In two weeks Shota Aizawa had saved five people from All for One's grasp. He was looking to make it six.

Even though he was one of the most wanted criminals in the world, no one knew what he looked like. He tied his hair up in a ponytail put on a baseball cap and walked out his door into the world. With his white T-shirt that was covered with a black leather jacket and his jeans, he passed as any typical citizen walking down the streets of the city with no specific destination.

The people around him acted normally even though they lived in terror. They smiled and joked pretending that all was well when indeed all was not. This life was all they had known, a life full of fear, and so it was normal to them. It was normal to Shota as well, but he had wanted to do something about that.

He paced the streets of the city waiting for something to happen, anything. A few times he passed a warehouse that belonged to the state. He eyed it knowingly... State-owned warehouses were where quirks were taken or given forcibly, where the dreaded monsters known as nomus were created, or where All for One's warriors hid... whatever it was... Shota wanted it gone.

Nezu had granted him a new apartment in the city and Shota had only spent a few days in it before he was itching to move. The apartment itself was fine, the surrounding area made him sick. All for One's heroes at every turn ruining someone's life and All for One's handy work everywhere. Shota despised it.

That night he dressed in his costume, put on his gear and waited atop the state-owned warehouse. No matter what happened he was going to leave his mark at the warehouse. Remind All for One that he wasn't untouchable.

At nine o'clock that night, a sleek black car pulled up. Shota laid low and watched. Two men got out of the car, warriors for All for One. Then the back door opened and a woman walked out, her hand was wrapped around a young boy's wrist and the boy didn't seem to want anything to do with her. He was crying and wailing for 'Mama'.

Shota opened a skylight as the people entered the building and listened.

"Can't you shut him up?" one of the men scoffed.

"How he acts or sounds doesn't matter," the woman responded coolly. "We just need to prepare him for his new quirk."

Quirkless, Shota figured. All for One would take quirkless people and force a new quirk upon them when he was low on soldiers... very few quirkless people actually survived the operation and those who did weren't the same.

"MAMA!" the green-haired child cried again.

Shota readied his scarf... he was ready to make it six.

***

Izuku Midoriya was confused and desperate. He didn't know these people or what they wanted. All he knew was that he woke up to them throwing his bedroom door open and his mother screaming at them. He had been grabbed by one of the men and remembered the woman throwing his mother aside. They had shoved him in their car and drove off and now he was scared and more than anything he wanted his mother. He wanted his mother to hug him and tell him it was all okay.

The woman gripped his wrist tighter and he cried out in pain as he desperately tried to wiggle free of the woman's grasp.

"Why on earth was this brat chosen?" one of the men scoffed, "Seems more trouble then he's worth."

"Who knows," the other man sighed.

"We are not to question, just to obey, you two would do well to remember that," the woman snapped.

The warehouse was full of plastic curtains that formed rooms, the woman pushed one plastic curtain open and Izuku whimpered. A metal chair sat in the center meant to strap its occupant in, it was something that Izuku knew was for him. He cried harder.

There was a crash as a skylight window fell from the roof and landed on the two men behind them. The woman whipped around just as a scarf wrapped around her and pulled her to the ground. She had been so startled that she had released Izuku. The child immediately ran for a corner and hid.

Shota descended and knocked out the woman first, she had the strongest quirk in the group and had to be eliminated immediately, Shota recognized her hero persona from his months of studying. Then he blinked and looked to the other two who were still throwing the window frame off them. He took their quirks and easily took them out.

After the fight came to a quick end, silence descended and Shota looked around. He heard stifled sobs but couldn't tell where. He weaved his way through the warehouse following the sounds until he flipped open a plastic curtain and found the boy sitting in a corner, hugging himself and sobbing. He whimpered when he saw Shota and the man felt pity for the boy. He squatted down and put a hand on the boy's green hair.

"It's alright," he soothed.

"I want my mama," the boy whimpered.

"What happened to your mom?" Shota asked.

"She's back home," the kid cried. He then blubbered something unrecognizable things that Shota couldn't interpret.

"What's your name kid," Shota soothed. The boy stopped crying long enough to look up and whimper his name.

"M'name's Midoriya Izuku" he whimpered.

Shota picked the kid up and held him, "I'll take you home."

He thought about the nearest safe house and was certain he could get both the child and his mother there in time but he would need the kid to tell him who his mother was. They would also have to do it before anyone noticed what had happened.

