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Eri's First Amusement Park

Chapter 2

Summary:

Rewind!

It really was just a series of unfortunate events.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Even though Eri had only been a part of this family for a year, it was still strange knowing that Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Yamada and Kacchan weren't there beside her. 

 

She hadn't really had any experience with other children her age; her mother abandoned her after Eri… well… after the accident with her Quirk that made her father disappear. And even then it wasn't long after she was taken in by her grandfather that he became sick and she was passed on to be looked after by Overhaul. 

 

Although 'looked after' probably wasn't the best way to put it. 

 

Eri was his prisoner.

 

His experiment. 

 

Nothing more than that. 

 

Eri didn't grow up like all the other little girls her age--she never had friends. 

 

But she wanted to try. 

 

And that was why although she was as nervous as she could have been, she didn't say no to Mr. Aizawa telling her to go play in the play area. 

 

Taking one more glance back towards the table where her new family were seated, Mr. Yamada looking quite deflated and Kacchan staring longingly after her, Eri ran into the centre of the play area out of view from the outside world. 

 

What do I do now? 

 

It wasn't like Eri knew how to approach new people, let alone make friends… but what if she tried to think like the people in her life did? 

 

Like what would Kacchan have done in this situation? 

 

… He'd probably have shouted at someone and threatened them if they didn't play with him. 

 

When Kacchan got like that, it always made her giggle because it was the complete opposite of how he acted with her. But anyway, no. Eri couldn't force someone to be friends with her. That simply wasn't her. 

 

Who else could she try to mimic? Eri scrunched up her nose and tapped her forehead with her tiny knuckle trying to think. 

 

Oh! Of course! Deku!  

 

He was definitely more friendly (to everyone, not just Eri) than Kacchan! 

 

A feeling of dread dropped into her stomach… how exactly could Eri even go about impersonating Deku, though? He was such a natural at being friends with everyone he met-- so much so that Eri didn't even know where to begin. 

 

Maybe she should just give up on that idea. She could just pretend that she played with the other children when she would go back for lunch. That would at least make her family happy. 

 

So Eri wandered around with tentative steps, looking around at all the other children having fun… laughing, screaming with excitement as they ran from each other, calling each other's names. 

 

Eri wanted that. 

 

But there was no way that she could have it. She was too different. Too scared of the unknown. 

 

Sighing, Eri retreated to an enclosed, padded area with several kids-sized punching bags bolted to the floor along with a mini zip line down the middle. There was no-one else there and it was fairly dark as there were a few floors of play area, which children climbed to, above her. Surrounded by the netting and muffled happy noises from the other children, Eri sat up against one of the punching bags with her knees to her chest. 

 

Eri just had to stay there until someone from her family called for her.

 

She sat there for a few minutes. To pass the time, Eri let her mind wander to imagine what it would have been like to have friends. She imagined going over to their houses for dinner. Sleepovers. Going to school together. Telling each other secrets. Making promises to one another that they would be best friends forever. That was what friends did in the movies, wasn’t it?

 

At least the thought of all of that made her happy… well… a little bit, anyway. 

 

Eri buried her head in her arms, a fresh wave of sadness overcoming her. 

 

She was never going to be like the other children, was she? Her lack of confidence was just proof of that. 

 

Suddenly, the soft thud thud of footsteps from behind alerted Eri of someone running towards her area along with an excited scream of a little girl. 

 

"You can't catch me, slowpoke!!" 

 

The footsteps grew louder and louder until Eri suddenly found herself being hit from behind by the punching bag, launching her face-first into the padded floor.

 

Eri stumbled to her knees, clutching her forehead and wincing. 

 

"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you behind there! Are you alright?" 

 

The little girl kneeled down next to Eri and rested her hand on Eri's shoulder comfortingly. 

 

Eri risked a glance up to find a black-haired girl above her, probably no more than a year older than her. She was quite pretty with her bright, emerald-green eyes… they almost reminded Eri of Deku's which made her feel oddly relaxed. 

