Zero - A Vigilante Deku Story

Chapter 9 - Is there any chance it won't end in world domination?

POV Aizawa

With his hands buried in his pants pockets, he walked through the deserted corridors of UA. Aizawa pulled his shoulders up so he could better tuck his face into his scarf. It had become December and cold. The midterm exams were just behind them. All of his problem children had passed except for two who had to sit the re-examination. The teacher was proud of them, even if he would never say so out loud. Things were going well in his class. Nothing to worry about.

But as far as his other problem child was concerned... Aizawa sighed heavily. He hadn't seen Zero since the encounter at the café. It had been two weeks now. There had been hardly any sightings of the vigilante in that time. He had withdrawn, which not only displeased a certain underground hero, but also an annoying soup chicken, a plan-making chimera and an overworked police detective.

They were all worried about the young vigilante. Whereas Aizawa also reproached himself. He should have known that Zero would react sensitively to the subject. After Dabi's story, it was clear the boy must be more than just traumatized.

The corridors of the school were deserted. The students were long gone to their dorms, preparing for the last days before winter break. Most of them would be spending this time at home with their families. Only a few of his problem children would stay in the dormitory. They had planned a Christmas party for the afternoon of the last day of school. Aizawa didn't yet know whether he would find the time to attend. It all depended on what they decided at the meeting.

The underground hero reached the staff room and entered. A glance around confirmed what he had already feared. He was the last to arrive. Damn problem children causing problems ...

The entire UA faculty was here. However, neither Hawks nor Tsukauchi was present. A small part of him felt bad about that. He didn't want to go behind his partners' backs, but Zero's future was more important to him than a bump in his relationship with the other two. Tsukauchi would get over it, and Hawks himself had indirectly let him know that he and his boss should have a plan before they grabbed the vigilante.

"Hello everyone," Nezu greeted them as soon as Aizawa sat down next to his husband. "Some of you may already know what today is about, but for those of you who are new to this topic, let me summarize it briefly." The chimera clapped his little paws busily.

"As you all should know, our dear Shouta-kun is out and about in the streets of Musutafu at night. He has encounters with a certain vigilante there from time to time. Nothing unusual so far, but the Hero Commission has recently become active." Nezu's whiskers twitched. Anyone who knew the half-breed well enough knew that this was an expression of his displeasure.

"Which vigilante are we talking about and why are we even interested in him?" Vlad King asked.

Aizawa rolled his eyes. He had already known the old vampire was going to be a bit of a bully.

Nezu didn't let that spoil his mood. "Good question, my dear Vlad. Shouta-kun, would you be so kind?"

The underground hero cleared his throat. "The vigilante in question is Zero. A few weeks ago, the commission put Hawks on me so that he could finally be arrested. The annoying bird more or less made it clear to me that it would be better if UA thought of something before the Commission got its hands on the boy."

"Boy? I thought hardly anything was known about Zero?" Nemuri asked. "Besides, there haven't been many sightings of him lately, have there?"

The heroine with the sleeping gasquirk was one of the few people Aizawa would let interrupt him without being annoyed - even if he would never tell her that. "Admittedly, Hawks was helpful in revealing Zero's identity. An informant of his told us about a boy the League of Villains had been experimenting on for years. They called him Project Null. They tried to kill him two years ago, but it turns out he's still alive and has been acting as a vigilante ever since."

"How do you know they're both the same person?" Cementos asked.

"The last time I met the boy, I addressed him as Null. His reaction to the name was blind panic. To run away from me, he used his quirk in broad daylight and unmasked himself. So we were able to confirm that it was the same person in all cases."

Nezu took the floor again: "In short, I want us to come up with a plan to hold Zero long enough to talk to him and bring him here. The order is not that important. We may even already have a good opportunity to do so. I'm still waiting for his answer."

"What are you planning to do with the boy?" Chiyo asked.

"And what do you mean by answer?" Aizawa followed up.

The rat's smile widened. "I want to secure his future - that's all. As you know, my dear Shouta-kun, Zero has lost his laptop. Being the studious student who he is, he has contacted his school management to explain himself and apologize for missing his work. I have offered to provide him with a new laptop so that his education no longer suffers from the loss. Of course, I don't want to risk that with my top student."

"Pupil? School management? Now I don't understand a thing," Snipe said, sounding a little lost.

"I got hold of Zero's laptop. He's enrolled in an online high school which our rat god runs as a hobby," Aizawa explained, ignoring the looks from his colleagues. "So you want to set a trap for Zero where we lie in wait, ambush him and arrest him if he carelessly picks up the new laptop from a place convenient to you?"

"I was thinking of a packing station that doesn't get much traffic," Nezu explained. His whiskers twitched and his black beady eyes flashed dangerously.

Aizawa had a bad feeling. It was rare for anything good to come of the rat being possessed by something or someone, as he seemed to be with Zero. It looked as if the underground hero not only had to protect the boy from himself and the commission, but also from his crazy boss.

~~~~~

Three days later, the time had come.

Aizawa was lying in wait with some of the UA heroes, waiting for Zero to finally show up. The winter vacations had begun, which made the timing quite favorable. If their plan today was successful, they could give the vigilante some time to settle in before he was thrown into the crazy daily routine of UA.

Aizawa had nailed Nezu to the fact that Zero would be joining his class. Vlad had looked offended at the rat's enthusiastic approval, but the underground hero couldn't care less. He would not allow anyone else to take this problem child under his wing.

Next to him on the roof were Zashi and Nem. On the roof opposite, Hawks crouched with Snipe. Down in the alleyways, Cementos and Vlad were hiding. They had been lying in wait here for hours, hoping Zero would show up soon. It had taken a few days for the boy to accept the laptop Nezu had offered him. At first, he had rigorously refused. Whether he was expecting an ambush or whether he didn't want anything as a gift, as he had claimed to the principal, Aizawa couldn't tell yet.

"Do you think he'll come tonight?" Nemuri whispered next to him.

"He's become very cautious since I confronted him about his past. That's why I think Zero is more likely to show up here at night than during the day. Let's just hope he comes on foot instead of flying. Then he'll see us up here from afar and there's no way he'll land," Aizawa replied.

Zashi hummed softly. "Hopefully he'll come with us voluntarily."

"Unfortunately, we can't assume that. As soon as something seems strange to Zero, he takes flight as if he were a rabbit or a deer. It's not without reason that I haven't been able to exchange a single word with him and instead chase after him until he escapes me."

"I'm sure he would get on well with Toshi." As so often, his husband was already making plans for the future.

Aizawa sighed. He was no better himself. After all, yesterday he had cleared everything out of their guest room what had accumulated there over the past year - just in case.

"Someone's coming," Nemuri hissed and poked him in the side.