Chapter Text
The vast majority of people have some type of dream. Whether it's a certain career path, a state of mind, or even something simple like moving to a new city. Some dreams are harder to reach than others, but it all boils down to the same thing. Putting in the work.
Shinsou was a strong believer in working hard. He always had that insatiable drive to reach his dream of becoming a pro hero; but not just any old pro hero, no. He wanted to be a great one, an inspiration to those who were told time and time again that they wouldn't make it.
He might've reached UA, but that didn't mean anything. Not when he was placed in the general studies class. However, his spirit wasn't dampened too much. He was fully committed to strengthening his quirk so that he could transfer to the hero course. He was so committed that he would do anything to better himself; getting a poorly paid after school job was no exception to that declaration.
Fortunately for him, having a brainwashing quirk was a godsend in the advertising world which made him incredibly employable. Was it mildly unethical? well, that depends on who you ask. If you were to ask his current boss at the toy store it'd be a big fat no.
At first, Shinsou worked at the till. Whenever a customer came along, he'd have to ask "Can I interest you in the newest addition of hero magazine?" to which 96% of people said, no and the remaining 4% said yes. However those statistics weren't too important, what was important was the 100% overall chance that Shinsou could use his quirk to brainwash them into buying the grossly overpriced magazine.
Once his boss witnessed the increase in profit he became greedy and put Shinsou to work in other areas of the toy store. He made Shinsou hang around where the most expensive toys were shelved so that he could ask wandering customers "Do you need help with anything?" and when they replied, he put his quirk to effect and was ordered to have them 1. tell him how much they were willing to spend in the store and then 2. proceed to buy the most expensive toy they could handle.
It wasn't heroic work at all, it was far from what Shinsou believed in; but it was obvious to his work colleagues when they watched him stroll in 10 minutes late to his shift, hair messy, eyes bored and wrapped up in a leather jacket that the dude had a mischievous streak. He wasn't above maximizing his chances of getting what he wanted, as long as nobody was seriously hurt. You gotta do what you gotta do after all. Not everyone is lucky enough to follow the golden boy path, and have amazing mentors, and friends who risk their lives for each other. Some, like Shinsou, had to make their own way. And he was fine with that, it made for a better story after all.
"Shinsou!" His boss called from the back room of the store. He sighed and checked his watch, his shift ended in 15 minutes. What more could he possibly need? and at such short notice too. He dragged his tired body to the back room and simply stood in the doorway and waited for the old man to notice "Ah" He said, using his big hands to gesture him inside the room. "Good, I need to have a talk with you" Anybody else might panic and think they were about to be fired in his situation, but Shinsou knew he was the largest source of income this shop had. He was confident that his job wasn't at risk at all, "I've been receiving a lot...a lot...of complaints from customers recently about and I quote talking to the weird kid with purple hair and then blacking out and getting home with thousands of yen worth of toys...Care to explain?" His boss spoke as if he was of some higher moral ground which really annoyed Shinsou. Especially since he was actually exploiting the talents of a child for his own financial benefit. He was a domestic villain striking in broad daylight.
"A side effect of my quirk is blackouts." He said casually, "I can't brainwash people if they're in control of their brain can I?"
His boss let out a heavy sigh, his wrinkly callous hands coming up to scratch behind his ear, "I know I asked you to do this and I'm very grateful for the things you've done for my store. But I can't have you showing your face here anymore, the customers are practically up in arms"
Shinsou kept his cool, "Ok, so how do we move forward from here?" He asked.
This response earned a hearty smile from the old man, "That" He said, shaking his fists in the air "That is why I like you so much, kid" He stood up as quickly as his old bones would let him and wandered towards a cabinet in the corner and pulled out a coat..no, not a coat...a onesie? no...it was a...
"Oh hell no" Shinsou stood immediately once his brain recognised the outline, his hands and head shaking in unison "No"
The old man wore a sad expression as he held what looked like an ancient, giant teddy bear costume. The type that you'd see mascots wear and wonder how you'd wash it. Well, the smell emitting from it was enough to let Shinsou know that you didn't wash them. At least, his boss never had.
"Oh don't be like that," The old man said, he took a step closer to the boy but he was quick to take one of the equal length back. "I don't want to fire you Shinsou, this is the only way I can keep you employed."
Shinsou didn't want to lose this job, not because he was attached to it; it was the practicality of it. The shop was only a short train ride from UA, its pay wasn't as bad as it could have been and his coworkers minded their own business.
He couldn't believe the words that left his mouth, "What would I have to do?"
This bought a smile to his boss' wrinkled face, "All you'd have to do is wear this teddy bear suit, stand outside the shop and draw customers in. Do what you do best, talk to people." When the disgusted look on Shinsou's face didn't subside he pleaded "Just sleep on it ok? I won't strip your pay if you end up doing shorter hours either, all you have to do is wear the suit."
Shinsou didn't say anything for a while. He eyed the costume, that rancid smelling costume. But he bought himself to reality quickly, he had to logically weigh out the pros and cons of the offer. It was a good deal overall, he couldn't argue against that. He was possibly able to do less work for the same amount of pay. He didn't have to worry about customers recognising him from the sports festival either because of the full body cover the bear offered. Plus, he could quit at any time and find a different one if the suit was really that horrible.
A heavy sigh left his mouth as he dropped his shoulders in defeat and asked the question many other people must've had at some point in their lives, "How do you wash the suit?"