Strings (BNHA x OC) [Rewrite]

24 || Paranoia

—Four Days Later, 1:10pm on the Grounds of UA—
——

"Stop pulling your punches." Eraser Head grabbed the front of Shinso's gym uniform, pulled him off his feet, and slammed him into the ground. He then leaned onto him, pinning him down. "No villain is going to go easy on you because you're a kid."

"I know that." The teen grabbed onto his mentor's fist, trying to loosen the hold that he had on his clothing. He tried to shift to break free, but the erasure hero didn't allow that, pressing him firmer to the earth.

"No, you don't. If you did then you'd actually land a hit on me." The teacher's words were firm. "There are villains out there who would rip you apart in a heartbeat. You need to be able to keep her from doing that."

Shinso paused, his eyebrows creasing. "...her?"

Eraser Head hesitated for a moment, rethinking his words before sighing. He released Shinso, standing back up.

The purple-haired teen propped himself up on his elbows and looked at his mentor, absolutely befuddled.

"Go rest; we're done for today," Eraser Head said before stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking off.

——

A half-hour later, Eraser Head walked down a hallway in UA. Beside him, ever annoying, Present Mic pestered him.

"So how's Shinso's training going?" Present Mic asked as the two of them walked through the halls. "I heard he's improving quickly."

The two were on lunch break, and still had around fifteen minutes before they had to be at their desks.

"Yeah, it's going fine," the erasure hero responded dismissively.

Present Mic gave him an exaggerated questioning look. "What happened?"

The other man sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I accidentally brought up Puppet Master today during a training session. I didn't realize she'd gotten to me that much."

The voice hero quirked his lip. "Well that's not all that great."

"No," Eraser Head agreed, "it isn't."

He ran a hand over his face. I'm paranoid.

He had muttered his thought out loud, and the other man frowned.

"Excuse the interruption, but I think that it is necessary," a new voice spoke, cutting the heroes' conversation short. The voice was unmistakable; it was the principal of UA High School — it was Nezu. The teachers looked a few yards down the hall at the mouse-like man.

"Please come to my office, you two," he invited.

Neither of the heroes questioned him as they wordlessly followed him to his office.

When they got there, the principal pushed the door open. Inside, there was another person, and Eraser Head nearly turned and walked out when he saw who it was. Standing in the center of the office was Detective Tsukauchi.

"Mr. Tsukauchi is here to speak to the two of you," Nezu said, gesturing to the detective.

"Good afternoon." Tsukauchi tiled his beige hat to the heroes as a greeting. "I'm here with news on the League of Villains."

"Hit us with it," Present Mic said eagerly.

"Alright, we haven't found that much to act on but we have gotten a few sightings. The sightings are on Puppet Master; she's been spotted in Shibuya," the detective informed. "No other League members have been spotted in the area—in fact there have been possible sightings elsewhere in Japan. We believe that she is either now working alone and without the League, or the League has split up to have a bigger impact on the country."

The heroes figured that that made sense. Before the black-and-white villain had joined the League, she almost always worked alone. She was good at it too, having evaded capture for so long.

"The police force is willing to send you both to track her down and possibly get her back into custody. You are cohesive with each other and Aizawa knows Puppet Master's fight style best, which proved to be an effective strategy in the past," Tsukauchi explained. "This is up to you, we're not going to make you chase after her."

Present Mic nodded, but Eraser Head decidedly remained silent, not giving an answer to whether he agreed or not.

The voice hero looked to his friend. "Aizawa, this may be our best and only chance for a while that we'll be able to get her."

He was right, but the erasure hero was still reluctant. He knew that Puppet was hard to deal with even if she was alone. But, if it was two against one, they would have a big advantage... and a much better chance of success.

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If you're sure she's alone, then fine."

Tsukauchi nodded. "We'll dispatch you both this evening. Be cautious. I wish you both the best of luck."