Facing The Past

~Eraser~

Watching Dabi get on the ship, scanning my eyes over the others before sighing and standing up, setting the bowl down and following Dabi to wherever he disappeared to. 'How should I confront him? What should I ask first? I'll have to ease into the interrogation, I don't want him panicking again.' Knocking on the door to the sleeping quarters.

"Yeah, yeah. Come in."

His voice was quiet and rough as he replied, almost like he expected me. I entered the room as Dabi pulled his shirt on.

"Don't tell me you followed me here just so you could interrogate me, because that's boring and I'm not in the mood. Nor will I ever be."

He said, crossing my arms and sighing.

"We will have to talk about this eventually, even if it's just in fragmented conversations."

Replying as he glanced at me. He was about to say something when the sound of commotion interrupted, we both looked at each other for a few seconds before heading to check what was happening.

The Marines seemed to have drawn a new line separating "Justice and Evil" this time appearing to abide by it, they had also put up a blockade with a marine banner, blocking the view of the pirates and kids from one another. The kids cried out in confusion, the marines shouted about pirates being the scum of the earth. The kids continued to cry when the marines suddenly pointed their guns at them, my hand balled up into a fist. Glancing at Dabi who looked back at the scene then me before sighing.

He lifted his hands in a shrug while shaking his head as he walked over to the marines, he grabbed the banner and set it on fire as Tashigi berated the marines for their behavior. They soon broke down crying and admitted that they would start loving the pirates if they didn't take drastic measures like they had tried. 'I hate that in some way I could understand their reasoning, I've let my guard down a lot around Dabi. It's not something I'd ever admit, but even if I deny it, the proof is still there.' Eyeing Dabi who was standing next to me, closing my eyes with a sigh.

'If it's not my students then it's always something or someone else making me question everything, I wish I had my sleeping bag…' The kids thanked the pirates as we headed back to the ship with the warning of potential capture if we run into the marines again. The others fished in the anchor and started sailing as Zoro decided to question if and why Law was coming with us, then he questioned who Dabi was.

The annoyance was evident on the fresh fixed face of Dabi, Usopp decided to take this time to explain like Dabi had with them. After they inspected his appearance they obviously had questions but Dabi quickly denied any answers.

A few minutes after sailing, Law went off to the side with a transponder snail in hand. My brows furrowed, leaning against a wall to listen in from a distance...

~Dabi~

Eyeing Eraser who was seemingly trying to listen in on Law's talk with someone on his Transponder snail, sitting down on the bench. 'Doesn't he know spying is bad? And I thought heroes had at least some manners.' Shaking my head slightly and snickering, Law's conversation ended after a few minutes, and a few seconds after, the ship suddenly tilted and we sailed down an apparent slope.

"Isn't this sea like a slope?! It's fast!! We're sailing fast!!" Luffy laughed,

"It's a "Sea-Slope", you see them often." Law replied,

As Usopp shouted "No you don't!!" in the background,

"Nami!! What was that place we're going to call again?" Luffy questioned,

"It's a place called Dressrosa. We can go straight there by following the middle needle. Trafalguy-kun told us to go the long way around it." She replied

"D-Dressrosa?!" The samurai shouted in surprise.

"You know it?" Luffy questioned him,

"W-We...I mean, the island that I wish to go to is exactly that!! You have business there as well?!" The samurai replied.

"Yeah, probably! Tra-guy! Who were you talking to just now?!" Luffy asked,

"Doflamingo." Law replied,

'Ah, Law's old boss or whatever.' Humming,

"Doflamingo?! The warlord?! That's like the worst guy ever!!" Usopp shouted,

"Our strategy is already in motion." Law said,

"What strategy?" Zoro questioned, lost as to what even happened.

"That's right, we'll tell you our strategy!! Everyone gather round!!" Luffy cheered,

'He has no idea does he, he's just going to make Law explain everything.' Shaking my head and chuckling. Scooting over as Law and Luffy sat down on the bench next to me, Law proceeded to explain the basis of the alliance as everyone shouted simultaneously.

"The emperors, huh! That's great." Zoro approved readily,

"It so isn't!! Wait, wait!! Everyone calm down. Luffy! Tell the ones that don't know yet about the alliance." Usopp shouted,

"Okay! We and Tra-guy's crew have formed an alliance!! Let's all get along!! Shishishi!!" He laughed and patted Law's shoulder.

Laughing beside them in amusement, as Usopp shouted that he was against it, to which Nami and Chopper agreed.

