Chapter Text
“Eraser! How’s the patrol going? Sorry if I stole your thunder, sorted out some villains before you showed up!” Izuku called to the hero, careful to stay out of sight. He was good at that. Good at vanishing into the shadows. Good at being looked over and going unnoticed. If it weren’t for the fact that he had trained the skill for years and the stupid quirkless diagnosis, Izuku may have thought that was his quirk. It wasn’t though. It had simply been necessary to avoid the bullies. Plus it helped with the whole not getting caught thing. He was a good vigilante. He would rather be a hero, but he could deal with being a vigilante.
“Hello problem child,” Eraserhead replied without stopping his scan of the nearby streets. Izuku was pretty sure the hero had long since given up on actually seeing Izuku. Once he’d even asked if his quirk was invisibility. It was not. Izuku had told him as much. Of course he’d left out the fact that he didn’t have one. That was stupidly risky.
“You know one of the villains quirks is not being able to be seen by cameras right? So don’t let them use his lack of appearance on camera as missing evidence because that’s stupid but a good lawyer might try it.”
“Don’t worry kid, his quirk is known, so they can’t use that excuse.”
“That’s good, the other one’s quirk is Siren Song, which is insanely dangerous but he didn’t have a lot of control over it, I gagged him and left a note to make sure, you got that right? Please tell me you didn’t ungag him.”
“Yes, we saw the note. The other heroes complained about your disregard for the law, but they had to admit they appreciated the warning.”
“Other heroes you say? So you’ve finally come around to me?”
“I would rather you got your licence, but I will take what I can get. Speaking of which, UA’s entrance exams are coming up, if you want I could put you forward as a recommendation and you could finally get that licence.”
“Ahh you just want my name so you can bring me in,” Izuku pointed out. While Eraser wasn’t actively trying to hunt him down, preferring to focus on the actual villains, he would often try to convince Izuku to say things that would trip him up.
“That and the fact that I think you would be a better hero if you weren’t busy looking over your shoulder to make sure the actual heroes weren’t chasing you. Plus the commission would be less on my back about finding you.”
“You’re getting in trouble because of me? I’m so sorry! I never meant to! I don’t care if they don’t like me, but they can’t take it out on you!”
“I’m fine problem child. They complain but nothing else. If my job was on the line I wouldn’t let you get away with so much.”
“Aww you think you could catch me? I thought we made it clear you couldn’t early on”
“Hah, sure kid, sure,” Eraser chuckled, sitting down on the edge of the building to watch whatever he was watching. Izuku wished more than anything that he could go over there and sit next to Eraser. Afterall, the hero was the only person who bothered to talk to him, even his mother had become distant, seeming only to be sad in Izuku’s company.
These relaxed conversations on rooftops in the middle of the night were some of the only times Izuku felt free and safe to talk, and it made this relationship all the more precious. Meeting Eraser had probably saved his life. He had been lonely before, but now he had an adult in his life who cared. One day maybe someone his own age would care enough to get to know him too.
“You should try get into a hero course kid, I mean you have the skills to be a pro already, imagine what you could become with some proper training.”
“Hey are you calling my training improper?” Deku grumbled, although the laughter at his own joke was impossible to hold back. He hoped this would work as a distraction. He was trying not to tell Eraser any compromising information, and the fact that he was trying out for every hero school in the country was definitely compromising.
“No kid, but I am calling your licence nonexistent. That will come back to bite you if you’re not careful.”
“I’m doing my best Eraser, it’s not as easy as you make it out to be.”
“I know kid. Has your mother come around to the idea of you being a hero or is she still against it?”
“She doesn’t think I can. I don’t blame her for that, but it really does suck sometimes.”
“Why don’t you- damn it!” Eraser interrupted himself, “Villain, 4 o’clock.”
Just like that Eraser was gone. Their conversation cut short. It was always weird how the hero didn’t know his name but somehow knew some of the most painful things. After all, Eraser was observant enough to notice the rough days and to ask just the right the questions to break down most walls.
With a soft sigh he followed Eraser into the fight, dragging thugs into the shadows, knocking them out and then vanishing, carefully staying out of sight from both the villains and Eraser. It was hard work, but he wouldn’t let the hero down.
“Problem child?” Erasor called the moment the fight was won.
“I’m fine, you?” Izuku replied from the shadows. Despite his capture being on the hero’s list of jobs, they repeated this mantra almost nightly, after any fight they made sure both were alive and well. Izuku didn’t want to know what would happen if he didn’t respond, but he hoped Eraser would at least be worried about him.
“I’m fine, you should go home, it’s getting late. You better not skip school because of this.”
“I won’t if you don’t!” Izuku teased. He didn’t know why Erasor worked as a teacher when he seemed to hate it as much as Izuku hated school.
