Work Text:
-
01
Shinsou felt like a blank slate, his signature smirk slipping away fast as he walked through the halls. They were empty, of course; the Sports Festival wasn’t finished yet and there weren’t many students eager to miss it. The boy swayed even as he opened the door, one hand reaching out for a door frame, or something.
A soft meow reached his ears. Shinsou looked down to see a black cat wrapping itself around his legs, purring up a storm he didn’t think was possible before then. He gave it a faint turn of his lips as he reached down to pet it, sliding to his knees as the cat pressed up against him. It jumped up onto his lap and settled. “Alright, this is okay. You’re a nice cat.”
I wonder if they come with the other strays sometimes. Shinsou let his mind wander as he ruffled the cat’s fur, pondering what a good name for it would be. After all, he didn’t know the gender (or much else, but the cat was brown and he was considering something coffee-based). The hour passed, and before he knew it Shinsou was carrying a patient cat to sit by a tree instead of the sidewalk he knew would soon be crowded with UA students.
“Hey, hey Shinsou!” A voice called out to him from some distance away, and he started, clutching the cat’s fur a bit tighter even as he glanced up. Midoriya (that was his name, right?) was running across the grass with a grin on his face that could outshine the sun.
Shinsou shifted the cat into his lap before fully facing the other boy, one eyebrow lifted in curiosity. “Hey, Midoriya, was it? What’s up?”
“Oh! I, I just wanted to say that I think your quirk is amazing! Do you, uh, mind if I take notes on it? I usually don’t ask but you seemed upset and I didn’t want to anger you because I think it would be cool if we could maybe get to know each other and gods- wait am I rambling again? ” Midoriya stopped, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Sorry, I mumble a lot. You okay?”
Shinsou sat motionless, hand frozen on the cat as he took in the information. My quirk? Amazing? Taking notes? What he had deemed his ‘core’ began to warm up, starting to overheat. His powers hadn’t acted with his emotions in a while, but… “Are you joking around? My quirk isn’t anything special. People call it a villain’s quirk, why do you think any different?”
“Your quirk isn’t a villain's quirk, Shins-” Midoriya froze, eyes hollowing in a way Shinsou was familiar with. The purple haired boy held the cat to his chest and stood, biting his lip.
“Tell me honestly: what do you want with my quirk?” He didn’t mean to brainwash Midoriya, but he might as well use it.
Midoriya opened his mouth. “I think your quirk is really neat, and I’ve already catalogued all the quirks in my class. I want to analyze yours and see how it can be used and costume ideas and things like that. I do it for all the hero quirks I come across.”
Shinsou drew in a sharp breath, eyes widening rather comically. He lost focus and his quirk faded, Midoriya gasping as if he hadn’t been breathing under the control. “Sure, Midoriya. I wouldn’t mind you, uh, taking notes on my quirk. I guess. And sorry for my quirk… I can explain it later.”
Midoriya brightened, holding out a slip of paper with a phone number on it. “Okay! It’s alright, I understand with your quirk! Text me when you’re free, okay?”
Shinsou nodded, taking the slip with one hand, cat meowing in protest. As Midoriya walked away, he threw an offhand remark over his shoulder.
“That cat’s pretty cool! Looks like a Java! Anyway, see you later Shinsou!”
-
02
[shinsouffle]
this is midoriya, right? i’m going to be free this afternoon, at the library. if you want to take notes, you can come then ig
[you never see izuku coming]
ah sure! see you then ≧◡≦
Shinsou let out a quiet huff of surprise, attention almost immediately resting on the face at the end of Midoriya’s message. The classmates that still lingered in the room looked at him in surprise (“was that a huff? at a text?” “i wonder who he’s texting!”). He blocked out the other noise and slipped on his backpack. It was time for lunch and if Shinsou wanted to meet Midoriya after class, he would have to do his homework at lunch.
The cat inside - Java; he had decided after Midoriya commented on it - writhed around some. “Calm down, Java. We’ll be at the table soon and you can get some outside time.” Shinsou kept a straight face as he slid into the cafeteria, grabbing an apple off the table and then heading outside. There were several people sparsely located, lingering at the tables while they finished their food.
He slid onto a bench, opening his backpack and setting Java onto the table. She (he had checked before taking her to the vet, which was important considering he was basically adopting her) purred loudly at Shinsou, curling up in the sunlight as the boy began working on a sheet of problems. The apple was good, at least, even though the math was frustrating.
“Hey, Shinsou!”
