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“Someones who’s been blessed like you wouldn’t understand,”
“I was born with a villains quirk”
“Someone who was born with this- who can reach their goal,”
When the dust settled onto the arena, Izuku Midoriya stood over the heavily breathing body of Hitoshi Shinso, victorious. Hitoshi was carted off to Recovery Girls office, leaving Izuku frustrated and able to follow at will.
~~~~~
“I promise I won’t hurt myself Recovery Girl,” Izuku said to the woman, before muttering under his breath “too much,”
Recovery Girl smacked him in the head. “I heard that young man. I’ll wait to lecture you after your fight. But remember that this is a controlled environment, not a villain fight. Do your best within reason,”
This seemed to only excite Izuku more. “I will!” he shouted, pumping his fist.
Recovery Girl shushed him, mentioning that this was still a clinic and people were trying to rest. People being Hitoshi, who then quickly shut his eyes if one of them happened to look over at him.
He knew that when Izuku’s mumbling started, it was directed at a fight. Maybe theirs, maybe the next one.
He didn’t know. He pretended to not care.
(He did.)
~~~~~
There was so much noise in the clinic- mumbling, beeping, cheering outside of the doors. Still, as Izuku quieted his voice and stared at the cold linoleum tiles, Hitoshi could swear that this was a little haven in his life. He watched the boy sit on the cot, his hand still fisted in front of him, looking as determined as ever. All Izuku could think about was lilac hair and too-tired eyes. Someone who could reach their goal. Shinsou could reach his goal, and Izuku could help him do that, but for now, he had other things to prove.
When Izuku left the clinic, Hitsohi thought it got colder.
~~~~~
“IT’S YOUR POWER!”
The stadium went up in flames, dazzling colours of violent red and sunset orange.
In the nurse’s office, wrapped in a grey blanket, watched Hitoshi, eyes drifting on the screen. He was tired, Recovery Girl’s quirk used his energy, she had told him, but he couldn’t miss this fight.
He watched as Izuku broke his arm and smashed a column of ice.
“I could’ve died-” he whispered, to no one, but Recovery Girl, from the sigh that escaped her lips, had heard him just fine.
“Midoriya is reckless and has no ounce of self-preservation in his body, but he made sure not to hurt you permanently, only enough to get you out of bounds."
A boy made of sunshine and grit, wrapped in fading light, slammed into a wall, and collapsed.
~~~~~
Hitoshi was standing up to leave when they carted Izuku in. He was unconscious and Recovery Girl looked beyond frustrated. She pulled him behind a curtain.
The doors flew open.
“Deku!” A girl from 1A cried, the tall one with blue-rimmed glasses behind her. They shifted their eyes around the room, and when they didn’t see him, Hitoshi thought it was his turn to speak up.
“That Todoroki kid did a number on him, I think he’s unconscious? Recovery Girl looked pretty frustrated.”
They swivelled to look at him. “Oh, you’re Shinso, right? Weren’t you the one who fought Deku during the first round?”
Hitoshi shut his mouth fast enough to hear a click and nodded. He didn’t say anything else.
(They were going to judge him, judge his quirk, he was a villain- villain- villain)
“Your quirk is so-” before she could say anything, the one with glasses interrupted her.
“I am Iida Tenya, and this is Uraraka Ochako. We are classmates of Midoriya’s, as I trust you know already,” he paused to take a breath, never avoiding Hitoshi’s eyes. “You said Recovery Girl already created him in? Is she with him now? Can we see him?”
Recovery Girl peeped her head out from behind the curtain that separates the two rooms. “Oh, Iida, leave him alone. He doesn’t know anything more than you,” she looked to the unconscious Todoroki, who had been carted in shortly after Izuku, and sighed. “Their fight was rough. I have to perform surgery on Midorya’s arm,”
Midoriya’s friends (friends? friends.) gasped. “SURGERY?!”
Recovery girl shushed them. “You guys need to leave if you aren’t injured. Shinso, stay please.”
