Chapter Text
Shouta's patrol was going fine. He thought he would have one of those rare uneventful nights, but then something caught his attention. It all started with a crash, coming from the alley underneath him. It wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary if it wasn’t for the string of curses that followed it. He looked down to see what happened, only to see a kid sitting on the ground, staring at the buildings like they personally offended him.
The kid wore a dark hoodie, that was slightly too big for him, a dark sweatpant and sport shoes. He looked way too young to be out alone at this hour, so Shouta did what any hero would do. He crawled down the building and approached the kid trying to look as non threatening as possible.
“Hello, are you okay? Did you get lost? Do you need some help?”
The kid turned around in a blink and tensed up when he saw Shouta. He observed him with suspicion at first, but then for some reason he relaxed.
“Oh, h-hi Eraserhead. I’m n-not lost, but I-I could use s-some help?” - The kid's voice was hesitant, like he expected Shouta to ignore him.
It felt strange to be recognised, but it wasn’t impossible. He was still a hero, but people usually forgot about underground heroes. He was curious how he knew him, but that could wait.
“What do you need help with?” - He asked instead.
“Ohm… W-Well, I n-need to get up to that r-roof in under 10 seconds, but I can’t even reach the fire escape.” - the kid answered, looking sheepish.
“Why do you need to get up there?” - It was suspicious, but Shouta decided to inquire more begore judging.
“So, you see… well I always wanted to be a h-hero, b-but t-then in s-school- I m-mean a month a-ago there was…”
Shouta must have hit a nerve, because the kid started stuttering so badly he could only understand every third word. What he gathered was that something happened in school and the kid wanted to be a hero. Considering they were in an alley in the middle of the night it painted a very straightforward picture.
“Look, kid, it is admirable that you want to be a hero and you are doing something about it, but being a vigilante is illegal and it can ruin your career as a hero.”
That shut up the kid, but instead of looking like he was caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing, the kid just looked confused.
“I’m not trying to be a vigilante.”
“Okay, then what are you doing?” - Before the kid started stuttering again he added. - “Slowly and calmly. I’m not gonna bite off your head. Try to breathe evenly.”
“O-Okay,” - The kid took a big breath before continuing. - “So we l-learned about ph-philosophy and it came up that one can only h-help others if they help themselves first. It got me thinking that led to a rabbit hole of research that I won’t bore you with… A-Anyway I realized if I want to be a h-hero I need to be able to d-defend myself first, but it’s easier said than done.”
Shouta could feel the headache crawling up at his temples.
“That’s good, but what does it have to do with you being in an abandoned alley in the middle of the night?”
“Oh, right. I’m planning escape routes from my bullies.” - The kid said it so nonchalantly, it made Shouta’s heart ache. No one should be that dismissive about being bullied. That explained why they were here but…
“Why in the middle of the night?” - Shouta asked.
“So t-they don’t i-interrupt me?” - Came the kid’s answer, although it sounded more like a question.
They stared at each other for a minute until Shouta came to a decision.
“Okay, I’ll help. What have you got so far?”
“Really?” - the kid’s jaw was on the floor, he must have expected to be rejected.
“Really. And I expect to see you use what I teach you.”
His stern tone did nothing to intimidate the kid, who was too busy being starstruck. - “Let me see how you were attempting to climb up before.”
They spent an hour getting the kid up the wall, but in the end he managed it without falling off mid climb.
“I did it!” - The kid shouted from the rooftop.
Shouta smiled behind his scarf then pulled himself up after he made sure his usual stoic expression was in place. He landed on the rooftop with ease. - “Yeah, you did. So what now?” - He asked.
He was beginning to be curious about what the kid planned. Usually he wouldn’t have so much time during a patrol, but it was a quiet night.
