The Lines of Society (A vigilante!deku fanfic)

Woah?! Eraserhead?!

Izuku's P.O.V.

By the time I first met Eraserhead, I was only at the age of 11. How did I meet him? One word. Patrol. I was jumping across rooftops since it was a tad safer than alleys and it was actually faster than being on the low ground. (What? Those places are as dark as pitch black and I didn't have my night goggles! I used to hit a ton of walls while running down there!) Plus, when I get to a scene being on higher ground, I have the advantage of surprise and height! Anyway, I was a normal night and I'd already gone through ten small crimes (muggings mostly) and I was getting tired so I took a short break on top of a very tall building. I had Wayne watching through cameras and ever since I found out that the government had upgraded from visual only to photo and sound, I had Wayne listen to the city through the security grid. Of course, at day hours Wayne gets overloaded so I only have him as eyes under the sun but at night, when the city sleeps and the night is louder, Wayne picks up cries for help and I quickly make my way to the scenes. I've had brief encounters with other heroes before but they always tried chasing after me after I assisted them in detaining a criminal. (Endeavor tries to kill me though.)

But the night I met him, it was quieter than usual around my "hunting grounds" as other vigilantes and heroes called my territory. I was a little worried since there were usually more criminal activity and I knew (from past experiences) that when underground activity drops by way too much to be a raid, then its definitely because the villains are plotting something together. I really hated when they drop the activity. It always did send my nerves through the roof and I didn't like not knowing what their plan is either. After all, when villains plan in secret, you can be sure that it was going to be big and depending on how long they take to plan it, it could be a chain of events or simply a very, very large attack. Neither would be preferred because in my honest opinion, villain attacks that cause a ton of damage (property and casualties) are very big nuisances and hassles.

I was watching the stars when I suddenly got an alert from Wayne through my phone. Running towards the source- being guided by Wayne of course- I dropped in. Literally. I took notice and did a quick criminal headcount in a single minute while dodging attacks. From what I figured out of the situation, the villains had ganged up on a hero. An underground hero to be precise and he was actually one of my more favored ones too. Right up my list of top three! I growled in anger at his state which was pretty bad for him but if it was me, I would probably only be cut down in half and not entirely become as defenseless as he had been. By the telltale signs of his groaning and muttering, Eraserhead was still awake. He probably couldn't see too clearly but awake nonetheless and that was better than being unconscious. Anyway, I dropped in, analyzed the villains in a minute while dodging and taking stock of the situation and my surroundings, then proceeded to knock down villains like nails into a wall.

It took me three minutes flat to fight, tie, and leave a note for the police before I finally let my guard down a little (like, 30% down) and started tending Eraserhead's wounds. "Hey, Eraser-san? Are you still awake?" I asked him, gently shaking him. "Stay awake Eraser-san. And please, don't move too much. I'm going to patch your wounds as much as I can but I need you to trust me, okay?" He blinked, eyes hazy but I knew that he was clear enough to think, see, and talk straight. I put away my metal eskrima sticks and showed him my hands. Eraserhead nodded, glaring at me but he didn't seem to be glaring hard at me. "I'll introduce myself so you know me. It's fair since I know you even though you're not supposed to be known, so yeah. Hello Eraser-san, I'm who they call the paradox: Zero. But a little secret of mine is that I am Zero, Robin, a face in the past and another face of the present. Do with that information as you please." 

I chatted with him with small, vague facts in an attempt to keep him awake and I also made sure that I would drop false hints and occasional honest opinions to keep his interest and not annoy him as I bandaged him. Eraserhead grunted in pain every few moments or when I wrap him too tightly. "Hey, Eraser-san? I just want you to know that if the police pull you into their investigation dedicated to me, I work quirkless. I have a pretty weak quirk and it kinda doesn't help with anything at all so I never use it really. No, it isn't because I'm bending rules and threading myself through holes in the law. It just hurts when I use it. Pain is bad and I'm not a masochist so I don't ever use my quirk. Heck, people even tease me and call me quirkless because of the fact that it doesn't really do me any good, and I'm fine with that. They don't know my side-job and I don't plan on letting them call me useless because I know that I'm helping heroes keep people safe even if it's through slightly illegal means."