Four

No.

No, no, no. That wasn't what was supposed to happen.

He'd done what he'd supposed to. He'd encouraged the kid to stay inside, had told him to wait it out and stay hopeful. He'd told him not to get involved. It sounded like—and still did—that Hitoshi had at least listened to him. And still… something had happened, and he'd still gotten hurt.

Shouta slammed his laptop shut, abandoning his breakfast. He shoved his files and computer into his bag, threw on his costume and grabbed his equipment, and nearly bolted out the door. It crossed his mind, for a moment, to stop and think about things, or to at least call someone he knew with a car, but he didn't stop for a moment. The subway station was near the house and Shouta just barely made the train that was leaving when he arrived, running into the car and drawing the attention of the salarymen and women sitting there. Only then did he stop, breathing hard with panic and ducking his head into his capture scarf, avoiding the eyes of the shocked people around him.

Hitoshi's district was a ways away, near the end of the line, and every moment that passed felt like torture. Shouta's heart beat hard, and he didn't allow himself to think about why he cared so much. All he knew was that there was a kid in danger, a kid who'd thrown himself in danger in order to protect and younger sibling, and had wound up hurt because of it. That other kid hadn't seemed to know Hitoshi's condition and all Shouta could think about was the worst—that Hitoshi was in critical condition because Shouta hadn't acted soon enough.

The subway ride was less than an hour, but it felt like an eternity. Luckily, it dropped off right near the small emergency medical center, and Shouta made his way there within seconds, operating on pure panic and immediately catching the eyes of one of the nurses he'd talked to the other day as soon as he walked in.

"Eraser-san!" The woman greeted him warmly, her voice high with positivity. Her face fell a bit, though, at Shouta's panicked expression, and she sighed, nodding at him and beckoning him towards her. It was obvious to both of them why he was here, even if she didn't know that it was more personal than anything. Slowly, he followed her as she stepped away from the welcome desk and towards a quieter hallway.

The district was too small for a proper hospital and this place was more of an emergency clinic with a new beds for overnight patients who either weren't critical or were waiting to be moved to a larger facility. It was bustling with nurses, most of them looking overworked, the entire place seeming more than a little understaffed. Even now, though, Shouta noticed the odd hush that fell over the place, and he could only assume that the people here were just as worried about the recent attacks.

The nurse didn't take him far, just until the hallway quieted down and far enough away that the few people in the waiting room couldn't hear them.

"There were more attacks last night," The nurse told him in a hushed voice, leaning in closer to him. Shouta listened closely, watching as she took a breath and then went on, looking up at him, "Three of them. Separate instances, all in the area we told you about yesterday. The worst was a boy and a girl. The boy is still here, but the girl… she's gone. She was taken somewhere. The police won't even investigate."

"The boy—" Shouta repeated, wordless, breathless. "—Can I see him?"

He didn't care anymore. He didn't care if Hitoshi knew who he was. Being undercover was the last thing Shouta cared about right now. He wanted to see Hitoshi, see him face-to-face, make sure he was alright. He didn't care if Hitoshi recognized him or knew who he was or figured out that it was him who'd been chatting with him all along.

The nurse nodded, her face softening as she looked up at him. Wordlessly, she stepped away, waving at him to follow her, and Shouta did without hesitation. Together, they walked down the short hallway, into the emergency ward, and then a little further, until the nurse stopped at a dim room with the door open ajar and the inside curtain pulled enough that Shouta could see what was inside.

"His injuries aren't too bad. There's some lacerations on his back. He'll be out this afternoon, but the poor thing looked so tired that we kept him over night."

Inside the small, private room was a kid, lying fast asleep on the bed, violet hair splayed out on the white pillow.

He was facing the door, eyes shut as he slept and even in the dim light, Shouta could see the lingering bags around his eyes. He looked tall, though he was curled up on the bed, hidden under a mound of blankets, his face still a bit round with child-like features, reminding Shouta that this kid wasn't even in high school yet. Most of him was buried under blankets, but Shouta could see the beginnings of bandages on the small exposed part of his shoulder.