Shinsou turned with an eyebrow raised yet again, only for his eyes to widen at the green-haired boy running towards him. “Midoriya, huh? What’s up?” Midoriya slid into the seat next to him, giving a jerky wave to Java before setting down a charred notebook. It was labeled ‘No. 19’, and the marks looked like that one aggressive kid’s quirk. “Is that your notebook on quirks and stuff you were talking about?”
“Mmhm! I already, uh, began listing what I knew about your quirk - or what I think I know, anyway. They’re just little observations I’ve made! Here, I wanted you to read over it. Just so, you know, I didn’t get anything wrong?” Midoriya looked away with a twitching smile, clearly nervous (yet somehow excited, Shinsou noted).
“Sure,” Shinsou agreed, scanning the page. The handwriting was messy but still legible. One thing stood out; there was a passage describing how it felt to be mind-controlled (‘it feels like cold fog vines tangling your mind up, controlling you, blocking everything, and it's cold and a bit unsettling. i don’t mind it, though’). “I… is that how it really feels? Hm.”
“You mean…? I guess that makes sense, considering the nature of your quirk and the general mind-control thing. But still, have you ever tried brainwashing yourself? It would be odd, right? I wonder if it would work or have any combat benefits; maybe- ah… was I rambling again, Shinsou? My apologies.”
Shinsou paused, focusing on his ‘core’. Could he brainwash himself? If that happened, would other people control him or would he still have loose control and give himself commands? “I’m going to try.”
Before Midoriya could warn against it, he mumbled a question and answered it himself. The cold tendrils the other boy had described were curling at the edges of Shinsou’s brain, Midoriya inhaling (Shinsou figured he probably saw the hollow eyes), and a small command escaped the tired boy’s lips.
“Grab Midoriya’s hand.” It was soft, only coherent to Shinsou, but the fog took over anyway and his hand reached out. This was terrifying. He wanted it to stop; this was awful. A headache split down his mind, crackling like lightning and frying his nerves. There was heavy breathing nearby, and only when Midoriya pinched him did he realize, wow Shinsou, you’re the one breathing heavily.
“Thanks, Midoriya. Sorry. It is terrifying; sorry for making you go through that. But still… I wonder if anybody took notice of my quirk at the Hero Festival, even with how off it was. It seems even more powerful now that I’ve seen it for myself.” Java purred and rubbed against his arm, watching Midoriya smile.
“I’m sure they did. After all, you almost won. Maybe you could ask our teacher, he’s Eraserhead after all. He had experience with a quirk that isn’t physical or flashy.”
Shinsou nodded. Maybe he would.
-
03
With a wheeze, Shinsou ducked down under Aizawa’s blow only to receive a kick to the legs. A jab to the throat and he was down, pinned by his mentor on the dusty training ground. “You have to be careful when you dodge, or else villains can take advantage of it.” Aizawa let go with a sigh, Shinsou scrambling to his feet and heaving a deep breath. “That’s all for today. You aren’t ready yet, but you’ve improved since the first time.”
Shinsou nodded, running a hand through his hair. “Alright. I need to get better if I’m going to have a chance in the hero course, I know.”
“I’ve heard you’ve been training your quirk and working with Midoriya. That’s good, but don’t forget that you need to work on your physical strength too.” Aizawa held out a juice box with a flat expression. “Also. I understand from your files that you have insomnia. But make sure to get sleep when it's not too bad, considering heroes need to be in top shape all the time.”
The student huffed out a laugh, leveling a half-hearted, cynical glare to the teacher in front of him. “I’ll try . Can’t promise more than that.” His phone buzzed in his pocket as he spoke, and Shinsou turned his attention to that, expression lightening at the message from Midoriya.
[pine tree floof]
hey shinsou! do you want to come to my house on the weekend? i won’t be seeing you for a while thanks to the training camp, so i wanted to invite you over?
The address was sent in a separate message, almost as an afterthought.
[shinsouffle]
sounds good to me. see you there, ig
A loud cough alerted Shinsou to Aizawa’s presence right in front of him. “You should get going, Shinsou. I’m heading home anyway.”
Shinsou nodded; he should probably get going.
-
The house in front of him looked normal: one story, average size and painted a cream white. Shinsou rang the doorbell, hearing loud footsteps inside and a few faint clangs. “Coming!” The voice (and by extension, the footsteps) belonged to Izuku. The door was flung open a few seconds later and Shinsou greeted a messy, green-haired boy who had a sheepish expression on his face.
