Zero - A Vigilante Deku Story

Chapter 8 - Forget-me-not

POV Zero

He had been found out - in more ways than one. Not only did Eraserhead know about his past, but Zero had also outed himself as a vigilante when he had used his quirk while panicking.

His only thought had been to escape. Zero had needed to get to safety at all costs. No matter what price he had had to pay. He had had to give everything to escape. At that moment he had been convinced of it, but now? Now Zero wasn't so sure anymore.

Last night he hadn't been on patrol. Instead, he had stayed on the platform he inhabited in the factory the whole time. His fear of being discovered if he left his sanctuary was simply too big.

Zero didn't want to believe that Eraserhead was working with the LOV. He was a good hero - Zero was convinced of that. And yet ... no one but the League knew that there had once been a little boy they called Null.

Who, if not a member of the LOV, could have told the underground hero about it? Yet it had been over two years since he had left his old self behind. Yes, there had always been a certain risk of being discovered by the League. Not least because of Zero's signature. He had chosen it then because a small defiant part of him wanted the villains to know that their failed experiment was still alive. Zero wanted Shigaraki to know that the useless boy had defied him one last time by refusing to die.

Could it be the LOV had realized he hadn't died after all? Zero tried to remember - even if it was all a bit hazy. After all, they had beaten him up like rarely before.

~~~~~

Null lay on the holey futon and fought for every breath. Due to the many blows to his head, he had trouble remembering what had happened the night before.

Shigaraki had shown him a picture of a hero and told him a part of town to look for him. They wanted Null to kill the hero, which proved how little they knew him.

Whenever the news reported on heroes and their deeds, Null had watched spellbound. He had learned to ignore Shigaraki's nagging years ago. The heroes had given him hope. Maybe there was more to the world than just villains and bad things, more than pain, experiments and battles. Maybe there was good out there somewhere. After all, that was what heroes stood for and fought for, wasn't it? Heroes saved and protected ...

And perhaps Null had also hoped that one day a hero would come to save him too. Could he still be saved? Would he be worth saving? Null wasn't so sure.

What he did know for sure was that he could never kill anything - especially not a hero.

After that, it was a blur, as it so often was. Null and Spinner had set off in search of the hero. He couldn't remember which hero it was or where they finally found him. The only thing he remembered from last night was his disobedience and the fight against Spinner. In doing so, he had saved the hero and damned himself at the same time.

Perhaps this act also made him heroic - at least a little bit. He clung to that.

As soon as he was alone with Spinner, Null had stopped fighting. His partner had dragged him back to their hiding place, bristling with rage, and told Shigaraki about his refusal. Then came the blows.

Now he was lying here - no idea how long. It must have been a few hours or did it just seem that way to him? Everything was spinning and he felt terribly dizzy. He probably had a broken arm and at least a few bruised ribs. Shigaraki had also done something he had always avoided doing. He had never hurt one of Null's wings too badly, but this time he had broken something. Null suspected it was the radius, but he wasn't sure. His wing hurt terribly and he could no longer stretch it. So he lay on his side with the healthy wing and held the other one in a protective position.