This was, without a doubt, Hitoshi.

A glance at the whiteboard next to the door only confirmed that, and Shouta read off Hitoshi's full name from it.

Shinsou Hitoshi, 14M, stable

"Where's his parents?" Shouta asked, though he already knew the answer to that.

The nurse responded quietly, and Shouta didn't even look at her, keeping his eyes on the sleeping kid in the hospital room, "We called them, but they… they never came. Poor boy. A neighbor had to call for an ambulance for him."

Part of Shouta wanted to wake him up, if only to give Hitoshi hope that someone was taking care of the problem. But—as the nurse had said, Hitoshi looked like he needed his sleep, judging from the dark sleepless bags around his eyes. He was sleeping soundly, restfully, and though Shouta wanted to give him some sort of hope, the kid getting his rest and healing from his wounds was more important.

He'd tell Hitoshi, he decided. He'd take care of things and then message him and tell him everything. At least then Hitoshi wouldn't have to wonder about what happened and would know that someone had cared. For now, though, he was going to let Hitoshi get his sleep.

He turned back to the nurse, giving her a quiet nod, "Can you give me the information on his sister? I'll track her down tonight."

The nurse's tired, sorrowful look cleared off of her face and she gave him a small smile, breathing a sigh that sounded like relief, "We're very thankful to have you, Eraser-san. Really… I'm not sure what we'd do without you helping us with this. It hurts to see so many kids come in here so hurt."

------

The afternoon came and went. Shouta left the medical center soon after with a file of information on Hitoshi's foster sister. The girl was six years old, had long golden hair, and elf-like ears that enhanced her hearing. While the police had refused to even take a report, saying that she was probably just hiding away from her bully siblings, the nurses had gathered some information, especially from Hitoshi, and Shouta learned that Hitoshi had tried to throw himself between the girl and Bloodwing and had gotten attacked after using his quirk, leaving him injured while Tsubasa had taken his sister with him.

Shouta didn't think much. He just did. He went back to the street where Bloodwing had attacked every time and slowly, he climbed up to the top of the shortest apartment building, using his capture scarf to help him get up there. And then… he waited. He waited for the afternoon to pass, waited for evening to come, and he waited for night to fall.

Aizawa Shouta was a patient man, and he wasn't letting this villain get away from him, not after what had happened last night. Bloodwing was predictable, always attacking in the same spot—right at this intersection, the streets flanked by tall apartment buildings and flickering streetlights, the air filled with darkness and anticipation. Under him, the signal lights above the intersection blinked in a steady rhythm—red, then green, then yellow, and back again, the rest of the street empty and hardly any cars driving past.

As night fell, the buildings lit up. An hour past and slowly, the lights in each of the windows began flicking off. It was slow at first and once the clock hit around nine, the lights began going off quicker, until most of the lights were out, only a few remaining. The air stayed eerily silent and whatever went on in those apartments didn't seep into the open air of the night.

The world grew cold and windy, but Shouta was prepared. He stayed on the roof of the apartment building, crouched and staring down at the street below him, watching for any sign of movement. Above him, the sky was a dark blue, half a moon hanging directly above him, the moonlight only adding to the bitter cold of the night.

Shouta waited. He was patient. He was good at waiting, and if it meant catching Bloodwing, he'd wait up here for the entire night.

The man had a routine, though, and even now, he didn't deviate from it.

Around midnight, Shouta heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps in his ears, the sound coming from the microphones he'd put on the ground, and he quickly pinpointed the sound. Across the street from him, in the shadows of the overhang of the building's entrance, was a figure. Shouta narrowed his eyes at it, lowering himself a bit more, and ducked his head to pull his goggles up onto his face, staring through the yellow bars at the figure across from him.

Bloodwing seemed to have no idea he was being watched, and Shouta was about to make his move and take out the earpiece he had in now that he knew where Tsubasa was—when he heard another set of faster, more frantic footsteps, running towards the shadows. Shouta wasn't the only one who'd seen Bloodwing, and he reacted immediately.