“Sorry about, uh, this. I woke up late. Come on in, and, uh, please, please don’t judge my room… it’s kinda crowded.” Midoriya laughed, a nervous, high pitched sound that contrasted the clanking of pans nearby. “My mom’s in the kitchen. Let’s go, c’mon!”
Shinsou was tugged along by his wrist, a smirk tugging at his lips. Midoriya seems both nervous and excited, he noted, following along as the boy in front of him opened a pale green door. It took a hand covering his mouth to hide the huff of laughter at the interior; there was lots and lots of hero merchandise. “You, uh, weren’t joking. Looks interesting.”
Midoriya giggled - giggled - out of pure anxiety. Shinsou, however, simply walked over to the bed and sat down, relaxing as his muscles unwinded. “You have a really comfy bed. I’m going to stay on it,” Shinsou decided, giving the other a small smile. Aizawa’s training wasn’t harsh, but it was difficult, and Shinsou hadn’t had a night to relax in about a week. “Thanks for the invite, Midoriya.”
“Haha, no problem,” Midoriya mumbled, climbing up beside Shinsou and laying down. “So, you seem more muscular- oh, that probably sounded wrong. Oh my god, sorry. I was just thinking maybe possibly I could make some notes if it’s something related to hero work?” Shinsou huffed out yet another short laugh, and draped an arm onto Midoriya’s chest playfully.
“There you go. Look all you want.”
“Shinsou!” Midoriya laughed too, a light sound that filled the whole room. “Your arm is heavy!” He sat up, letting the arm fall into his lap so he could look at it. “But in all seriousness… you must be doing a lot of training. When I first fought you in the sports festival, you were weaker- no offense! Sorry! But now you seem to be like Uraraka- more muscular, but still having that lean frame! It would be useful in battle too, in apprehending a criminal after you use your quirk… ”
The tired boy listened to Midoriya mumble on, fully relaxing until he began to doze off. He sunk deeper into the All Might comforter until the boy next to him ceased talking, turning to face the sleepy Shinsou. “Oh. Are you that tired, Shinsou?” Shinsou snapped awake at the whisper, eyes widening and core heating up in embarrassment.
“Sorry, sorry, Midoriya. I know we were supposed to meet up and talk and all that…”
“Don’t worry-” Midoriya froze. Shinsou sat up, looking into the other’s hollow eyes with a small sigh. He slapped the boy’s hand, light but enough to awaken him from the control. “Like I was saying! Don’t worry about it, Shinsou. You can sleep if you want. It’s late, and we have tomorrow if you want to sleep over or something.”
Shinsou nodded, offering a small smirk at the offer. “Thanks, Midoriya. I think I’ll take you up on that.”
It wasn’t five minutes later when he fell asleep, Midoriya leaning against him as he scribbled in a charred notebook.
-
04
There were dorms now, for the Hero Course. Dorms he would be moving into.
Shinsou had been informed by Midoriya that during the summer camp, Mineta Minoru had been expelled from Yuuei for… evident reasons. Aizawa was moving Shinsou into the course and he would start in the fall, after a month more of summer training. And, as previously noted, the dorms. Were cats allowed in the dorms? Would Class 1-A accept him? He already knew Midoriya would, but everyone else?
“I’m getting as bad as Midoriya with this over-thinking. Jesus…” Shinsou rubbed at his eyes with one hand and rolled his suitcases along with the other, Java curled up on the top of one of the black containers. The students of Class 1-A were already lined up, looking to be in the middle of a lecture from Aizawa. He slid to the back of the group, resting behind Midoriya and his two friends (who he, Shinsou admitted, had no idea who were).
“So you guys have rooms that are already decided. The chart is up in the common area; all the rooms are on the second floor. The first floor is an area for all the others to group, with a kitchen, living area, dining room and ‘loft’. Now before you go crazy, we have a new 1-A student to introduce- Shinsou, please come up here.” Aizawa leveled a challenging eye at Shinsou, letting him know he wasn’t sneaky enough to avoid this.
He huffed a sigh but obliged, dragging himself and his suitcases up to the front. After a nudge from Aizawa, Shinsou ran a hand through his hair and began talking. “Hey, I’m Shinsou Hitoshi, I used to be in General Studies and my quirk is brainwashing. Thanks for letting me stay, I guess.”
The glasses boy who was standing next to Midoriya earlier pushed his way to the front of the class, waving his hands around. “Hello, Shinsou! I’m Tenya Iida, but as your class representative you can call me Iida! I want to build a trustworthy relationship between you and the class even though you are starting a bit late! Congratulations, by the way!”
