Chapter Text
It was purely by chance that Eraserhead stumbled upon his missing student, two weeks after his disappearance. He’d been following a lead of a matching description, a young teen with dark curly hair and green eyes. As soon as he’d seen the boy, he knew it was not Midoriya, but the resemblance was eerily close. So he’d followed him to a quiet house in the suburbs and staked out half the night, just to rule the location out.
As the evening wore on, two others came to the house. One was tall with white curls, the other half a head shorter with dark curls. From a distance it was easy to make comparisons to his missing student. The way they looked so much like him was uncomfortable in a way that made Eraserhead stay and watch longer, feeling an itch that he was so close to finding something he shouldn’t, a hunch that had served him well over the years.
It was half past midnight when a window of the second floor had opened and a small figure had carefully crawled out. Dark, curly hair, just like the boy he’d followed earlier. Eraserhead squinted against the dark, trying to decide which of the three he’d seen enter the house. They were small- perhaps the first he’d seen? Why were they sneaking out in such a suspicious way? Was this ordinary, teenager stuff like he had to deal with at school, or something more sinister? Either way, it was his duty as a hero to look into it.
Eraserhead slipped from his hiding spot and followed, catching up with the small figure after only half a block. Suspiciously, they ducked into the first alley they saw. Eraserhead followed, footsteps silent as he crept up behind them. A few steps closer and his heart leapt- this was not one of the boys he’d seen earlier. This one he knew from the way their shoulders hunched slightly from nervousness, from the way their feet tread carefully so as not to draw attention.
He moved quickly to close the distance, grabbing the boy’s arm and just as quickly activating his Quirk to protect himself from a startled punch. “Midoriya!”
Izuku startled and looked up with a small gasp. “M-Mr. Aizawa!” He didn’t even wait for Eraserhead to turn off his Quirk. The hands that he had been using to push away grabbed hold instead and he threw himself into his teacher’s arms, sobs instantly choking their way out.
“Where have you been?” Eraserhead demanded.
Izuku didn’t answer, only hugged his teacher and shook in his arms.
“Your mother has been worried sick.” Eraserhead said, trying to sound firm and not too harsh. If Izuku was in danger, he needed to tell him what was wrong. Izuku had never seemed like the type to disappear without warning- unless he thought it might keep someone else safe.
“H-He lied to me!” Izuku sobbed, flinching at the mention of his mother. “He s-said I could see her again b-but he lied!”
“Who lied? Midoriya, tell me what’s going on. Who are you running from?”
A cold hand touched the back of Eraserhead’s neck. In an instant he felt every last drop of strength leave his body and his knees buckled. Izuku let out a startled cry, doing his best to catch him. How had someone snuck up on him? He hadn’t sensed any danger?
“Mr. Aizawa!” Izuku cried, sinking to the ground with him, struggling under an adult’s weight.
“Izuku, what are you doing out of bed?” A new voice said.
“Jack!” Izuku’s voice came out as a horrified whisper now. Eraserhead felt his student’s grip tighten, easily picked up the signs of panic- a jump in his heart rate, the panicked breaths that might quickly lead to hyperventilation, the lighting-like patterns of light from his Quirk self-activating.
“Why did you run away, baby brother?” Shadows crowded around and Eraserhead strained to see who they belonged to. He couldn’t lift his head, only his eyes, and just enough to recognize curly hair. The same three boys he’d seen earlier.
“P-Please.” Izuku whimpered, sounding frightened and desperate, hugging Eraserhead’s limp form even tighter. “I j-just want to see Mom again. Let me go home. Please.”
“Uhg, not this again.” One of the boys moaned.
“Come here, we’ll take you back home.”
“No!” Izuku ducked away but one of the hands grabbed him and he sagged the same way Eraserhead has. They picked him up, crowding him and cooing him while the boy started to cry.
One of the three turned to Eraserhead, lifting a foot as if they were about to stomp on his helpless form.
“Akatani, don’t. You’ll upset Izuku.” One of the others snapped.
“But he’s a hero!”
“Leave him, it’s better that the heroes find out that Izuku is ours.” The oldest said, then turned his attention back to Izuku. “Don’t cry, baby brother. We’ll get you back into the vault where you can calm down.”
“Jack?” The boy with the longest hair asked, the one Eraserhead had first followed. He sounded hesitant, tugging on the other’s sleeve. “Do you… Do you really think putting Izuku in the vault helps?”
“Father says it does.” The third replied.
“Yeah, I know, but… he gets so upset. Like, really upset. You know what I mean.”
All three boys stopped, standing quiet for a moment just before they left the alley. Eraserhead silently screamed at his body to move, but all of his energy was drained. He had no strength to sit up or even lift a finger. If he let Izuku out of his sight right now, he felt as though he would never see him again.
“We’ll ask Father about it.” The oldest said at last.
By the time Eraserhead had gathered enough strength to call for backup, the house he’d been watching was occupied by a kind old couple who claimed they’d lived there all their lives, supported by their neighbors. No one had ever seen any boys with curly hair there before. Just as he had before, Izuku Midoriya had vanished into thin air.