 

"So what's your name?" The girl asked. 

 

"E-Eri." She stammered. 

 

"That's such a cute name! I wish I had a name like that," She giggled as she pulled Eri to her feet, "Oh, I'm Hanako, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

 

It was strange how nice Hanako was acting towards Eri. Granted, she did just knock into her, but still. 

 

"So why were you sitting alone all the way back here, anyway?" 

 

All Eri could do was stare at the floor and fiddle with her hands anxiously. How exactly was she supposed to answer that?

 

Hanako looked back at Eri in silent understanding before she held her hand out to Eri. 

 

"Well do you want to come play with us, then?" 

 



* * * * * * * * * 



 

As soon as Bakugou rushed back to shout at Aizawa and Yamada that he couldn't find Eri in the play area anywhere, they both scrambled out of their seats, leaving the untouched food on the table. 

 

"What if she wandered off outside?!" Yamada yelled frantically as they made their way to the arcade foyer. 

 

"No, she knows better than to do that," Aizawa replied as he jogged to keep up with his husband. 

 

"Well it's not like we can find her inside! "

 

All three of them had already double and triple-checked the play area with Yamada being especially loud shouting for Eri. But as Bakugou had already concluded, Eri was not there. 

 

"We're wasting time in here! I told you that someone must have taken her-- there's only one fucking exit!" 

 

Bakugou couldn't lose her. She was one of the few people he really felt a connection to. His job was to protect her and yet he couldn't even fucking do that! 

 

"And you said it'd be overkill to put a tracker anklet on her," Yamada said. 

 

"That's because it would have been," Aizawa replied as he poked his head around the arcade machines. 

 

"Well what do you think about it now, huh ?!" 

 

Bakugou really couldn't take much more of this shit. Sparks flew from his hands as he whipped around and growled, "JUST SHUT UP!" 

 



* * * * * * * * *



 

Eri hadn't had this much fun in ages! Of course she loved it when she played outside with Kacchan or watched Disney movies with Mr. Yamada, but being around other children her own age just made her feel like a normal girl. 

 

With no-one here knowing about Eri's past and what she had to do to get to where she was, it was like a clean slate for her. Eri could just be herself and it looked like the other children liked her for it. 

 

That green-eyed girl who knocked her over, Hanako, had brought her to meet the other children she was playing with. They were all about the same age, three boys and two girls. So including Eri and Hanako they were now a group of seven playing together.

 

"Tag!" 

 

Oh no! That other girl caught her! 

 

Sprinting and scrambling about the cathedral-sized padded room, climbing up netting to get to the next floors, crossing perilous, wobbly bridges, swinging between one platform to the next using the rope, sliding down big drop slides just before someone was about to tag her. 

 

Eri was doing it. 

 

She was actually playing with friends! 

 

"Come on, Eri! Through here!" The blonde girl named Machiko, who turned out to be Hanako's younger sister with the same emerald-green eyes, called as she gestured for her to run over. 

 

She was kneeling beside a bright yellow-painted pipe tucked into the far corner of the room that went through the wall of the play area, barely big enough for them all to crawl through.

 

Was this play area even bigger than this ?! 

 

Intrigued, Eri followed Machiko through the little tunnel, every shuffle echoing off the pipe. Crawling towards the light at the end of the tunnel, Eri's eyes grew to the size of saucers at the revelation of this whole new secret room-- it was nearly as big as the other area! 

 

A mini carousel just like the one outside! A rock-climbing wall! A massive ball pit with a slide! 

 

“I know-- cool, right?”

 

It took a second for Eri to realise that Machiko was talking to her, "...Yeah!" 

 

Excited squeals and manic scrambling through the yellow pipe made the two turn around as they all filed out. Hanako and the rest of the other children had found where they had escaped to. 