“Ideally I could just hide up here, but I’m still really slow so it is probable Kacchan and the others will see me climb up. Even then they might give up, but if they don’t I’ll need an escape plan. I’ll have to see if they have the door to the roof open, maybe I could pick the lock if it isn’t. There should be other fire escapes too, but if they see me climb up, they might try to surround the building. That will depend on my skills and speed…” - The kid started explaining, but halfway through his explanation his words quieted down to a murmur. He absentmindedly pulled out a notebook and started walking around the roof, taking notes, checking routes and locks. Shouta watched mesmerized as the kid seemingly forgot about him and mapped the area. The door was open, because the latch was broken. There wasn’t even a proper lock. There was another fire escape on the opposite side of the building, which the kid scaled a few times.
Before he could react the kid suddenly jumped from the fire escape on the opposite side of the building they were on and landed on the adjacent building. Shouta silently followed, curious to see when the kid would realize he was still here. He noticed the fire escapes were similar on all the buildings, so he was curious why the kid chose that one in particular. Another ten minutes went by when he was finally acknowledged again. It was an accident really. He was standing next to the fire escape and the kid literally bumped into him.
“Oh. Oh sorry! I thought you already left. I’m so sorry” - the kid panicked a little.
“I was curious, so I followed. Why did you choose that particular fire escape?”
“Uhm, b-because Kacchan and the o-others will a-assume I hid instead of climbing, s-so it will give me s-some time to get away. I-It won’t work i-if I’m slow or if they catch on, b-but then I can just switch to a street access instead of a dead end.”
“That is very smart. You seem to be planning ahead a lot.”
The kid nodded. - “That’s what I’m good at.”
“Are you finished here?”
“Aha, I’ll just add the area to my map. If I’m careful I can start evading very soon.”
Shouta just looked questioningly at him. It seemed to be working because the kid immediately started explaining.
“My bullies don’t like it when I get away, so if they catch me the next day it will be worse. I want to make sure my escape plans are failsafe, because I don’t want to end up in the hospital.”
“Kid, you know it’s not normal or okay to go to a hospital because of some bullying right? That’s just a beating. A very serious one.”
“Yeah yeah, but it’s not like I can do anything. I was lucky so far because their quirks are not that strong yet. I mean the worst Kacchan can do is give me a bad burn, that heals with a little burn cream, but they are getting stronger as we grow and if I’m not careful he might blast my head off. Anyway, if I can run they can’t hurt me, right?”
That was very concerning to hear. Shouta debated with himself a little, but in the end he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.
“Here. Have my number and if you do need to go to the hospital call me.”
“Why?” - The kid looked suspicious now.
“Because you seem to think nobody will care about you.”
“But why do you care?”
Shouta took a moment to think it through. The kid seemed to think there was no reason anybody should care about him so Shouta needed a good enough reason that he would accept. Maybe if he made it about himself...
“Call it investment. I taught you how to climb that building and I expect to see you use it. You can’t do that if you are crippled, because nobody gave you medical care.” - He said. He silently added - ‘and because nobody should be pushed aside like this’ - but it wouldn’t be helpful to say it right now.
The kid thought it through and finally took the paper. - “Okay, I guess.” - He paused. - “But I won’t need it right? My plans are perfect.”
“Yes, I hope you won’t need it.”
Shouta watched as the kid unfolded a map of the area, which was very heavily covered in notes and added tonight’s findings. The kid put the number into the map as well making Shouta a little less worried.
“Okay kid, it’s already past 2, you should go home.” - Shouta said after the kid put away his notes.
“I will, thanks Eraser! Wish me luck!”
They said their goodbyes and parted ways. After that Shouta wondered what happened to the mysterious kid. He kept a lookout for him during patrols and checked his phone regularly. He didn’t get a call, which he decided was a good sign. He refused to acknowledge the possibility that the kid might not call him even in case of a serious injury. He knew he could always go to the nearby schools and check on the kid during daytime if he was really worried, but that sounded a little too much. They only met once, so he shouldn’t be this attached, but sue him, he liked the kid.