they had in their kitchen. Shinso was quick to accept one of Shota’s usual jelly packs. He missed those. Did they make jelly packs for carnivores? Probably not. Midoriya tried to refuse, but Shota just sighed and pushed one into his hand. It wasn’t like Shota could eat it anymore. He might as well feed it to his student. They needed to be cared for anyway. He could never neglect his hoard.

“What happened then? Did you two fight a villain together?” Midoriya asked.

Of course he’d be nosy. That kid lived for hero fights. Shota collapsed on the couch with them, deliberately leaving space between himself and Shinso.

“How much did Shinso tell you?” Shota asked before saying anything.

“... all of it. He was going on and on about all the things that could have happened. Please don’t tell Midnight-sensei, she’ll be mad” Shinso admitted quietly.

“We’ll excuse this one. Sounds like you were pretty freaked out and the speculation only made it worse” Hizashi offered in assurance.

Midoriya suddenly looked sheepish, like this was the first time he’d considered that, “Sorry Shinso! I didn’t realize! I mean I was pretty worried but I should have known you would be too and my theories would only make it worse!”

“Let’s just settle this here then. Yes we fought a villain. And we’re both fine. There were injuries, but nothing Recovery Girl couldn’t handle” Shota stated bluntly.

They didn’t need the details. Like how Hizashi had been so bloodied and battered and helpless. How Shota had torn out Reaper’s eye and would have kept going if she hadn’t left, would have killed or died for Hizashi. No, nobody at all needed to know that. Especially not these kids.

“What kind of villain was it? Did their quirk give Present Mic a hard time, is that why you had to go help him?” Midoriya immediately latched onto what he’d been given.

Shota exchanged a glance with Hizashi and the two signed back and forth quickly. Should they share what was in the official report at least? These were hero students. Sheltering them wouldn’t help in the long run. And the report was full of lies anyway, so it couldn’t put them in any real danger. It concluded with Hizashi going over to the paperwork scattered on the kitchen table, grabbing the paper copy of the report they’d been given, and handing it to Midoriya. Shota had shown the students how official reports looked in class before, so Midoriya recognized it immediately.

“Oh! You fought Reaper? You found her then Mic-sensei?” he exclaimed after a moment of reading and taking notes. 

“Found her. Didn’t exactly catch her though” Hizashi chuckled. 

Why did Midoriya know Hizashi was looking for this villain? Shota’s questioning glance was answered with another single word sign: Hosu. Right. Midoriya had seen Reaper there. And Shota too, though he hadn’t known it. How much had the kid seen? Shota didn’t like the idea that his students had seen him viciously dismember a villain. That annoying flash of pride returned, recalling that event and knowing his student was right here in front of him, still alive. He squashed it down. Hizashi might be fine with it for some reason, but Shota was not. He couldn’t just forgive himself for it.

Shinso had snatched the report from Midoriya while Shota was thinking, and read through it quietly. Eventually he passed it back so the green haired boy could continue taking his notes, which Midoriya did passion.

“Have you figured out Reaper’s quirk in any detail? It sounds like some kind of transformation quirk from what I saw and what’s in here. And she burned you Mic-sensei? Maybe it’s like a partial dragon transformation? Kind of like Ryukyu? But with fire?” Midoriya was interrogating poor Hizashi now. That’s what the man gets for telling a student he was investigating. Now Hizashi had to fend off an overeager green child. An overeager green child who was getting concerningly close to the right idea, but Hizashi would handle that.

Shota was quickly distracted from this when Shinso suddenly shifted closer to him. The boy hesitated when Shota looked at him, but caved quickly and spoke to him quietly.

“Is Reaper trying to kill you?” 

“It doesn’t seem like it. She has some kind of interest in me, but I’ve survived multiple encounters now which is unusual" Shota shared. That was in reports too anyway.

“I could help. If you wanted. She probably doesn’t know my quirk” Shinso offered.

The idea was actually pretty solid, but Shota would never let a student anywhere near Reaper. He hadn’t even wanted to let Hizashi anywhere near her, who was both a grown man and a seasoned hero. 

“No. I’m not taking a student anywhere near a villain of that level. You read the report. Two of us barely made it out. And we’re no rookies. If you ever run into her by chance you absolutely have permission to do whatever you need to for your survival. But I will not let you seek her out. Ever” Shota answered sternly. With a tone that made it very clear Shinso could not argue about it.

Shinso knew that tone well enough not to protest. But he didn’t look happy about it.

Hizashi was eventually able to shoo the kids out of their home by letting Midoriya keep the report. But as they were about to leave, Shinso hesitated for one more moment and then suddenly wrapped Shota in a hug. No student had ever hugged him before. It only made his terrible protectiveness over the kid worse. Shinso was tall enough for Shota to rub his cheeks in the boy’s hair, leaving his scent on his student. Something he would later berate himself for, because he’d been trying not to scent mark the students he shouldn’t be hoarding. But Shinso had thrown himself into his arms, and Shota couldn’t really hold back in that situation. 

When the door was finally closed it was only silent for a moment before Hizashi smirked and said, “Coffee mugs and students? What’s next?” 

“Shut up” Shota grumbled.