“Ok kid, I’ll finish my patrol and take my class tomorrow if you go get some sleep. Deal?”
“Deal,” Izuku muttered. He wasn’t exactly pleased about being sent home by the hero, but he knew there was no winning this argument. Eraser always sent him home after a villain fight, and each time that Izuku had continued to patrol anyway, Eraser had berated him for not listening and lectured him about the importance of sleep. It was rich coming from him, but still.
“I won’t be on patrol tomorrow night, gotta get extra sleep before exams,” Izuku muttered before practically sprinting away. The only exams on the day after tomorrow would be the UA enterance exam, so he was admitting more then he would like, but there was no way Eraser would be able to single Izuku out from the rest of the kids taking the exam, there was simply too many of them. He wouldn’t be able to tell Eraser if he passed, but still, it was nice to think maybe the hero was rooting for him.
As always he returned to his silent house, his mother no longer bothering to worry over him. He could still remember the day their fracturing relationship had finally snapped. She’d given him an ultimatum, either he stopped the vigilante stuff and the dreams of heroism or she would cut ties. She couldn’t deal with the worry, and it was clear she had already mourned his death, assuming it would come sooner or later. Now they barely saw each other. It hurt, but it would have to be fine. It had to be fine.
The entrance exam went well- Suprisingly so. He had worried there would be a quirk test or something, but he had simply needed to kill robots. He’d ended up needing to save some other girl as well, she had been stupidly close to being crushed by one of those robots. She could easily have actually died, which disturbed him slightly. UA was an amazing school, but surely they had to have ways to protect ill equipped children from dying. Right?
The written exam had been his best, with very few questions stumping him, and those were topics he had never heard of before. The others were easy enough thanks to his studies.
By the end of the day Izuku could do nothing more than hope or worry- and he was definitely leaning towards worry because he was quirkless. The school would probably throw away his request immediately. Still, he had done well, maybe he had a chance.
So, to stop the stupid worry building up, he went to find Eraser. Talking to the pro hero was a good distraction. Plus, he always felt better around Eraser. So, he listened curiously as the hero explained that he had been held back looking at examinee files.
“Any interesting quirks?” Izuku asked, intrigued. He had to know. These were people his age he would be competing against to become the best.
“There was a mind control kid, but the admin is debating whether he should get into the hero course. The robot enemies hardly did him justice.”
“Oh? How does that quirk work? If he can mind control anyone just like that who would be able to fight it off?”
“The person being brainwashed has to answer a question for it to work,” Eraser explained, “So if he becomes well known it’ll be a lot harder for him to fight. He’ll probably become an underground hero like me.”
“Still, that’s pretty OP, surely he would get into the hero course?”
“He didn’t get the scores on the practical test, but he will likely transfer into the Hero course if he doesn’t get straight in.”
“That’s pretty stupid. I mean he has a more powerful quirk than me but he didn’t score anything?”
“How did you do?”
“I can’t tell you that, you’ll work out my identity,” Izuku replied, not missing a beat. He knew this well. He’d even been careful to say ‘more powerful quirk’ rather than just ‘has a quirk’. He wasn’t stupid enough to risk his identity leaking.
“Smart kid,” Eraser grunted, sounding half way between annoyed and proud.
“You would bring me in if you could wouldn’t you?”
“I’d have to kid, I’m sorry.”
“Nah it’s fine, it’s your job,” Izuku sighed. There was always a barrier to every relationship he tried to have. His friendship with Kachaan ruined by his lack of a quirk. His relationship with his mother destroyed by his ambition and need to be a hero. His friendship? Mentorship? He wasn’t sure what it was, but that with Eraser had no hope thanks to his lack of a licence.
“If I told you who I was after I get my license would you still bring me in?”
“We’ll have to see kid. I might be one of the heroes most likely to let this whole thing slide, now and then, but I am still a hero, and you are still a danger to yourself.”
“I look after myself fine. I even patched you up that one time!” Izuku argued. That had been stressful, needing to keep Eraser alive after he’d been knocked out, but far too aware that if Eraser woke up he’d have enough information to find him. It wasn’t that he wasn’t wearing a mask, of course he was, but he knew Eraser was probably the most observant person he had ever met. He hadn’t been a fan of the risk, but the thought of Eraser dying had been so much worse.
“One time, one time I let my guard down and you will hold that over me forever,” Aizawa groaned, rubbing the scar on his side at the memory.
“Pretty much,” Izuku agreed with a chuckle, relaxing into the hero’s company now that the topic of his capture had ended.
“Oh there was another student that was intriguing, with what you’ve said about how you hate the treatment of quirkless kids you might find this interesting,” Eraser noted, clearly sensing the discomfort that had been growing at the previous topic.