Under him, another figure darted out. A smaller figure and Shouta's head snapped to look at it. His eyes focused on a flash of purple, and that was all he needed.

He was off the building in a second, having pushed off from the roof and jumped the second he recognized the figure, that same feeling of dread from this morning settling deep in his stomach. Violet hair, a fast, frantic pace, someone having known exactly where Bloodwing would be—without a doubt, Shouta knew who this was.

Shouta didn't think. He knew what he was doing. He just hoped he'd reacted quickly enough.

There was the horrible, deafening sound of creaking metal, of Tsubasa lifting himself in the air, followed by a cackle and a shout from the teenage boy who'd ran out into the street. Shouta sent out his capture weapon, activating his quirk at the same time, feeling it wrap around a nearby powerline, immediately swinging him into the place he wanted to be. The laughter was cut short and Shouta reached out, wrapping himself around the kid in the street, letting go with his weapon and taking the two of them down and tumbling into the street, rolling onto the pavement.

Not even a second later, in the midst of riding out his momentum in his roll, Shouta heard the screeching of metal hitting the pavement, and managed to glance up long enough, his eyes glowing red, to see that Bloodwing had dove after the boy in Shouta's arms, having been not even a second from capturing him.

They rolled to a stop and immediately, the screaming and thrashing started.

"Get off of me! Get off, get off, get—"

There wasn't any time to explain. His eyes were burning and Bloodwing was still disorientated. From here, Shouta could get a good look at him—the birdlike mash he wore with black, hollowed-out eyes, the long black coat, the rusted metal wings that sprouted from his back, the blades at the end of them sharpened and stained with what Shouta could only think was the blood of his past victims. Bloodwing wasn't even looking at him, grabbing at a fistful of bladed wings with a gloved hand, and Shouta knew he couldn't hold him for very long.

In his arms, Hitoshi was thrashing and yelling, screaming in the near-silent air, and there wasn't enough time to give him an explanation. Instead, Shouta stood, grabbing at Hitoshi, one of his hands fisting in the hood of Hitoshi's sweatshirt and he pulled them both up.

There wasn't much time to plan, either. Shouta held his eyes wide open, the burning starting to seep into him, every movement feeling that much more painful, but he didn't pause. The bands of his weapon lifted around his head, and quickly, he sent one out, running forward and pulling Hitoshi up with him as one of the bands wrapped around another powerline, sending the two of them swinging high into the air.

Shouta immediately let go with his weapon, keeping his grip on Hitoshi tight, and fell through the air, only to be startled by Hitoshi's piercing shriek and the hands that immediately reached up to grab at him, holding tight and pulling at his hair as Hitoshi wrapped himself around Shouta and clung to him, clearly terrified that they were going to slam right into the ground.

Shouta refocused, letting his eyes blink shut for a moment as they fell, before opening them again, activating his quirk, and sending another band out to catch them and slow down their momentum, swinging them to a near stop as he wrapped it around a thinner powerline, strung between two apartment buildings and hanging just above a tall tree. Slowly, they stopped swinging back and forth and Shouta glanced down, one arm wrapped around Hitoshi and the other holding onto his capture weapon, to find that the kid had buried his face in his jumpsuit and was shaking in his arms.

A glance out told him that Tsubasa was still confused, having regained control over his wings, but looking wildly around for where his prey had disappeared to. He had a few moments, but not much, and quietly, Shouta let go, dropping onto a strong branch in the tree, concealing them in a layer of leaves that hid them from the immediate view of the street.

Only then did he finally let go of Hitoshi, pulling away from him, only to grab his face between his hands, forcing Hitoshi to look at him.

Tears stained the kid's face and he shook, almost making Shouta afraid that they were going to give away their position just with how much Hitoshi was shaking the branch. Hitoshi's eyes stared back at him, wide and watery, filled with tears and huge, his mouth dropping open, but no sound coming from him.

