Chapter Text
Aizawa's POV:
"Are you sure you don't want to come, Shouta? It could be a lot of fun." Hizashi Yamada was tying his black tie in front of the floor to ceiling mirror in his apartment. Shouta Aizawa, coffee cup in hand, was sitting on the couch with his laptop open, reading the latest villain attacks. "The food there is really good. You should try it."
"No, thanks. Mingling with a bunch of heroes and other important people is not how I want to spend my Saturday night," Shouta takes a sip of coffee, eyes not leaving the screen. The exhaustion in his voice proof of how little sleeps he's been getting lately. "I've nearly zeroed in on the drug ring. Hopefully after tonight's patrol we'll find it's source."
Once the last word was said, he looks up at Hizashi. Tonight is the annual charity gala the Hero Public Safety Commission holds. A bunch of Pro Heroes will be there, including all of the Top Ten. It draws a lot of attention; something Shouta doesn't like. He's never been in the decade he's been a Pro and he's not going to break that streak now. Hizashi was wearing a yellow suit with a black back, a plain white button up, and a black tie. His hair was in a bun, his signature glasses missing. Shouta lets his gaze linger a bit longer before facing his laptop again.
Done with his tie, Hizashi turns to Aizawa, "Fine, suit yourself. I'll take lots of pictures to show you what you're missing out on." He picks up his wallet, phone, and keys, putting them in his pocket while walking towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Try to get some sleep." He walks out the door, waving behind him at Shouta.
With Hizashi gone, Shouta has nothing else to distract him from his mission. A few weeks ago a new drug hit the streets of Hosu. The drug acted a bit like Trigger, the effects being quirk enhancement. The problem with this drug is that whoever takes it gets enhanced for 4 hours, but once those hours are up, the person who took it dies immediately. Whoever's selling this drug either doesn't tell their customers that or their customers wanted to die. Whatever the case, Shouta's been working with Tsukauchi and the Police Department to stop the spread of this drug.
They got a big lead when they arrested someone in possession of the drug. They hadn't taken it yet, so they were able to send the drug in for examination. The guy they arrested told them where they got it from. Shouta's been scouting out the area for a few hours, just to be prepared. Tonight, he and Tsukauchi would investigate the area.
Once he finished his coffee, Shouta stood up and grabbed his capture scarf, messaging Tsukauchi that he was on his way.
The warehouse has clearly been abandoned for many years. The roof and walls had holes and the windows were all broken. There was graffiti on the walls had graffiti all over it. It was the definition of a villain's hideout. The warehouse was in the poorer part of the city. The whole area was practically deserted. There was trash littering everywhere they walked, a few stray cats running about, looking for food. The area was dark; it was pretty difficult to see anything. Only years of experience from working underground kept Shouta from tripping over anything.
"A bit odd how there's absolutely no one here, isn't it?" Tsukauchi said, looking around warily. "They must go out of their way to get customers while remaining out of site."
The guy they arrested said that he heard about the drug dealer through a friend of his. Whoever the drug dealer was never approached his customers himself, always getting someone else to. It really was a miracle he hasn't been caught yet with all of the people that know about him and his business.
"I have some officers waiting in the area. They'll keep their distance until I call them. Are you ready, Eraser?" They were standing outside of what looks to be the main entrance. Half of the double-door was gone. A few rats ran out from underneath. Shouta watched them with mild disgust.
"Let's get this over with," Shouta says with a sigh, opening the door and walking through. The room they walk into is completely empty. Neither of them hear anything other than their breathing and footsteps. They split up to cover more ground. Shouta heads to the basement, leaving Tsukauchi to investigate the ground and top floor. The stairs to the basement were falling apart. Rats were running away from him wherever he walked. He mentally reminded himself to get a rabies shot afterwards, just incase. He reached the bottom of the stairs and found himself in the middle of a long hallway. There were a few doors, some open and some closed, lining the walls of the hallway. What piqued his interest, though, was the trail of blood that led to the door at the end of the hallway.
Slowly and quietly he followed the trail. It wasn't long before he heard a voice coming from behind the door. The closer he got to the door the more distinct the voice became. At first he thought it was the drug dealer they were tracking, but as he listened closer he realized that the voice sounded too young to be a grown man's. Too masculine to be a girl's but too young to be an adult's. The voice would crack at the end of some words, clearly showing that the boy speaking has only just reached puberty. He stopped behind the closed door and listened in, finally able to make out what was being said.
"I won't say this again. Tell me who and where your master is and I might just leave you alone," the voice said. There was someone else in the room, but their voice was too soft for Shouta to know what he said.