Iida nodded curtly and ushered a worried Uraraka out of the room, and turned to make eye contact with Hitoshi. He nodded and left the clinic.
The eggshell white curtain containing Recovery Girl did very little to block out anything at all. He could hear when she placed a wet kiss on one of their heads. He could see her dark silhouette through the curtain. He knew she was coming toward him and went to sit down on one of the beds. She pushed in the slightly lucid Todoroki and left him laying next to Hitoshi.
“I wanted you to stay, Shinso. I know you have something to say to Midoriya. I want to let you do that. So you can do that until he leaves okay?” Hitoshi nodded. “Just get some rest. God knows you don’t get enough sleep anyway. You can sleep on that bed you’re sitting on.”
Hitoshi was going to protest, about to speak up about his crushing insomnia, but before he could, Recovery Girl handed him a bottle of gummies labelled ‘sleep’.
He pushed one into his mouth and fell back against the pillow.
~~~~~
Hitoshi woke up to voices. Quiet voices, whispering like they didn’t want to be heard.
(He was good at hearing things other people didn’t want him to. Things like villain, scary, evil quirk, manipulator.)
“You can’t keep letting the boy break his bones, Toshi.” That was Recovery Girl. He had heard her voice enough to know. He cracked his eye open enough to see her talking to a man, probably Toshi. He was tall and skeletal, with his back turned to him. The curtain was open.
He could see Midoriya still passed out on the cot, breathing softly, with his arm in a cast.
“I know, Chiyo, but I don’t know how to help him anymore- I wasn’t made to do this- I’m not like Nana was,” he thought he’d ever heard that voice somewhere before. Where was the question that really was born. He couldn’t place it.
(He never forgot a voice.)
“Right now, Toshi, you are not the number one hero, you are his teacher. And as such you need to stop making him recklessly endanger himself. Another break like this will render his hand useless” Recovery Girl shot back.
That made sense- from what Hitoshi had seen, Midoriya was very reckless- his thoughts stopped. NUMBER ONE HERO? The number one hero was All Might. The man standing before him was definitely not All Might.
“I know,” Toshi (All Might??) said softly, barely heard over the noises in the clinic.
“You need to do better, Toshi. He may have your quirk but he is not you. I know that Nana told you the same thing. Even the greatest heroes can’t live forever.” Recovery Girl ended. She sounded sp tired.
Midoriya was still asleep. And soon, even though he was confused, so was Hitoshi.
~~~~~
The second time he got up, he didn’t know how much time had passed, but the could-be All Might was gone, and Midoriya was still, still, asleep.
When he didn’t see Recovery Girl around, Hitoshi grabbed a chair and sat it next to the bed that Midoriya was laying on.
He started whispering to him.
It started slow. Apologizing.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry, Midoriya Izuku. I was wrong about you. You are a good hero. You worked for this. And I’m sorry that I said those things. Maybe one day I can say them to you when you aren’t passed out.”
(maybe)
~~~~~
“Hey Shinso, do you want to come study with us?” Textbooks with green highlighter in them.
“Introducing Shinso Hitoshi, the newest member of Class 1-A,” there was cheering all around the classroom, but the loudest came from the boy with a sunlight smile in the corner.
“I think- would you, uhm, Shinso will you go on a date with me?”
Cotton Candy was sweeter when he could share it.
“Call me Izuku.”
Cherry Cola was the perfect taste for a first kiss.
Izuku shrieked and turned his head into Hitoshi’s chest. He put his arm around the boy and continued watching the movie. Holding hands at midnight.
~~~~~
Hitoshi looked at Izuku’s sleeping form, remembering 8 years ago when he had done the same thing.
He pressed a kiss onto Izuku’s temple, the sheets around them both warm.
“I was so wrong about you. You are a good hero, Izuku.” He was about to get up to start his night shift but a tired voice stopped him.
“I thought the last time you said you’d say that when I wasn’t asleep.”