He followed the child's instructions and found himself looking at an apartment complex.

"You sure this is the place?" he asked.

Izuku nodded ferociously.

They trekked up the stairs and knocked on Izuku's door. No answer.

"Mama keeps a key under the mat," Izuku explained pointing to the mat under their feet his hand was still gripping Shota's hand tightly. Shota took the key and opened the door. He looked around and assessed the situation. There was something cooking on the stove, the lights were on and there wasn't much sign of any struggle, all good signs. The woman was probably sick with grief thinking that she would never see her son again. 

Before Shota could do much else Izuku rushed passed him.

"Mama!" he cried, "Mama, I'm back!"

Shota listened for a response but heard nothing. He opened the door to the master bedroom and found it empty. A heavy rock of fear settled in his stomach.

There was a strangled sound behind him and he turned around quickly.

Izuku was standing frozen in place his eyes wide as he stared into his room. Tears began building in the boy's eyes and Shota cursed himself.

"Mama," Izuku called feebly walking forward.

Shota quickly came over and grabbed the boy before he could touch his mother's twisted body. Izuku began to cry and wail gripping Shota's shirt and rubbing his wet face into Shota's chest.

Shota held the boy and found himself soothing and rocking him. Assuring the boy that it wasn't his fault, promising that he would be alright. He had dealt with kids who had lost their family, but never one who had seen the aftermath. He blamed himself; of course, they would have killed the mother, he was a fool for thinking otherwise. He glanced back at the body and cursed himself again.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

He ran his hand through the boy's green hair and rocked him as the boy sobbed into his black costume. The boy wept and cried and wailed and all the while Shota held the boy and cursed himself. A boy his age should have never seen that... no one should ever see their mother like that.

And so Izuku's path crossed with Shota's.

***

"We can find a suitable home for the young one," Nezu nodded looking at Shota."But... perhaps it would be better if he stays with you."

Shota sighed knowing this would come up. Nezu was always trying to link him with an apprentice. The damn mouse just couldn't keep out of his social business.

"My line of work is too dangerous. I'd leave him alone for days and if the heroes ever found out he was associated with me he'd be in even greater danger. He needs a stable home, a stable family. I can't provide that," Shota explained using the same excuse he had been using for the past seven years.

Nezu sighed and looked at a pile of paperwork at his side. Taxes so it seemed, Shota pondered for a moment the last time he had filed his taxes... ah... tax evasion probably didn't matter too much when you were a wanted man.

Nezu's office was in the middle of the city. To the rest of the world, Nezu didn't exist, but to the rebellion, he was the mind behind the operation. An animal experimented on by All for One for some sick scientific study to see if animals could gain quirks and then rescued by All Might, Nezu was a brilliant beast with a mission; to bring down All of One and his entire world. The mouse ran a simple jacket store but the store was a cover-up for the real operation.

"The boy seems rather attached to you," Nezu observed.

"Yeah, what do you expect, he saw his mother's corpse," Shota sighed.

"Yes, all the more reason I consider you put much thought into your decision," Nezu warned. "Loss is a terrible thing for a child."

***

Shota sighed after he had closed the door behind him. Nezu always seemed to make everyone doubt their train of thought.

"Mr. Aiwaza," someone whimpered completely butchering Shota's last name. Shota looked over to Izuku who was sitting in the waiting room trembling.

"What's wrong?" he asked kneeling down to look Izuku in the eyes.

"Where am I going?" he asked his voice cracking.

"Well right now you're not going anywhere," Shota explained. "Nezu will find you a home and you'll be able to have a new family."

Izuku sniffed and Shota saw many things flash in his large green eyes. One of them was hopelessness.

"It's gonna be alright," Shota assured the boy.

There was silence.

"Will they help me get strong?" Izuku whimpered.

"What?" Shota asked.

"I want to be like you, I want to save people even though I don't have a quirk, I want to help people like my mama" Izuku looked up and large tears were rolling down his eyes. "Can these people help me be a hero!?" he cried.

"A hero?" Shota asked. He had been called a villain all his life and yet...

"I want to be a real hero," Izuku wailed wiping his wet face, "Like you."

Shota sighed and put a hand on Izuku's head and ruffled his wild green hair. The damn kid didn't know what he was asking. He was asking for a life of struggle and pain and loss. He was asking for a life someone as sweet and innocent like him, didn't deserve.