"Will it make any difference if we protest?" Brook mentioned,

"Luffy already decided on it, didn't he?" Sanji said as he leaned near Law to inform him, "I'll just warn you now, but the "alliance" you're thinking of and Luffy's idea of "alliance" are probably pretty different, so watch out." Nodding in agreement to the cooks words,

'To be fair, we've given him multiple warnings to pull out of this idea of his, but he sure seems pretty determined even with Luffy's chaotically sporadic actions. Gotta give that to him if anything, 'cause he's sure to lose the last bit of sanity he might have. I say that, because you'd have to be pretty insane to join an alliance with this crazy kid.'

After coming to the inevitable conclusion that we'd be going no matter what, the three crybabies sulked, while Sanji said something about Caesar. Who laughed and made some pointless threat, sighing before standing up and heading to the sleeping quarters while Law started informing those who were listening, about whatever S.A.D was or something. I didn't care to properly listen anyways…

Laying on my side and staring at the wall in thought, 'Why did that memory suddenly resurface while I was unconscious? Am I just missing home? Maybe I'm missing them? I don't see why, it's not like I really saw much of them back home anyways...I wonder what they're doing right now, Fuyumi's probably still working at that daycare, and Natsuo might have finally gotten a girlfriend...Maybe Shoto's gotten stronger than me by now, and mom...I wonder if she's gotten enough of her sanity back…'

The door creaked open and closed as footsteps lead behind me, "You get bored of the speech too? Or did he finish early?" Chuckling at my own stupid innuendo, the image of Erasers raised brow and the disapproving look on his face was quite clear in my mind.

"So is asking your real full name starting off small or is that a hurdle I have to jump as well?" He wasted no time in getting straight to the point of why he came here. Sighing and rolling my eyes,

"C'mon teach, have some fun once in a while. You shouldn't be serious all the time, you'll go grey faster." Remarking while playing with a strand of my fading grey hair, glancing over my shoulder at him, noticing the serious look on his face and intently crossed arms. Huffing and plopping my head down on the pillow before turning onto my back, setting my arms under my head and staring up at the wood support. "What do you want me to say? Oh, hello. Nice to finally properly meet you, I'm Todoroki Touya, the first unwanted disappointment of the family." Glaring at him while mockingly sticking my hand out in a flimsy unmannered handshake.

His expression flickered with a slight resemblance of a forgotten emotion, nonetheless he sighed and took my hand. Not seeming to mind my mocking manner, "Well, Touya. I'm Shota Aizawa, it's nice to finally "meet" you as well." He offered a sincere greeting as he shook my limp hand, ignoring the last part of my mock greeting. Truth be told I didn't actually expect this, I thought he'd get annoyed and choke me with his scarf or something. Letting the unexpected shock drain from my body before pulling my hand away, eyeing him for a few seconds before closing my eyes with a sigh.

Putting my arm over my closed eyes, chuckling and shaking my head, my eyes slightly teared up unexpectedly as my lips twisted. "Who'd have guessed, a hero and a villain shaking hands and being friendly. Oh if people back home were to see us now, I'd never hear the end of it from Shigaraki and the others." My bottom lip quivered as tears started rolling down the side of my face. 'Damnit, why am I crying now? In front of a hero no less, what is there to even cry about? Was I always this much of a crybaby? I feel like a child, this is stupid. Stupid tears. Stupid Eraser. Stupid feelings.'

Eraser suddenly lifted me into a sitting position, pressing my face into his shoulder, 'This is truly pathetic, I'm 24 and I'm being comforted. Not to mention the one comforting me is a hero, I'm so going to kill Eraser if he ever brings this up.' The last pieces of the dam broke, gripping desperately onto the back of his shirt, sobbing my eyes out. 'I don't think I've ever felt like this before. I'm crying, and I feel like absolute shit. But I'm also content, and maybe even a bit relieved?' I must seem like a totally pathetic villain right now, being comforted by someone who's supposed to be an enemy, and balling my eyes out in his shoulder. His shirt is already soaked from the tears and snot, what am I, another one of his traumatized students?'

"You are far from unwanted and a disappointment, your siblings all still care and miss you. You chose a wrong path and blindly followed, you just need help finding your way back." He comforted. Whimpering between sobs.

'Someone kill me now, the embarrassment after this will be tremendous.' I don't know how long it was before the tears stopped falling and the crackling sobs faded, but I could tell how puffy and red my eyes were. At some point we'd laid down and I had started sobbing into his loosely gathered scarf. That was at most twenty minutes ago, now I was barely whimpering and nearly drifting off. It felt like when Shoto would come into my room and cry in my arms but with reversed rolls. Why did this feel so comforting?! It's almost scary how relaxed I am right now.