"I thought I told you to stay out of this!" Shouta hissed, keeping his voice down, looking into Hitoshi's violet eyes, at the shock and hope that were evident in them. Tears still fell, though slower, and the fear was fading from Hitoshi's expression.

"I—I— Eras—Eraserhead?" Hitoshi stuttered out, seeming completely incapable of forming a full thought, let alone a sentence. "You—You're—A…Aizawa Shouta—?

Unfortunately, there wasn't nearly enough time for Shouta to explain that he'd been undercover and hadn't been able to think of a username and had just gone with his real name. There really wasn't time for any explanation, so Shouta didn't give any.

"Yes, and I told you to stay away from this, didn't I? You already got hurt once. I'm not letting it happen again. You need to stay up here," Shouta instructed him, looking back between the branches of the tree, finding that Bloodwing had begun to right himself again, the horrible creaking noise filling the air once more as he began to work his metal wings and lift into the air. Shouta scowled; there really was no time. He glanced back at Hitoshi, frowning at him and speaking slowly, "Stay up here. Understand?"

"Yes—" Hitoshi told him, making no move to do anything, and Shouta hesitated for a moment, his grip on the kid softening a little.

"I'll find your sister. Stay up here until I come back to get you."

He didn't wait for a response, swinging himself out of the tree and back into the air, sending himself far up again. Immediately, Bloodwing looked up from where he was hovering off the ground, grinning a wicked smile at him, calling up to him.

"The cops told me about you, you know," The man laughed, the sound almost making Shouta cringe as he fell. This guy was pompous, too, his loud wings creaking and moving in the air, holding Bloodwing up. Apparently, the police hadn't told him much, because Shouta focused on him and the moment he did, the gears in Bloodwing's metal wings stopped, and he plummeted to the ground with a blood-curdling scream, Shouta following soon after as he used his surroundings to swing himself down, until he aimed himself right at Bloodwing, pulling his capture weapon tight as he threw himself at him.

The villain's body all but crumbled under him, Bloodwing's legs buckling at the weight of Shouta suddenly crashing into him. Shouta threw a punch in the commotion, his fist connecting hard with Bloodwing's jaw, and they hit the ground, Shouta holding him down with his body.

"They must've not told you enough," Shouta growled, pinning Bloodwing by his shoulders into the pavement, lowering himself so that he was in the man's face. Under him, he struggled, and Shouta took the chance to blink. Tsubasa's pings were pinned under him and as he tried to move them, Shouta heard the satisfying groan of broken metal.

He'd been easy, like Shouta had imagined. The fact of the matter was that most villains relied almost entirely on their quirk. Without it, they couldn't even defend themselves from an essentially quirkless hero tackling them to the ground. Shouta had expected it, and this takedown would've gone much smoother if Hitoshi hadn't involved himself.

Shouta straddled him, keeping his voice low and threatening, "Why don't you make this easier on yourself and tell me where that girl is?"

"No—" Under him, Tsubasa continued to struggle, but he wasn't strong. He had a strong quirk, with those sharp metal wings of his, but when he was pinned to the ground, the metal crushed under both their bodies, that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was strength—which Tsubasa most definitely didn't have. Still, Tsubasa spat at him, "—No fucking way! She's my bargaining chip. I'm not telling you anything."

Shouta didn't respond. Not verbally, at least. He glanced up at the tree, finding Hitoshi leaning between the branches. He frowned, a little unhappy that he had to do this in front of a kid, but he didn't stop. Instead, he silently unpinned one of Tsubasa's arms, quickly snatching it and pushing, hearing a long, slurred whine telling him not to do it, a sickening snap, and another scream.

Shouta leaned down into him again, "Either I break the other one, or you bargain with me by telling me where she is."

That was all it took, Tsubasa looking back up at him, the mask having fallen partially off to reveal tears of excruciating pain rolling down his cheeks. He had his eyes squeezed shut and when he spoke, his voice was high pitched and slurred, bordering on a scream, "Fine, fine, I'll tell you! Just don't fucking do that again."