 

Hanako looked slightly exasperated, "Okay, I call time-out," she gasped out as she made a 'T' with her hands. 

 

"Is it because you've been tagged for so long?" One of the boys teased. 

 

"... I don't know what you're talking about," Her cheeks turned a few shades redder from all the running, "I just want to do some rock-climbing." 

 

"Sure, because that's the reason." 

 

Hanako glared behind her for a moment as she made her way to the rock-climbing wall which spanned an entire wall. 

 

Hanako almost reminded Eri of Kacchan. Sure, her eyes resembled Deku’s, but she did seem as stubborn as her older brother… which reminded Eri; maybe Kacchan could play in this area with her later-- there were a few older children and adults sitting at benches here. Eri decided to ask him when they would call her for lunch. Maybe that would cheer him up as he did seem sad when she left to play earlier. 

 

And so, all seven of them played. They ran, they climbed, they slid down the drop slide, they threw those plastic balls at each other in a mock war. Eri loved every second of it-- she was smiling so much that her face was beginning to hurt! But she didn't care. Everything felt right… 

 

But of course one-by-one, her friends were being called away by their parents for lunch. Every departure left a small pang in Eri's heart until it was just her and the sisters, Hanako and Machiko. Their parents had just come through the door, that led somewhere Eri didn’t know, to take them to lunch. 

 

Eri wasn't sure how to say goodbye to someone like this-- they did play with her even though they didn't have to, after all. Eri panicked as she bowed, "Thank you for playing with me!" 

 

"... You don't need to be so formal!" Hanako said as she lightly clapped Eri on the shoulder. 

 

"Maybe see you later?" Machiko asked timidly. 

 

She would actually want to see Eri again? Eri could barely stop the tears prickling at the corners of her eyes, "I'd like that."

 

Eri waved goodbye as the sisters left hand-in-hand with their parents out the door. She was used to being lonely before, but now that she had a taste of what it felt like to have friends, the sound of loneliness practically deafened her… but Eri did have her family to get back to. She wouldn't be lonely for long-- especially with Kacchan and Mr. Yamada inevitably about to dote on her all over again, which always made her feel safe.

 

Eri had no idea how long she had been playing with her friends for, but by the fact that her stomach was rumbling, the food surely must have been ready by now. 

 

Crawling back through the yellow pipe and sauntering over to the table where she last saw her family in the restaurant, something was missing...

 

They weren’t there.

 

The table was completely empty as well; it was like her family had never been there in the first place.

 

However, by the chair that Mr. Yamada was sitting at, were her red sandals.That was weird; her shoes were still there where she left them, but her family were nowhere to be seen.

 

She didn’t do something wrong, did she?

 

Surely they weren’t mad at her? For what, Eri had no idea. They said that they would call her when the food was ready so it wasn’t like it would have been her fault for playing for so long… Did she do something wrong before now, then?

 

Or maybe they were called for something hero-related… but even then, surely at least one of them would have stayed with her? 

 

That exhilarating feeling from playing with her friends soon reduced to a dwindling flame… until it was completely snuffed out. 

 

Eri couldn't hold her body up any longer as she collapsed into a crouch and buried her head in her arms, trying to suppress the tears that were threatening to flood out of her. 

 

She was alone. 

 

Again. 

 

Cursed child.

 

Those words that she was once so used to hearing from Overhaul echoed in her head.

 

Don’t you see now, Eri? Nobody wants you. Why would they?

 

No, it wasn’t true! Eri knew better than that now; why would her family have taken care of her for so long otherwise? They came to the amusement park to celebrate her and Kacchan’s adoption, after all!

 

They’re only keeping you around to restore Lemillion’s Quirk. After that, you’ll be alone. Again. Useless. You should have stayed with me, Eri...you would at least have had a purpose.

 

No, that’s not--!

 

A hoarse voice broke through Eri's panic, "Hey, are you lost, little girl?"