That admission of hatred had been on one of Izuku’s worse nights, over a year ago. He’d slipped up badly, but had claimed it was his friend who was quirkless, not him. It had been a stupidly close call but Eraser was still pretty certain Deku had a quirk and was only hiding it to stay anonymous. He wasn’t going to change that now and admit to being the only quirkless kid to try the exams.
“Yeah?” Deku asked, trying to sound vaguely uninterested- or at least trying to sound the correct amount of uninterested.
“Mmm, he did better in the practical than the kid with mind control. Saved another girl from a robot as well despite the fact that she had a quirk and he didn’t. He did well, surprised Nedzu enough that he might be considered.”
“Wait really!?”
“What, do you know him? I suppose he fights somewhat similarly to you… he’s not your friend is he? Because that’s dangerous kid. He’ll be at a way higher risk than any other student if he gets accepted.”
“No, no I don’t know him, just, the thought of a quirkless kid getting accepted into UA… it gives me hope… for the future I mean!”
“Alright kid, keep your secrets. But don’t talk about this yeah? Same rules as always.”
“If I told anyone about it you would be able to trace it back to me, I’m not an idiot Eraser.”
“Smarter than some of my third year kids,” Eraser mused. It took all Izuku had not to yelp at the realisation. If Aizawa’s class was third years, there was a very real chance he would be the first years teacher next year. No. No that was stupid. No way would Eraser be his teacher.
“What about recommendations, do you think I could’ve beaten them if you had followed through on that fake offer to recommend me?”
“The offer wasn’t fake kid. As much as I should take you in, I would rather have you as a licensed hero by my side. Especially compared to the risk of losing you. You’re practically my par- sidekick. It would be a loss for me.”
“You were going to say partner! I’m a pro heroes partner! My friend won’t believe me when I tell… never mind,” Izuku sighed, cutting himself off. Kachaan had stopped Izuku from so much as being in his vicinity. There was no way he would even be able to tell Kachaan and even if he did, the disbelief would not be the kind he wanted.
“Kid? Are you ok?”
“Yeah I’m fine, it’s be stupid to tell anyone anyway.”
“Anyway? What’s the other reason?” Aizawa asked like the ever annoyingly observant hero he was.
“It’s nothing.”
“Problem child.”
“I swear! It’s nothing I mean what good would it do if I went and blabbed about it anyways, it would just get out and you would know my identity and so would the other heroes and you would all take me in and I’d be stuck in jail where it wouldn’t matter that I’ve got no friends because that would be such a stupidly small thing, so really it’s all for the best that I keep my mouth shut to everyone and that this is all just a secret even if it’s the best thing to ever happen to me but like I can’t tell my mother because if I even mention a hero around her she will probably kick me out because that was the deal for me to stay in the house at all. Although I suppose if I go to a hero course I’ll get kicked out anyways, but it doesn’t matter because-”
“Problem child.”
“What?” Izuku asked getting snapped out of his thoughts suddenly.
“You’re mumbling again kid.”
“Ahh… sorry.”
“It’s fine, I told you I don’t mind, but you were starting to get in your own head. Let’s take this one thing at a time. What happened to your quirkless friend? Is he ok?”
“What?” Izuku asked, startled by the question.
“You just admitted to not having friends, I want to know what happened kid.”
“I- he- I-” Deku stuttered, looking around desperately for some sort of inspiration or distraction or something. Anything. This was a stupidly dangerous question.
“I-” Deku tried, hoping something would come to him like magic. No words did, but his gaze did fall on the villain they had been sitting in wait for, “SHARK’S HERE!” He declared, launching off the roof and down the pipe like he had trained, moving swifter than most without a speed quirk could.
“Don’t think this is the end of the conversation kid.”
“Sure whatever you say Eraser!” Izuku yelled back, launching himself at the villain, knocking him to the ground and scurrying into the shadows before Eraser saw him. He sparred a glance to the hero- his PARTNER, and saw the way his hair floated up. Quirk activated. The only threat Shark would have was the razor sharp teeth, not all the rest of his quirk. Good.
With that, Izuku launched between place to place, never staying still enough for Eraser to get a good look at him. Once he was done, Shark’s mouth was taped closed, and his hands were taped together. The magic of duck tape and swift movements. Shark had only managed to land two hits on him, and neither were particularly strong thanks to Eraser.
“He’s dealt with, I’m fine, you!?” Deku called, already retreating into a nearby alley.
“I’m fine, I’ll drop him off and we’ll finish our conversation ok?”
“Ok!” Izuku agreed, already heading home. That was not a conversation he was willing to have. Hopefully Eraser would drop it before the next night.