"What kind of a name is that? If you don't know where he is, then where have you been meeting with him?" Shouta messages Tsukauchi, telling him to meet him in the basement, while he prepared for a fight if there was one. He doesn't go in yet, still listening outside the room. "Don't lie. I've been watching you for days now, you have been meeting with him before. How else would you have the drug? So tell me where."
Shouta hears quiet footsteps behind him. A second later Tsukauchi is standing next to him. He puts up three fingers. A countdown. Shouta stands ready, hand on his capture scarf.
Three
Two
One
Tsukauchi kicks open the door, gun in hand. Shouta activates his quirk. The sight in the room has the both freezing. The room was small, empty except for the chair and two other people in the room. On the chair sat a middle-aged man. His hair was black and his eyes were a dark brown. He had a small cut on his lips and cheeks that have scarred, so they must have been from a while ago. He was in a black suit and his hair was slicked back. He must be the cause of the blood trail as his side was bleeding profusely from a large and deep cut. He was bound to the chair by ropes on his hand and feet.
The other person couldn't have been older than thirteen. His brown hair was up to his chin. Dark eyes staring at them accusingly. He doesn't have a single scratch on him. The bloody knife in his hand the cause of the man on the chair's pain. He was wearing black cargo pants and a dark grey zip-up hoody, his black shirt had blood on it. One of his hand's was bandaged. The kid stood up from where he was crouching down in front of the man. He eyed the gun in Tsukauchi's hand. "Can I help you?"
"What's going on here?" Tsukauchi lowers his gun, standing up straighter but not relaxing. That may be a kid but he definitely knows how to fight, at least a little bit. Shouta deactivates his quirk. If the kid wanted to use whatever quirk he's got on them, he would have already. This whole situation just got a lot more confusing.
"That doesn't concern you," the kid says. He turns his whole body to face them.
"We're police, kid. And that guy's been on our radar for a while now," Tsukauchi nods his head to the man on the chair. "And you've injured someone."
The kid looks the man on the chair up and down, "He was like that when I got here," he says. His expression reveals nothing about what he's thinking or feeling.
Tsukauchi pauses, looking between the two of them, "That knife says otherwise."
The kid looks to the knife in his hand, then he tosses it behind him. It gets lost in the shadows of the room. "What knife?"
"Okay," Tsukauchi puts his gun away and takes a step forward, "why don't you come with me and we can discuss this further at the Police Station-"
Before Tsukauchi could even finish his sentence the kid disappears from in front of them. Shouta turns around just in time to see the kid slam the door shut. He runs to the door but he can't open it. There must be a baracade. "Tsukauchi, you stay here. I'll go after the kid." It takes a few kicks for the door to come off it's hinges. He doesn't wait for Tsukauchi's response before he's running out the door and after the kid. He thought he's already lost the kid as he runs up the stairs. Once he reaches the top, he stops in his tracks.
By the broken front door, the kid is leaning against the wall, hunched over. He's clutching his side and making soft grunts of pain. Shouta doesn't have the chance to do anything before the kid sees him and starts running again. Despite clearly being injured, the kid's a fast runner. Shouta's struggling to keep up with him. His phone startles him out of his focus. "Tsukauchi."
"I've left the dealer with some officers. They're taking him to a hospital. His injury doesn't seem that bad, so he should make a full recovery. How's it going on your end?" Tsukauchi says.
"Not great. I can't catch up to him. Plus I think he's also injured." Shouta's out of breath as he says this. The kid's climbed up to the building roofs, Shouta following close behind but not close enough. They're jumping from roof to roof towards the inner city. Shouta's been doing this for years and he's out of breath. The kid looks like he could run for an hour more. Maybe his lack of sleep is finally catching up to him.
"Where are you?"
"On top of those apartment building we saw on our way here. He's fast so you better hurry up."
"We're on out way. Try not to lose sight of him."
Yamada's POV:
The charity gala was as big as all of the other years' have been. Hundreds of reporters, sponsors, and heroes were in this grand hall that's the embodiment of wealth talking and catching up with each other. Hizashi asks every year if Shouta wants to come with, even though he knows the answers will always be no. Shouta doesn't like the spotlight, and he definitely doesn't like other people. Having to have conversations with someone he's not close to in a room full of people he barely knows is one of the things Shouta really hates. Not to mention all of the reporters and photographers asking for pictures.
Hizashi was almost the complete opposite. He loved talking with other people, knowing what they've been up to since he's seen them last. He likes meeting new people and doing interviews with the reporters. At least he wasn't alone. All of the other UA staff members were here, too. Getting a bit of a break before the start of the new school year next week. He's spent almost the entire night with Nemuri. Ken was wandering around the room with Sekijirou and they've run into each other a few times.