 

She almost forgot where she was and what she was doing. Still crouching and curled in a ball, Eri risked a glance up to this new person. It was a man standing over her, a man with a pitch-black face, piercing yellow eyes and shark-like teeth that were obviously too big for his mouth the way they protruded. Donned with a plain black, baggy hoodie with the hood up, the man kneeled down to Eri's level. It was a warm day, so why the stranger was wearing something like that, Eri had no idea. 

 

She didn't want to sound rude by ignoring him, so she muttered timidly, "Th-they were right here." 

 

The stranger's face softened… which didn't do anything to make him less scary-looking.

 

"Poor thing…" The man tucked Eri's hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek, "I think I heard them talking about going to the lost and found to put out a PA for you. I can take you there if you'd like?"

 

Eri knew it wasn't nice to judge people by their looks… like a couple of Kacchan's classmates had a scary appearance but they turned out to be very nice. There was a good chance that Mr. Aizawa in particular would tell her off for going off with this stranger, but she was sure he'd forgive her once she was back with them. 

 

Eri just wanted to be back safe with her family again, so she made her choice. 

 

Slipping on her sandals, Eri tentatively grabbed hold of the stranger’s outstretched, calloused hand and he led her out the door.

 



* * * * * * * * *



 

To say that the other amusement Park visitors were getting pissed at their relentless shouting for Eri would have been an understatement… but they just couldn't fucking find her! 

 

There was a large barn-like building next to the restaurant-play area thing with straw littered everywhere. It was a petting zoo and it had  pretty much everything you'd expect from one with farm animals and reptiles… and even squirrels doing tricks in a mini circus for some fucking reason. 

 

They had to check everywhere even if it meant venturing into a quite literal pig sty. Bakugou was thankful for living in a suburban area, that was for sure. 

 

"Eriiii!" Bakugou called by the goats who bleated back at him in the most obnoxiously loud way possible. Stupid goats. 

 

"Eri?" Aizawa called around the walk-in tunnel that held the creepy-crawlies… Yamada refused to search there and pushed his husband in front of him as a sort of shield. 

 

Yamada just stumbled to the centre of the room and yelled to the ceiling, "ERI!" 

 

The whole petting zoo erupted with the traumatised vocals and scrambling of the animals around them.

 

A woman with a small child holding her hand whipped around, "Sssshhhh!! You're scaring the animals!" 

 

Aizawa yanked Yamada aside by the scruff with Bakugou jogging towards them and said in a whisper that couldn't help but sound harsh, "Look, just calm down, she can't have gotten fa--" 

 

"CALM DOWN?!" Both Bakugou and Yamada screamed at the top of their lungs. 

 

The same lady glared back at them again. 

 

Bakugou broke apart from the two. They didn't have time for any of this. He had to do something. 

 

"Look, you can sit here and whimper all you want," Yamada may have been the physical representation of how Bakugou felt, but that wasn't the point, "But I'm actually going to find my little sister and I'll kill whichever fucker took her!!" 

 

Bakugou began to storm out of the barn before Aizawa swiftly grabbed hold of Bakugou's upper arm, holding him back, "Remember that you can't use your Quirk unless it's completely necessary. No blowing anyone up."

 

Aizawa seriously must have known who he was talking to… 

 

"Whatever," Bakugou mumbled as he sprinted out into the open air, heading towards the farthest end of the amusement park where the exit was using one of the winding paths. He was bound to find something if he headed for the exit if it really was true that Eri had been kidnapped. At this point there was a very good chance that that was what happened so this was the best plan he had. 

 

Bakugou was halfway there when he spotted some annoyingly familiar faces strolling up the path from where the carousel was. He skidded to a halt, "What the fuck are you extras doing here?!" 

 

"Hey, nice to see you, too, Bakubro," Shitty Hair ignored the nickname, gleaming as always. It was almost annoying how every unfiltered thing Bakugou said seemed to bounce off of him. 