"Please..." the four-year-old begged. "Please don't leave me..."

"If I help you do that, will you stop crying?" Shota sighed. 

Izuku stopped whimpering and looked at Shota large tears still streaming down his face.

"I'll help you be a hero," Shota nodded reluctantly, cursing Nezu because this was his fault in a way. "A real hero."

***

The warehouse was blocked off from the public and police officers surrounded it. Heroes paced the roads looking out for any lurking villains who may have returned to study their handy work.

A limo pulled up and immediately all the bystanders fled. All for One stepped out looking at the warehouse. He narrowed his eyes and looked around. He was a handsome man and it was hard to believe that he was hundreds of years old unless you looked him in the eye and saw his cold heartless gaze.

He strode into the open warehouse doors and looked around at the investigation that was happening.

"Sir," a detective greeted walking over.

"Miss Bishik, what do you have for me?" All for One asked.

"Well, the mother is dead, we found her body in her apartment." The detective began to walk alongside the man as All for One surveyed the place. "It appears that our heroes did their duty, but the child is nowhere to be found and the villain responsible for it appears to be-"

"Excuse me Miss Bishik, I think I can tell who's done this," All for One sighed coming to a stop. He looked at the large UA spray-painted on one of the plastic curtains; the symbol of the rebellion. A school for heroes... such a stupid logo.

"Sir?"

"A villain who appears in the middle of the night, takes out three of my highly trusted heroes, leaves the rebellion logo at the crime scene, and disappears with a child. It is the villain Eraserhead, he has been a pain in my side for many years now."

"I've haven't heard of him," the detective pondered.

"I fear we will hear much more of him in the near future," All for One sighed turning and walking out, such a waste of time. He would figure out how to kill this villain who was trying to play the hero, but at the moment there were more important matters to attend to then a missing child and a wrecked warehouse, he ruled the world and the fact that this had demanded his attention annoyed him. 

But, he would be foolish to forget Eraserhead and he knew that. Perhaps this new villain would be worthy prey for his new apprentice.

--- (1 year later) ---

Shota looked down at the warehouse that was now on fire... he hated working with that hot-headed idiot. His code name was Endeavor and Shota wasn't too fond of him. The second strongest man in the rebellion was finishing off the surviving nomus and Shota had already ensured that the people who they had rescued were at the safe house. The mission had been completed safely.

His phone vibrated and he flipped it open.

It was from Mic. It was a picture of a young green-haired boy wrapped up in a sleeping bag holding an All Might doll that Mic had somehow gotten off the black market. The text below it made Aizawa almost smile.

'Kid fell asleep after thirty minutes of the news. Still waiting for Mr. "Aiwaza" so hurry it up.'

***

Shota pushed the door to his apartment open and sighed. Hizashi Yamada smiled and jerked his head towards the couch. Shota looked over and nodded. Izuku was there still sleeping.

Unlike the other children Shota had dealt with, he wasn't able to let Izuku go. After he had escaped that city with the boy... he just didn't have the heart to leave him with another family. Izuku had also been very adamant about not leaving him. Most of the time, due to Shota's work, he was with either Hizashi (Present Mic) or Nemuri (Midnight), two of Aizawa's closest friends.

"How long has he been asleep?" Shota asked.

"Only stirred once, I've got to say, the young listener sure has grown," Hizashi smiled.

At first, Izuku had barely slept. He would wake up with night terrors and could only be soothed by Shota. He would be a blubbering mess and no one would understand him but afterward, when Shota had calmed him down, he would make out that he was haunted by visions of his mother and the room with the chair. After a year Izuku's dreams were few and far between and so Shota didn't fear leaving the boy with Hizashi or Nemuri.

He put a hand on Izuku's hair and the boy stirred. Slowly he opened his eyes and muttered.

"Hi Mista Aiwaza," he muttered groggily.

"Hey Izu," Shota greeted.

"Night Mista Aiwaza," he muttered going back to sleep.

Shota was certain that Izuku was now messing up his name on purpose but, at the moment, Mr. "Aiwaza" didn't really care.

(Hello guys, I posted this chapter early because I really really REALLY wanted to, but the other chapters should all be posted on the weekends from here on out.

Maybe.

If I've ever consistent, which I'm not so, honestly who knows.

Anyway, hope y'all are enjoying it and have a great day/night!)