The gala's been going on for about one hours already. It was almost time for the announcements. At the galas, the HPSC talks about their plans with the funds they've raised halfway through the gala, so that should happen in half an hour or so.
"Hey, Hawks!" he hears a voice call from behind him. He turned and saw Mirko and Hawks together. "You're late."
"Aww, did you miss me?" Hawks gives Mirko one of his teasing smiles. "Sorry, I had something I needed to finish. So, did I miss anything?"
"Yeah, the commissioner's daughter came with the president's son." One thing that is guaranteed at these galas is gossip. Hawks and Mirko being the main perpetrators.
After half an hour of more conversing, the commissioner speaks up, "Excuse me. Could I have everyone's attention please," she says. "The announcements will begin shortly. If you could all please take your seats."
Everyone stops what they're doing and sits in their assigned seats. The UA staff all share one table, with one seat open for Shouta. The commissioner stands in front of them all with two of her trusted advisors behind her. "I want to start this off by thanking all of you for coming and contributing to the charity. I understand that you all have busy lives, so it means a lot that you took the time to be here tonight. With the funds that this years charity gala has raised, we will be able to get more done than last year. Our first order of business is building an orphanage for all of the children who have lost their parents and families in villain attacks."
Her statement causes a round of applause. The reporters and photographers snapping dozens of pictures. "The children will be taken care of by the government. These kids have suffered. It's only right we do what we can to ensure that the rest of their lives will not have any suffering. Our second order of business is-"
An explosion sounded from behind them. The reporters and photographers screen as debris and smoke fill the room, running to the nearest exit. All of the Pro Heroes stand ready to fight. Whoever decided to attack a room full of heroes is pretty stupid. That or they're pretty strong. The smoke clears a moment later. Once it does, they see the cause of the explosion.
A young man- no, a young teenager- stands up. He was about to walk, or run, but froze when he saw everyone in the room. "Shit," he exclaims. The kid is out of breath, panting hard. His left hand is clutching his side. All Might steps forward to say something but is interrupted by a white piece of cloth suddenly wrapping around the kid's free hand.
Eraserhead walks through the hole in the wall, looking like he just ran two marathons. "Do you mind not running?" he says to the kid. Eraserhead blinks his eyes and rubs at them, his quirk deactivating for a second. Most of the smoke has cleared, but there was enough that some got into Eraser's eyes.
"Do you mind not chasing?" The kid uses Eraser's momentary distraction to his advantage, disappearing in the blink of an eye and reappearing on the other side of the room. He stumbles as he tries to walk, coughing and clutching his side harder. "I already told you that he was like that when I got there." He says in between coughs.
"You were still caught at the scene of a crime. We need to bring you in for questioning," Eraser stops rubbing his eyes. He activates his quirk again and walks towards the kid, "and you're injured. You may need the hospital."
"I'm fine," the kid said, softly, as if it was to himself rather than Eraser.
"Just let us help you," Eraser says, stopping a small distance from the kid.
"That's not happening," The kid lunges at Eraser, pulling a knife from his pocket. This wakes the heroes up from watching the scene playing out in front of them. The last thing any of them wants to do is hurt a young child, even if that child is holding his own in a close combat fight against an experienced Pro Hero. Best Jeanist uses his quirk to control the kid's jacket sleeve, interrupting the fight. The kid looks shocked, turning his attention to Best Jeanist.
His shock lasts for just a few seconds. As soon as it wears off he uses the knife to cut the thread. Those few seconds were enough for Hawks to use his feathers to pin the kid to the wall behind him. All Might walks to the kid, while Hizashi and Nemuri walk to Shouta. "What's going on?" he asks Shouta.
"I found him in the drug dealer's hideout."
Shouta's answer unsettles Hizashi, "You think the kid got into trouble with him?" It's one thing for an innocent civilian to get involved with drug dealers somehow. It's another when that innocent civilian is a kid that's barely even a teenager.
"Not quite," Shouta sees Hizashi's and Nemuri's confused looks, "I found the kid in a room with the drug dealer injured and tied to a chair. Before Tsukauchi and I could get any answers out of the kid he bolted."
At the mention of Tsukauchi, a squad of police officers enter the hall, Tsukauchi in front of them. "Sorry we took so long, Eraserhead." All of the attention is then turned to the trapped kid. "You gave us quite the chase there, kid. We could barely keep up with you."
The kid gives a cocky smirk, "You should focus on increasing your speed, then. That was hardly my fastest."