 

Raccoon Eyes, Soy Sauce Face, Sparky, Pink Cheeks  and of course fucking Deku was there, too. And speaking of the idiot… 

 

"Wait, Kacchan, what are you doing here? Are you with Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Yamada and--" 

 

Bakugou just remembered what he was even fucking there for. Another sense of panic enveloped him, wrapped in anger, "Eri!" 

 

"Yeah and--" 

 

"No, you idiot!" He growled, "She's gone!" 

 

"Why didn't you just lead with that?" Said Sparky who instantly began leading the search while everyone was trying to catch up, although it wasn’t long until Bakugou overtook him. 

 

Through a rapid-fire of organising pairs to scout the park, there was the conundrum of there being seven of them… but of course fucking Deku volunteered to be the odd-one out in order to tag along with him and Shitty Hair like a lovesick puppy. 

 

Eager to be the one leading the charge, Bakugou sprinted ahead, heading directly towards the park exit like before. The other groups had split up to search in completely different directions to them. 

 

But just as they were running further and further down hill to the bottom, it was becoming harder and harder to scan the area for signs of Eri-- the park was just so fucking busy! 

 

As tempting as it was to just shove all the civilians out of the way and not caring about the consequences, it wasn't going to get him any closer to Eri… especially with the two idiots tailing him and he was hardly going to have a wide range of scope from the ground. Aizawa would probably give Bakugou the lecture of his life using his Quirk in a place like this with so many people around, but if it meant finding Eri, it would all be worth it.

 

Bakugou spontaneously launched himself into the air leaving Deku and Shitty air in the dust of the gravelly pathway.

 

“Wait, Kaccha--!” The nerd coughed and sputtered. 

 

Deku may have been a little more tolerable the past year or so, but that didn’t mean he was going to start listening to him-- Deku was still beneath him! And quite literally with Bakugou soaring in the air now...

 

At least Bakugou could actually search a wider range from the sky even if a lot of the civilians looked tiny from that distance, but Eri would be easy to spot. She was far too unique to be mistaken for anyone else.

 

Bakugou shot through the air for about thirty seconds until he did a double-take.

 

Silver hair, shoulder bag, red pinafore dress thing (Bakugou didn’t know what the hell it was called)-- that was her! That was Eri! And some creep in a black hood was leading her away… someone was definitely going to die that day.

 

Breaking out another deafening explosion, Bakugou barrelled at top speed towards the hooded freak grabbing Eri with his filthy, unworthy hand.

 

Raising his arm to right-hook the would-be kidnapper, Bakugou roared, “DIEEEEE, YOU BASTARD!!”

 

Bakugou felt a satisfying crunch underneath his knuckles as they collided with the back of the creep’s head, knocking him to the ground. Bakugou was vaguely aware of Eri stepping off to the side staring in shock-- but he had to sort this creep out first so that he would never move again! The hooded freak squirmed and struggled as Bakugou attempted to shove his face into the gravel underneath. The kidnapper managed to turn onto his back, but jokes were on him as Bakugou sent another right-hook, this time directly at the guy’s nose as he straddled him, pinning him down. Bakugou launched one punch after another, putting behind them all the force he could muster from his adrenaline-high state. And now for the piece de resistance… blowing the creep’s face off so that it was unrecognisable! That familiar scorching heat shot through his right arm like electricity as it reached his fingertips. Bakugou was going to let it rip until--

 

The sparks fizzled out. Bakugou shook his hand pathetically.

 

What the--? What happened to ‘blowing the fucking creep's face off’?! Wait…

 

Bakugou slowly pivoted his head skyward to lock eyes with bright red, glowing ones, black scraggly hair floating as if underwater looming over him. Aizawa. And he looked pissed… but oddly proud as well? Bakugou never saw the second emotion very often-- not when it came to him nearly blowing someone up, anyway. 

