Erased (Complete)

Fit for a Villain

I hung my mask by the door of my apartment and sunk into my couch with a heavy sigh. I guess life isn't going to change..Okay, Leah, no use crying over it. You've made it this far, the rest of life can't get worse, just take a bath and go to bed.

I settled into a scolding bath, with a book to distract me. Something about a person with no quirk learning to be happy about their lives, only to save they day in a way no quirk could by the end of the story.

"Bullshit." I threw it towards the trashcan. "Ugh...What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

I told my parents I wasn't coming back until I got control over something in my life. Does knowing you'll never have control count as some sort of control..?

I reached for my phone and dialed their number.

"Leah, why haven't you called?"

I smiled. "Hello to you too, mom. How are you?"

"I'd be better if my daughter called me now and again."

"I did tell you I needed to be alone. To figure out my quirk?"

"I know... Are you alright?"

"Um, I don't know. I just feel helpless right now. I went to talk to someone I thought could help, but--uh--no such luck."

"I'm sorry, Leah. You could come home now? We miss you."

"I miss you too, but I can't live in your house again. I'm twenty six, Mom, it's high time I grew up."

"There are apartments in our town too, I'll have you know. Even miles from where your father and I live...just not as far as you are now."

"I can't stay in that town. Everyone knows me, they don't understand the lack of control. They think I'm not trying."

"I know, dear, I know... But being in a big city of people who don't know you can't be any better."

"People whisper when I pass...but it's better than when they'd stop all together in town to try to go unnoticed by me. And even with the whispers it's easier to blend in a big city. This is something that I need, at least--" I was cut off by a doorbell I didn't know I had. "At least for now. I have to go, but I'll call soon."

"You better, Leah, or I might have to come to that city of yours."

"Okay, Mom. I'll talk to you soon, love you."

"Love you, dear."

I wrapped myself in a robe and padded to the door. "Who is it?"

"Aizawa."

Huh. I pulled on my mask and opened the door. "Come in. Feel free to turn on a light, just make sure you turn it off before you go. I'm going to get dressed. I'll just be a minute."

I walked hurriedly to my room, shut the door, and threw on the nearest clothes before replacing my mask and joining Aizawa in the living area.

"I didn't expect you to be wearing the mask in your own home."

His voice came from the couch and I made my way over. "It isn't exactly usual, but neither is a guest. Why did you come here? And how the hell did you know where to find me?" I found myself more curious about what he looked like sitting in my apartment, than how he found it. I worried that seeing people move for only a few minutes had undone my life's work of becoming okay with my 'voluntary blindness'.

"Registration. You broke onto school grounds, when Principal Nedzu asked for your address they were compliant. As to why I'm here, Im not sure. I don't know if I can help you or how to go about it, but I wouldn't be a teacher if I didn't want to try to help tomorrow's heros. We'll have to train off campus, of course.

"I know heros who had trouble controlling their quirk," he continued. "They'd like to help. And I'll be here so you don't have to wear a mask the entire time."

"You have no idea how much I'd like that, but you shouldn't waste your time on me. Even if I get control of when I use my quirk it isn't one that could be used in public. And your time is better spent on people who can actually become tomorrow's heros. That's even why I wasn't accepted into Hero Academy, right?"

"Heros don't need to take on the villains in crowded streets, they do that when they want to be worshipped."

"We don't know how to begin training. Look, I've come to terms with this," I motioned to my mask, "being what I have to do. You don't have to help."

He sighed heavily. "Take off your mask."

"There's no reason to make yourself uncomfortable. I've tried to get control of this since I was six years old. I appreciate your want to help me--" He pushed the mask back away from my eyes with his thumb, hand resting on the top of my head.  We stared at each other briefly.

Again, no one ever tried to take off my mask... Even people I'd been with romantically, for whatever short amount of time, avoided my face whenever possible. This felt more intimate than I wanted to admit, especially knowing he wasn't aware of it and couldn't understand if I tried to explain.

"You really shouldn't be pulling  at my mask..." I looked at my lap and folded the cloth. "I appreciate what you're trying to do," I said finally, "I really do. But, it will only make it harder to put my mask back on for good, if I believe you can help."

"You don't deserve to go another fourteen years without feeling human. Leah, the way you are now, you couldn't be a hero. But it's not for the reasons you think... Without seeing people, and being around them, you can't have a connection with them. And without that connection, you have no reason to help them."

"I'm not a hero, so your problem is non-existent... Oops, looks like you blinked." I laughed harshly. "Hmm, should I let you go?" I sighed and stood walking to the opposite side of the room with my back turned. I leaned on the wall. "My quirk is more fit for a villain than a hero... I just want to be a civilian..."

I heard his light footsteps on the wood flooring. "Principal Nedzu would say 'any quirk that can be used so save can be used to kill'. But I wouldn't say that, in risk of being too helpful before your first day of training."

I turned to him without thinking, but before I could look away he'd erased my quirk again. "I don't want to get my hopes up, Aizawa, I don't know what I'd do if I started thinking like my kid self again and couldn't--fix this."

He nodded. It was a simple movement, but for me it was mesmerizing. "I hope that won't hinder any progress, but I can't hold it against you. I'll meet you here tomorrow." He walked towards the door.

I stared after him. "Thank you." The door shut behind him.