"Young man," All Might turns the attention to himself, "it is our duty as heroes to protect you. So, if you've gotten involved in drug dealers in any way, please allow us to help you."
"Not interested. Go play 'hero' with someone else," Shouta was too late to reactivate his quirk. By the time he did, the kid disappeared again, leaving everyone in the room to stare at where he just was.
Shouta sighs, "Dammit."
Shikamaru's POV:
It was supposed to be an easy and simple joint mission. So how did it go so horribly wrong.
Tsunade decided it would be a good idea for Shikamaru to gain more experience leading a team as a Chuunin. So, he was put in charge of both Team 10 and Team 7. Their mission was a simple one. A merchant promised a wealthy and influential business man a prized and unique artefact. As the merchant was transporting the artefact to the decided meeting place, a group of bandits attacked the merchant and managed to steal the artefact. The merchant claims that if the business man doesn't get the artefact, he would be murdered. The merchant paid a healthy sum of money, so the village accepted the mission.
Usually, a mission like this would go to one squad- maybe even a single squad of Genin- but earlier that day Shikamaru made the mistake of annoying Tsunade. So, she decided to give him the mission and make him mission leader. That put him in somewhat of a bad mood. His mood was made even worse by the fact that most of the team wouldn't stop arguing with each other.
As per their usual, Ino and Sakura were arguing about Sasuke, and Naruto was arguing with Sasuke (probably about the girls arguing about them). Shikamaru stopped listening to those four the second they left the village. He and Choji were walking in front of the group, sharing a bag of chips. They left early enough in the day that they arrived at the bandits' supposed camp.
It took a few minutes for him to quiet the others down. Once he did, though, he told them what the plan was. It was also supposed to be easy and simple. They'd try to sneak into the camp and take back the artefact without being seen. But with such a large group and someone bound to complain if they aren't involved something was bound to go wrong, so Shikamaru planned for that, too. If they did get caught, Naruto, Sasuke, and Ino would distract the bandits while Shikamaru, Sakura and Choji take back the artefact. Simple, right?
It didn't take long for the plan to go sideways. Shikamaru doesn't even remember what or how it happened. One minute they were sneaking in, the next they were fighting rogue ninja. They managed to get split up during the fight. Shikamaru's been fighting this guy with stitches on his mouth for a few minutes when something else went sideways.
The bandit's camp was underground, so there were many little caves and caverns. The cave he found himself in was pretty big that he's able to fight comfortably. The problem was the floor of the cave, more specifically what was on it. Some type of seal he's never seen before. He mentally planned to avoid even touching the seal for the whole fight. That plan was also thwarted. The rogue got a good hit in on his side that caused him to stumble. Right onto the seal. The seal he said he'd avoid. Before he even got the chance to chastise himself, the seal started glowing a bright blue and he blacked out.
The next thing he knew, he was waking up in a world where special powers were completely normal and that some used these powers to help others or hurt others. He heard some guy talking about a drug that had hit the streets a while ago. Interested, Shikamaru followed the man to what is probably his boss. He kept an eye on that guy while at the same time looking for a way to get back to his world. While he was watching the man, he heard of someone with the ability to warp to places. That was the only lead he had, so he followed it.
He went to where the man he'd been watching stayed, but when he saw the man he was injured and tied to a chair. Shikamaru was extremely confused by this. He'd been watching the warehouse closely before he went in, so he would have known if someone entered. Maybe it was that warping power. A little intimidation doesn't hurt anyone. Shikamaru picked up the bloody knife lying by the man and starts his interrogation.
To make matters worse, he's interrupted by two people. One of them chased him when he tried to escape, all the way to some big party. Luckily he managed to escape from those feather-things. That's how he found himself in some abandoned apartment in the shady parts of the city, right side in a lot of pain and completely out of breath from all of the running he'd done.
Right, first things first, his injury. A hospital would be helpful, but he doesn't know if he can trust anything or anyone in this crazy world. It took a while for him to get used to being here. It took even longer to get used to the people or powers he'd see. Someone looked like a dog. How creepy is that. A dog's head on a man's body. Shikamaru didn't sleep that night.
He wondered the city, looking for a clinic or something. He looked through the windows of shops for nearly an hour before he found one that sold medical supplies. As he walked into the shop a realization hit him. He doesn't have anything to pay for what he's taking. He put that thought to the back of his mind. He grabbed bandages, pain killers, antiseptics, and anything else he thought he'd need. He also grabbed a bag to hold the stuff.
He'd already stolen from a clothing shop a few days prior, so he didn't hesitate in using his shadow manipulation to disappear from site. No one even saw him. "Man, this is going to be a drag."