Shinsou glanced over Iida’s shoulder at Midoriya, who gave him a light shrug and a smile. “Alright, Iida, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
-
Java curled up on Shinsou’s bed, the simplicity of the room overall a little boring. I have some more stuff to unpack… I hope that’s all the stuff I packed, since it hasn’t showed up yet. He opened the second suitcase he had brought, a small smirk falling into place at the posters and stuffed toys (and some cat care things, too; he couldn’t forget about Java). He put the stuff into a designated area of his room for studying and doing work, before laying down on his bed.
“Shinsou?” Said boy glanced over to the door, which Midoriya was peering through with an apprehensive grin. “Uh, we have some stuff for you downstairs. Since you’ve joined the Hero course, and all.” Shinsou nodded, sliding off his bed with Java in tow. The cat seemed attached to him since they got inside the dorms.
Downstairs, there was a small cupcake on the coffee table along with a ribbon-tied kettle and tea bag set. Eyebrows raised at the sight but Shinsou felt a small smile overtake his expression. “Shinsou! We’re happy you’re here. Well, mostly everyone. Kacchan hates everyone, don’t stress about him. But I told Iida about your insomnia and it turns out his brother has it too! So he picked up on some tea for you, maybe it’ll help?”
“Ah. Thanks, Iida. Thanks, everyone. I hope you all won’t mind me being here,” Shinsou mumbled, and he was sure that everyone had picked up on the double meaning about his quirk. Kirishima laughed, bumping his shoulder with a sharp-toothed grin.
“No worries, dude! Your quirk is like, super manly.”
A huff, and then Midoriya was shoving the cupcake into his hands and Shinsou was overwhelmed by the amount of pure excitement radiating off the group. He felt his core begin to heat, and eyes widened in a panic, knowing that he might make a bad first impression if he managed to brainwash Midoriya yet again. Firm arms pushed through the group, legs pumping him forward to his dorm room and closing it.
Java tried to headbutt him back out but Shinsou was having none of it, drawing his legs up onto the bed where he had rushed to sit down. Again his emotions boiled in his vocal cords, quirk begging to be used as if it was about to become its own persona and take over. “Shinsou? Shinsou, calm down.”
Midoriya was there, now, hand on the other’s chest as he tracked his breathing. Shinsou clutched it, biting his lip to keep words from escaping. “I’m sorry, Midoriya. I just didn’t want to make a bad first impression by brainwashing my friend.”
“It’s-”
“And I did it, didn’t I?” Eyes highlighted by dark eyebags stared into hollow green ones, the slack expression not fitting Midoriya’s face in the slightest. A small nudge was enough to snap the green-haired student out of it, and he took the moment to wrap his arms around Shinsou in a tight hug, a comforting force.
“We’re gonna have a sleepover tonight, in the loft, and we’re gonna watch some old Disney movies. The two of us. And you’re gonna be fine, okay H… Hitoshi?”
Shinsou froze, but managed to nod into Midoriya’s shoulder. “Sure, Mid- Izuku.”
-
+01
Java curled up on the couch in the loft, tail flopped over Shinsou’s face as he watched Midoriya. The other boy had his eyes focused on the movie [The Lion King, a good choice in his humble opinion], curled up on the recliner with an All Might blanket and green furry pajamas.
The TV played the music, Simba on the screen throwing his head from side to side as he sung some song from the middle of the movie. It was vaguely interesting, but there was an internal conflict brewing in Shinsou’s mind that had absolutely nothing to do with Midoriya, or romantic feelings.
“Hey, Hitoshi?”
Speak of the devil. Shinsou glanced over to Midoriya, tilting his head in a questioning manner. “What’s up, Izuku?”
They both seemed to freeze in time, Midoriya fiddling with his fingers as the movie kept going. “I, uh, just wanted to say that you’re really cool, and I’ve gotten to know you so much over the last few months and I think that I might maybe like like you? But it’s okay if you don’t feel the same because we can just still be friends, ignore every-”
“Me too.”
The response of silence rang throughout the dorms for the first time that night, and Shinsou found himself caught under an impulse he couldn’t control. “I like you too, Izuku. Don’t worry.”
A small smile, a huge one, two laughs and a Hakuna Matata to end it all off. Maybe his quirk had led him here after all - maybe he didn’t need a flashy quirk to be a hero.
After all, Midoriya Izuku had his back now. What was there for Shinsou to worry about?
(The prying eyes of Class 1-A cut into his business the next day, and he realized one thing - Uraraka was that force of nature he needed to worry about, after all.)
(No, he didn’t have any plans to hurt Izuku. Was that really a question?
God.
)