Starting to doze off when Eraser peeled himself away, he stared at me for at least a minute before sighing and digging into the bag beside my bed for a new shirt. After, he left and returned a few minutes later with a damp cloth which he used to clean up my face. 'Now I really feel like a kid.'

He released a deep, content sigh "What am I going to do with you?" He said, seemingly questioning the future events that may happen. A sudden thought of Shoto crossed my mind, seemingly murmuring his name. Aizawa's surprised yet comforting expression was surprisingly clear in my mind as he slightly ruffled my hair, "Seems they're not the only ones who have someone they care about and miss." The smile was evident in his voice as he grabbed something and took comfort in the bed opposite from me. Unable to help the small smile that formed on my lips before drifting off in content.

It was hard to tell what time I'd woke up, but a lot seemed to have happened. Caesar apparently got kidnapped, Luffy and Law became slaves, fought each other, almost died, defeated their master, freed a bunch of strange pirate animals, and stopped at this island. After nearly getting a headache from all the information, I took a moment to process it all. 'Did I really only sleep for eight hours?' Luffy of course had already run off to explore the island and Eraser insisted on following me like a doting parent, it was surprisingly only a little annoying. We wandered around the forest a bit and found a few strange creatures and berries, there wasn't a lot to see though. We were just casually walking and looking around when my foot caught on something and we were suddenly tangled up in a rope trap, "Woah!" gasping and groaning.

"Stupid- I let my guard down, why is there even a trap here?!" Questioning as Eraser tried moving around.

"I don't know, but we need to get out of this trap first before questioning anything." He said before moving his foot.

"Hey-Hey! Move your foot! This is too cramped!" My left hand was twisted in the rope and Eraser's foot was inching closer to somewhere it shouldn't be.

"I can't help it! This rope trap definitely isn't meant for two people, or people in general-!" He said, as I tried to untwist my arm impatiently. "Can't you just burn it?!" He said, taking a moment to glare at him.

"Only if you're fine with getting singed, because if you haven't noticed. This position isn't ideal for a burn free escape." Remarking before motioning to my stuck arm that just so happened to be intertwined with his stuck foot. Not to mention my other hand was currently under him, it was like a bondage version of twister without the placemat and 6 feet in the air. "Stop! You're going to kill me if you try moving!" Shouting as he continued to move,

"You're being over dramatic, let me just-" He started,

"Shit! Ow! Stooooop! Hey! Ouwwwww!!."

Groaning as the rope suddenly released and we fell onto the ground *pkk* rolling around on the floor groaning as my hands covered my crotch in pain.

"Gahhh! This...is all...your fault…!"

Wallowing when a sudden familiar voice spoke.

"M-Mr. Aizawa?!" Someone said in shock,

Freezing immediately as the pain from downstairs quickly became the least important thing.

"Midoriya?! Bakugo?! -! Shoto? W-What-"

My heart nearly stopped, 'S-Shoto? How long has he been here? Why are they here, why didn't I think of them possibly ending up here?! What about Fuyumi?! Natsuo?! Mom?!' Shakedly standing up as Eraser talked to the three, overhearing something about the League and Shigaraki. 'Don't tell me they ended up here as well...I'd hate to be the poor bastards that are unlucky enough to run into them, especially crazy…' Shivering at the thought when blondy suddenly spoke up.

"Who's he?" He questioned and It was obvious that all attention was now back on me and Eraser.

'Shoto wouldn't remember me, right? I'm older than the last time he saw me, but I don't have my scars, and the dye is pretty much all gone. I don't think I've ever been this nervous before, the only times I can remember is when I stood up to dad and he gave me that look. Nevermind that, if his face doesn't turn to shock then I'll know I'm good. If it does, I'm screwed.'

Forcing myself to turn and face them, by Eraser's expression, the nervousness on my face was plain as day. Trying to release the tension from my body, uselessly, I was too nervous and stiff. My eyes kept trained on Shoto's expression as it went from its casual monotone. Slowly to slight recognition, then to uncertainty, sadness, and shock. 'Shit.'

He seemed utterly at a loss for words, 'If I stay quiet, will he change his mind?' He glanced at Aizawa who nodded before his face twisted and tears formed in his eyes. He immediately ran over to me just like when he was a kid and hugged me tightly, my body was as still and stiff as a statue as my brain tried to process everything, the other two looked unbelievably confused. Biting my lip and slowly wrapping my arms around him as he cried into my chest, 'This is painfully familiar, someone kill me right now so I can die happy.'

"H-Hey candy cane, been a while."