Before The Storm

The Streets

Implied character death and injury 

The rancid smell of urine and the blazing scent of iron filled the air surrounding the child in a suffocating blanket. Ash coated the child's tongue and throat making them feel the need to chug water. They peeled themself from the pavement having fallen over three floors from a fire escape onto their back. They could feel injuries that needed to be tended to but ignored the pain and looked to the flames billowing from the window with the pure heat of the fire suffocating anyone too close. Sirens could be heard nearby and the child bolted further into the alleys wheezing softly and trying not to get caught.

People like me- We're- I can't- the child's thoughts were racing faster than ever making the others with them dizzy and concerned.

Whispers surrounded the child, whispers of the dead and the three they have kept hidden from everyone who has been close to them. The worry that radiated from the three and the wails of the dead were overstimulating for the child to deal with while they tried to find shelter. One of the dead stood in a hidden spot in the alleyway which the child collapsed upon once they got there.

~~ three days later ~~

Finding children on the streets was unfortunately a common thing nowadays, Aizawa would know after the multiple times he's found a kid who was in dire circumstances. Aizawa was added to a case dealing with a recent murder thought to be caused by the youngest of the twins.

The murmur of voices filtered from the main council room while the heavily sleep-deprived man entered the room. Once seated the meeting began.

"Thank you everyone for joining us, we are here about the missing child of Drago. It is suspected that they are the one who is best associated with the cri-"

"Bullshit, the kid is fucking ten years old, you think they have connections to make this happen?" A voice as frigid as a blizzard spoke up from down the table.

"How would you know Eraser? There something you're not telling us?" the condescending tone of one of the younger heroes seemed to vibrate through the air. The air was thick with tension.

"Why don't we question the hero that was already seemingly on the scene? The one who wasn't on patrol? The one who doesn't even have a patrol near where Drago lived with his family? The one who lives about an hour away from them? How about we question the pro before we question a child?" The voice that spoke was heavy with venom and anger most everyone there flinched and looked away.

"The kid could have connections- after all, it was known the kid was a troublemaker and they had a vill-" the speaker stilled as they felt a death aura and realized their mistake too late.

"Enough. This is a traumatized ten-year-old child we are talking about. This kid probably has injuries that need to be treated and probably is scared to go anywhere that could get them caught. So how about you all get your head out of your asses, do your job, and help the kid before you try to through accusations at them."

The sound of a door slamming was the only marker that the pro had left the room.

Since that meeting, the steady thrumming in his temples plagued Aizawa night and day. The kid could be injured! Broken or bruised, maybe (and here his brain was being illogical; how he hated it when anxiety took over)even bleeding out in some filthy alleyway.

The first night gave the Pro a small trail- threading through buildings, following the pinpricks of rust against cement before he lost it in a puddle.

The second night was nothing.

Hopefully tonight, he could find the kid.

Colors began to spill through the sky making the sky brighten as dawn approached. A gut feeling kept him on patrol longer, something was about to change. After years of patroling, Aizawa learned that trusting his gut was important, especially when on a case. Aizawa hoped the kid wasn't dead, from reports that the police were given about the twins, the youngest seemed to be the most resilient and seemed to be able to survive anything thrown at them, figuratively and literally.

The change of wind made the pro pause, the smell of the city passed but that wasn't what caught his attention, it was the undercurrent of iron that got his attention. Practically undetectable this high up but when he landed with a thud when his heavy boots thumped against cement, he caught it. Iron almost buried under rotten food and crumpled wrappers and leaky trash bags. Three forms seemed to be watching over a box cautiously as if it was going to attack them. As Aizawa walked closer he recognized one of the people watching the box.

"What's going on?" The pro watched as the other two people became more skittish.

"Eraser, we got another one, this one more banged up than the others, looks like shit, injured to hell and back probably. Don't look older than 8, but could be older."

As the pro approached the smell of iron became more intense which made him hurry over worried before seeing the kid. "Shit- what the fuck happened?"

"Not a damn clue, all we knows is the kid crawled into the box and hasn't moved for probably three days at least. Looks like they fled a fire, know anythin about that?"

"Only one kid I'm looking for seems to fit that description- but no one thought to look here- I'll take them off your hands, I'll call in for your usual payment and more."

"Get that kid help, that is what matters, the usual offer is fine, the extra can be the kid being okay, and have someone watch over 'em"

A small whimper was heard from the kid as they were being lifted up but fell silent once against Aizawa. "I'll watch over them."

The wind tore at Aizawa as he rushed home and called Nezu who was hosting an early morning meeting with the other teachers.

"I don't care WHO is watching my class, just have someone sub in, I have something going on, more specifically something that will need Recovery Girl to check over the kid."

"Did you find the kid they were looking for or is this another, Aizawa?" The rat's chipper voice resonated through the com.

"Found the kid but they are in rough shape, could be worse of course but I won't be leaving their side for a while, at least until they wake up."

"Is my assistance needed Aizawa?" Recovery Girl's voice could be heard faintly over the others.

"The kid will need healing so yes, we just need to be careful, kid is likely to seem skittish around new people if they wake while you are looking them over"

"Alright, Mic is coming with me just in case. We need to take steps to make sure nothing goes wrong." Recovery Girl's calm voice could be heard.

"The kid might be burned badly too, we need to take care of that first. That is the most important thing at the moment." Aizawa was concerned about the child he was holding, the kid was too light and not all of the injuries could be easily seen. He could see burns and what seemed to be a mix of old scars and fresh ones that reopened and the kid smelled of iron and and ash. He needed to get the kid healed.