Hitoshi slowly came to with a groan, his limbs aching and head pounding from the blast. It took him a few seconds to realise his arms and legs were tied and his mouth was gagged, preventing him from doing much of anything. Aizawa was propped up against the wall beside him, barely conscious as he winced and struggled to open his eyes. Blood was pouring down his face, into his irritated eyes. The dust and smoke from the blast must've got in! His goggles lay discarded a few inches from his boots.

"Hitoshi are you ok?" He asked, and all his son could do was nod shakily. The underground hero glanced at his belt and sighed, quietly mumbling incase anyone else heard.

"Don't worry, backup will be here soon"

Then, they heard a sound to the side of him, like boots on gravel and a familiar laugh that made Hitoshi's blood run cold. No...it can't...

His childhood bully came walking out if the shadows, electricity dancing around his palms, "Seems like the freak finally woke up!"

Behind him was an uncertain looking Cloudburst. Hitoshi could almost laugh at how stupid it was that a 30 something year old man was scared of a 16 year old, if he hadn't known how dangerous Igarashi could be. Hell, he felt paralysed to the spot just by looking at him.

Without warning, a booted foot came flying out of nowhere, hitting Hitoshi square in the jaw. Then, a fist, and then a zap of electricity. Hitoshi screamed in pain, before involuntarily cowered back against the wall. He felt small again, cowering away from the gang of bullies that had cornered him on his way home. Or the back to the countless times where his dad decided to take out his anger on him. Please not again. Please.

"Hey...this wasn't the pla-" Cloudburst tried to protest, a look of anxiety crossing his face, but Igarashi turned back and snapped at him, electricity building up in his hands once again.

"Quiet! We have some heroes! We can have some fun, huh!" He turned back to Hitoshi with a deviant glint in his eyes, and Hitoshi flinched in fear. Too many times he had used his quirk on him. He had seen that look before but this one was far more terrifying. This wasn't school. He could kill him. "Aww Shinsou the wannabe hero cowering in fear! Don't worry, this will hurt a lot"

Aizawa quickly shifted up, his hair floating as he used his quirk on the bully, who just let out an angry scream and kicked dust unto the underground hero's face. Aizawa yelped and shook his head trying to blink away the pain. But it burned too much to keep his eyes open.

No...no Hitoshi! I won't let you get hurt! I won't!

Hitoshi watched in fear as his former bully towered over him, electricity jumping between his fingers like lightning. With Aizawa's quirk disabled, no one could stop him from doing what he wanted. "You made a fool out me you villainous, no good wannabe hero! It's your fault I'm here! It's all your fault! How? How did you do it? You brainwashed them didn't you? You used your quirk to make them accept you into the program, just like you used it on Eraserhead!"

Electric flew out his hands again, and Hitoshi cried out as it jolted through him, burning him from the inside. He thought he heard Aizawa scream, but his ears buzzed loudly as he convulsed in pain. The pain grew and grew, pressure building up inside his skull. It hurt worse than anything else. He thought he was going to pass out, to die until-

Thwack!

The pain suddenly subsided and Hitoshi fell against his dad with a whimper, his body aching all over and jerking. Igarashi fell to the ground with a loud thud, Cloudburst stood over him with his quarter staff in hand. "Phew, that got intense! This kid needs to calm down, huh?"

The vigilante walked over and untied Hitoshi with a concerned frown, before moving over to Aizawa with a cautious step. "Shou, please don't be mad. I didn't mean for this to happen. Just let me explain-"

"Over there!" Mic's voice echoed through the alleyway, cutting him off. Something crossed Cloudburst's face as he looked towards the loud hero, before he leapt to his feet and tried to run, but Aizawa's scarf wrapped around his ankle, tripping him up again.

"You're not going anywhere"

_____

After arriving at the police station, Hitoshi and Aizawa cleaned themselves up and received medical care. Yamada had immediately fussed over them once he arrived at the scene, and kept making comments all the way there about how "this situation is whack" and "I'd say that was a killer close call!". Hitoshi ended up having to have Yamada half carry him, as his legs felt weak, almost as if his bones had been turned to jelly. Everything stung, but it was beginning to subside.

It took a while for Aizawa to finally ask about seeing Cloudburst, who he had referred to as Shirakumo.

Hitoshi followed, confused but intrigued by the sudden interaction he had tonight. This vigilante knew his dad, he looked like the boy in the photo that had been cropped out, and Aizawa had a hurt look on his face the entire time they spoke. Was this the man who kept calling?

"You made your decision, now live with it!"

"He was our friend Shouta!"

"was"

"Are you really just giving up on him?"

They stood outside the interrogation room, watching the criminal through the window who just stared distantly at the wall. Now he was alone, he seemed...sad. The joyful persona he had seemed to hide it, but now he wasn't with anyone he didn't seem happy or layed back at all. Hitoshi remembered the expression on his face in the alleyway when Igarashi was torturing him...perhaps he felt guilty about him getting hurt. Or perhaps it was whatever unsolved tension he had with Aizawa.

"Who...who is he...?" Hitoshi finally managed to ask after a minute or two of silence.