 

"You've done enough, kid," Aizawa pulled Bakugou off of the guy and gestured to Soy Sauce Face to use his weird tape arm thing to tie him up.

 

To be fair, it probably wasn’t necessary to bind the creep considering that he was out-cold with a bloody and swollen face from Bakugou pummelling him… it still wasn’t anywhere near what he deserved, though.

 

It turned out that not only was Aizawa there, but all the extras and Yamada, too. They had all probably heard his ridiculously loud venture to get there and rushed over straight away before Bakugou could inflict some real damage...

 

And standing just a few metres away was Eri. A little confused at what had just happened but that didn't make her any less adorable as she fiddled awkwardly with her shoulder bag. She was safe. A fresh wave of relief washed over Bakugou as he knelt down where he stood to accept the loving sisterly embrace and the thank-yous and all the praise for saving her. Bakugou thought he'd never get to hug Eri again--

 

"Deku!!" Eri suddenly exclaimed excitedly as she ran into the nerd's open arms. 

 

Bakugou's jaw dropped. She went to fucking Deku

 

Bakugou hung his head low. He seriously could never catch a break! An arm draped over his shoulders while a finger found his way to playfully poke at his cheek. There was no doubt who that was. 

 

"Now you know how I feel," Yamada dramatically clutched his heart. Bakugou didn't know why he was making fun of him; it wasn't like Eri ran to him either, for fuck's sake! 

 

Bakugou sighed... He couldn't even be bothered to break Yamada's arm off that was wrapped around him. 

 

An almost-amused voice perked up through the chattering and squeals of Eri seeing Deku for the first time in a while, “Eri, I think you’re forgetting someone.” Aizawa lazily pointed towards Bakugou who was still kneeling on the ground from being rejected. 

 

Eri’s eyes went wide with embarrassment. It looked like in all her excitement, she just forgot everything that Bakugou did for her like the little detail of saving her … but that was okay. He could just beat Deku up a bit later to make up for it-- without Aizawa catching him, of course. Even though he was his adopted son now, Bakugou still wanted to live.

 

Wandering over to Bakugou’s outstretched arms, she leaned into his chest for a hug. Eri just fit so snuggly within his arms like the perfect jigsaw puzzle and the way she clung to his shirt like a lifeline was almost too much for Bakugou.

 

No! He was not going to fucking cry, dammit!

 

"Awww!!” Mina cooed, “Big Brother Bakugou vibes!!" 

 

Of course she knows how to ruin a moment.

 

Bakugou could not be asked to dish out an original comeback, "...Shut it, Raccoon Eyes." 

 

Peeking her head out from Bakugou’s hug, she reached her arms out towards Yamada and spoke in a voice that was barely a whisper, “Daddy?”

 

...That was the first time she ever called him ‘Daddy’.

 

Everyone stared transfixed at the almost sickeningly-sweet scene. To say that Yamada did not have a filter would have been an understatement as he picked her up into an almost bone-crushing hug and bawled his eyes out.

 

“You called me ‘daddy’-- you called me ‘daddy’!” Yamada yelled and he kissed her on the forehead over and over again, “Oh that’s why you’re my sweet little princess!”

 

“You’re going to crush her, Hizashi,” Aizawa said matter-of-factly as he tried to wiggle Eri out of Yamada’s firm grip-- he did not want to let go, but it didn’t seem like Eri minded.

 

Bakugou glanced at Aizawa who, if Bakugou wasn’t mistaken, looked like he wanted to be called ‘daddy’, too... By Eri, not Yamada-- that would just be weird and highly disturbing. 

 

Yamada turned to Bakugou hopefully, obviously waiting for something. Bakugou frowned, "...Don't expect me to call ya that."

 

Notes:

Oh that ending... so sweet aahhhh

Eri going along with Midoriya's nickname of Bakugou is just too cute, too... I'm going to dive into the origins of that in another fic I have planned-- which I seriously cannot wait to do.

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