------

It took an hour, but the hero division police came. Shouta had Bloodwing long restrained, though it wasn't like he could really go anywhere with his broken arm. Shouta couldn't leave him, either, and was forced to leave Hitoshi up in the tree until the police finally came and took over for him. Only then did Shouta walk away a bit, immediately going to where he'd left Hitoshi, impressed to see that Hitoshi hadn't moved from where Shouta had told him to stay. Shouta just looked up at him for a moment, Hitoshi looking down at him with his violet eyes, the tears having hold since dried up.

"You can come down now," Shouta told him, calling softly up to him. Hitoshi glanced away for a second, pulling his head back to look at the tree and his branch, before poking his head back out at Shouta.

"Uh… I can't," Hitoshi told him, his face a little red with embarrassment. Shouta raised an eyebrow, and Hitoshi quickly explained. "There's no branches I can reach. I can't get down by myself."

Shouta took a step forward, looking further up into the tree to see that Hitoshi was right. The branch he was crouched on was isolated and there were no others in reach that would support his weight. Shouta stepped back, the answer to that problem logical, "Alright, then jump. I'll catch you."

He really did expect for Hitoshi to hesitate, or at least question him on that. He didn't expect Hitoshi to launch himself out of the tree and straight at Shouta.

Hitoshi was lucky he had fast reflexes.

He caught Hitoshi, wrapping his arms around him again as Hitoshi crashed into him. He barely even swayed from the impact, and for a long moment, Hitoshi just held onto him. Shouta let him, and it almost hurt a little when Hitoshi unwrapped himself from him and eased himself off of Shouta.

Only then did Shouta see the damage.

Hitoshi wasn't badly injured or anything, but he had quite a few scrapes from rolling around on the ground with Shouta, being tossed through the air, and then being all but thrown into a tree. He was bleeding a little from one on his nose, and Shouta was worried about his stitches from yesterday's incident, given that there was a good chance that all that activity had torn them open.

He sighed, standing back and shaking his head. He hadn't meant to be so rough with him, but in the middle of a fight with a villain, Hitoshi getting a few scrapes had been the least of his worries. But now he was worried about them, and Shouta crossed his arms over his chest at Hitoshi looked expectantly up at him, "I'm going to have an officer take you back to the hospital to get checked out."

Hitoshi turned his head at him curiously, "Are you coming, too?"

Shouta didn't even try to deny him, "Sure."

------

The ride back to the hospital was short. Somewhere along the way, Hitoshi found his voice again and started thanking Shouta, and immediately after, his face grew completely red and he stayed quiet. At the medical center, he was almost immediately whisked away from Shouta and later, the police brought in a small, afraid girl, who was instantly taken back and cared for. The night went on, and Shouta began to get tired, until he was fighting to keep his eyes open.

The nurses offered to let him say goodbye to Hitoshi, which Shouta immediately accepted.

Hitoshi was in the room Shouta had seen him in this morning, looking tired and more bandaged than before, but still awake and coherent. He was being kept overnight again, but Hitoshi didn't seem upset about it.

"Look, if you ever need anything again, just message me," Shouta told him, rubbing at the back of his neck and glancing away. "I couldn't exactly tell you who I was but… it looks like you figured it out on your own."

Hitoshi looked up at him, his eyes wide and filled with horror. Shouta's worry grew, until Hitoshi finally found his words and spoke, "I… I called you old."

The room went silent, but Shouta couldn't help but to snort in laughter at that, smiling.

"It's fine. I have to go home now, but if anything comes up again, stay out of it and just message me."

"Okay," Hitoshi told him, nodding, and after he'd done what Shouta had told him earlier and stayed in the tree until Shouta had come back for him, he could at least trust him. He turned to leave, started to step out, but Hitoshi immediately stopped him, "Wait—do you—you really think I can be a hero?"

Shouta glanced back at him, not even hesitating, "You seem like you're pretty made out for it. If I can do it, then you can, too. Like I said, you'll have to work hard, but you have the heart for it. Don't let anyone discourage you."