"Oboro Shirakumo...he was our friend in UA. He was always better than I was. More charismatic, flashier offence quirk, and..." His gaze lowered, an unreadable expression crossing his face. Hitoshi had never seen him like this before. He seemed...vulnerable. "I thought he died, we all did. He was caught in a building collapse during an attack while we were interning together, though I swore I heard him cheering me on. Years later I saw him on the street as a vigilante but was unable to get to him in time. It felt impossible...but I just knew it was him the moment I saw him there"

"Weren't you glad he didn't die?"

"Of course...but when you grieve over someones death for years and it turns out they're alive and never told you, it can't be helped. I grieved a friend who never died, and that's not something I could forgive" Aizawa sighed and walked through the door to the interrogation room, sitting opposite Shirakumo.

Hitoshi saw Yamada's face in the reflection of the glass grow into a sad frown, "Shouta resents him for letting him go through so much pain. Believe it or not, he was never the same after Oboro was thought to be dead. Cried a lot when he thought I didn't notice, but mostly became withdrawn. He couldn't bear let anyone else in because he feared he care for them and would loose them too...which, of course you couldn't know, but he didn't want you to do work studies for that very reason. It was my idea"

Hitoshi looked at his other dad, who just kept staring through the window.

"You were so far behind from class 1A...you needed the experience you never got in general studies. Shou and I argued about it, but he eventually agreed as long as you were with him. Being an underground hero isn't usually as dangerous as normal hero work. He was terrified of loosing you like he thought he lost Oboro. Its just Shou's way of being protective I guess..."

"Hey Shou..." Shirakumo smiled when he saw his old friend, and it might've made Aizawa angry if it wasn't for the fact it didn't quite reach his eyes. He looked tired, far different from the way he usually acted.

"You endangered my so- student back there" Aizawa stated coldly, sitting opposite him.

"I'm sorry, I was meant to keep an eye on him for a friend but turns out hes a nasty person. Quite scary actually, especially for his age. He wanted to do something for this guy he was working with and I had to follow. But I had no idea he was going go do that! I swear! I thought he was just some angsty teen looking for trouble!"

"Why didn't you come back? Why let us believe you were dead, do you know what your mother went through? What we went through?" His voice began growing in volume, his fists clenched so hard they were going white. Bit Hitoshi could see it was his way of not crying.

"I couldn't...I just..."

"Why? Why couldn't you!" Aizawa snapped.

"I lost my quirk Shou!"

Time seemed to pause at that very moment. The quiet, pained sounds of those words made everyone freeze in shock, unsure if they had heard it correctly. Lost his quirk?

"...What"

"I lost my quirk, or...most of it anyway. I woke up in some hospital or...lab...and it was gone..."

Aizawa's mouth fell open, then closed as he stared at his former friend, unsure what to feel. It was at that moment all his anger seemed to disappear. He felt numb.

There was only two ways his quirk had vanished. However, if this was 14 years ago...there was only one true explanation. It made Aizawa's blood run cold at the very thought.

"I always thought..." Shirakumo lifted his gaze to look at his friend, eyes welling up in tears as his hair grew into a light grey, "We'd grow up and be heroes together..."

Neither one of them moved or spoke for a moment after that.Then, Shirakumo burst into pained sobs, leaning over the table, "I wanted to be a hero still, but without my quirk I would've been kicked off. I thought being a vigilante would work but I...it's not as easy as it seems. I don't know who I can trust anymore, I'm scared! It's so hard to tell when someones being honest or if they're using and manipulating you into doing their work. I wanted to be like you..."

Aizawa didn't speak, too stunned, too hurt. Shirakumo never cried except for when he accidentally got someone hurt. He was always smiling. Always so positive. Shirakumo was the one who cheered you up, not the one who cried.

I wanted to be like you.

"I just...I'm so sorry!" The vigilante choked out covering his face, "I never meant to hurt anyone, I swear"

The underground hero just stared in disbelief, before he slowly backed out the room and walked past his husband and adopted son with an unreadable expression. But Hitoshi saw the tears.

"Shou? Shou honey" Yamada called out softly as he followed him out, and Hitoshi took one final look at the crying vigilante before following them out.

______

The journey home was silent, an empty silence hanging over the family. Yamada had tried to start a conversation multiple times, but when he received no answer he just took to looking out the window. Hitoshi rubbed his sore arms as he started out at the passing streets in the dawn light, exhaustion taking over as he struggled to stay awake. He was glad there was no school today. Aizawa barely looked at anyone since the conversation with Shirakumo, seemingly too shocked and hurt by the revelation that he just wanted to be left alone.

They got home and walked inside, Aizawa heading to bed and Yamada going to check on Eri with a sigh. Hitoshi stood in the hallway for a while, before crossing the apartment and hiding in his bedroom. He wasn't sure what to feel. Past memories crawled into his brain as he began to undress, avoiding looking at the new burn marks trailing up his arms, before crawling into bed and hiding under the covers. He was scared of what nightmares would potentially greet him when he slept after this encounter, but for now he couldn't fight away the grasp of exhaustion. Eyes slowly falling closed, Hitoshi hoped that everything would be ok in the end.