Chapter Text
Whenever someone looked at Shouta, they wouldn't immediately assume that he had money. In fact, with how he dresses and how he acts, some are quick to assume that he was either poor or homeless or both before they even thought that he had two very well paying jobs. Being a teacher at UA and a pro-hero, he was comfortable and didn't even come close to struggling with cash ever in his time of being an adult with taxes. However, a few years into hero work and he was about to get a LOT more comfortable in terms of finance.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Merchandise Mr Eraserhead," the suited man repeated. "All heroes are required to make merchandise to promote themselves in the hero industry."
"But I'm an underground hero. I don't need to promote myself and i definitely don't need merchandise. Besides, I've been doing fine for quite a few years without it." Shouta wanted to go home. It was supposed to be his day off, but instead he gets called into this meeting with a man who acted like he had a stick up his ass, telling him he needs to make Eraserhead merch when all he wanted was to curl up in his sleeping bag and take a long needed nap with his cat.
The man sighed. "Even so, the community needs to know who you are before they can trust you to swoop in to save them. Underground hero or not, merchandise can help build the people's trust and in turn make your job easier for you in the future."
"I don't really follow." Shouta stared at the man, feeling as lost as he was when he first stepped into the office.
The man gave him a fixed look. "Take Gang Orca as an example. People were terrified of him because of his looks. Before he made merchandise and promoted himself as a hero, no one trusted him well enough to allow him to save them. After he promoted himself properly, only then did people start to realise that he was a hero that's supposed to save them and not a villain who planned on attacking them. Does that make sense?"
Shouta really wanted to say no because he still didn't really understand why he of all people had to make merch. It's not like he looked that threatening...right? And besides, it's not like anyone was going to be there to watch him take down a villain at 3 a.m. and no one was going to care about some dingy ass merch made by some hero that they've never seen before and will never see anyway. So any attempts of self-promotion would just go to waste in the long run.
But he also really wanted to take that nap he planned on having. He wanted the meeting to be over and done with so he could just go home. He wanted to go back to his cat. To his bed. To the sweet place called Slumberland.
"Yeah I get it." He did not get it.
"Good," the man stood up. "I'll give you a week to come up with a design for a shirt. You can pay someone to do it or you could just do it yourself, it really doesn't matter, just as long as it's a good sellable design. Send the design to this email and we'll handle to production and the costs."
Shouta took the piece of paper that the man handed to him with the email as he stood up as well, getting ready to just leave the office and never return.
"Oh yes before you go, just know that you will be getting paid for the sales as well. Which means that you'd be earning money every time someone buys your merchandise."
'Not like anyone would actually buy it anyway,' Shouta thinks to himself.
"Ok. Thanks." He started walking out the door, pushing away the strong temptation to just throw the little piece of paper into the bin and not look back. It was going to be a long week.
- (o_o) -
Quite honestly, it didn't really take long for Shouta to come up with a design. Because contrary to popular belief, he actually aced his art exams back in his highschool days and he actually quite enjoyed art during his spare time. He just never told anyone about his passion for the subject because it never came up in conversation.
The design that he came up with was simple and minimalistic. It was just a plain black dry-fit T-shirt with dark grey sleeves. A small yellow text that read 'EH' in his own handwritting was printed on the left breast of the shirt and printed largely on the back with a yellow rectangular border around it.
Although he did have to explain to the Hero Commission that 'EH' stood for Eraserhead and that kids these days like the minimalist concept on literally everything, it was easily accepted and immediately sent to the people in charge of production of said merch. It was a win-win situation for Shouta as he knew that no one would actually link back the 'EH' design back to him unless he told them personally, and that the Hero Commission just brushed it off as some minimalistic design that the public would love without a second thought. But nevertheless, Eraserhead merch was soon ready to be sold to the public.
- (o.o) -
He didn't think it'd escalate this far. He didn't think that his shitty design would actually work. He also didn't think that people would give a shit about his dingy ass merch, but they DID.
Well in hindsight, he should've seen this coming with the design he sent in. He knew that the kids would like the minimalistic design, yet he still made it that way because he didn't want to be flashy. He also knew that putting 'EH' would seem funny and no one would know that it stood for Eraserhead but instead think that it's just an ironic shirt. But he didn't think it'd go THIS far.
Everywhere he went, every time he came across a teenager, they would be wearing that godawful shirt and now he actually wished that he didn't accept the request to make merch because he would mentally cringe at the sight of yet another kid wearing his regret.
But there was a really good side to all of this. The man that he was meeting with didn't lie when he said that Shouta would get paid for his efforts, and by god was he paid well. Every month, he would get paid close to double of what he earnt as a techer at UA just because a bunch of kids wanted to wear the latest trends, which, lucky him, just so happened to be his merch. With the income from UA, hero work, and whatever this bullshit was, he could buy multiple cat trees for his old tabby, Mochi, and not go broke. Hell he could even get a new and bigger place that allowed more than one cat. He could afford to raise at least three or four cats and still have enough money left to buy treats for the little bastards. This was heaven.
The buzzing of his phone pulled him out of his cat-filled daydream and startled him where he stood. He pulled his phone out and squinted at the name displayed on the screen before answering it.
"What?"
"Wow I can really feel the love Sho." Dramatic as always.
"Ok, hello 'Zashi. Happy? Now what is it? You don't usually call unless you want something or it's an emergency. Given how you answered I don't think it's the latter."
"Well, I just wanted to tell you that I bought a new shirt and wanted your thoughts on it." Shouta could feel the dread seeping into his soul. Hizashi was well known to buy whatever outfit that was currently trending just to send pictures of himself in said outfits to Shouta to 'judge'. And with the shitshow that he dragged himself into, he knew where this was going and didn't want to see it.
"Actually 'Zashi, I'm not in the mood right now. I actually have a bit of a headache going on and-"
"Don't worry, I'll just send you a pic so you can judge it later. Besides, we're still on for drinks with Nemuri tonight right? I can just wear the shirt there as well so you can see it in person!" Hizashi yelled excitedly. Man, he really wanted Shouta to see his shirt for some reason. "The shirt also kind of reminded me of you." Ah, there it is.
"Fine," Shouta sighed. "I'll see you tonight."
"Yay! I'm just telling you first that you're gonna absolutely LOVE the new shirt." Shouta really didn't think so, considering the fact that he never really cared for what Hizashi wore unless it had a cat on it or it was paired with the tightest pants he owned, but he couldn't find it in himself to argue at this moment. Pocketing his phone, he decided that he had seen enough of the outside world and it's crap for one day and started speed walking back to his apartment. Might as well take a short nap before he had to meet up with his two friends tonight.
- (o.o) -
Unless you knew Shouta well, you wouldn't think that he’d turn out to be the truthful, blackout drunk that he is. But here we are. He would deny all claims of him spilling his deepest darkest secrets while drunk only because he didn't remember what happened the night before. As of this moment, Hizashi was laughing his absolute ass off at the mere fact that the shirt that he was gushing over was merchandise of his best friend. The same best friend that hated the media with a burning passion and has said not once, not twice, but fifteen times in the past that "heroes don't need merchandise if they could just save people and do their jobs properly."
"Y-HAH-You're kidding!" Hizashi couldn't belive his ears. "There is NO WAY that the latest fashion trend in the WHOLE of Japan, was designed by YOU of all people!" This was too good. He needed to film this for proof or Shouta would deny it for the rest of his life. Hizashi pulled his phone out and immediately started recording the drunk man in front of him.
"I-it's true 'Zashi. They made me do it. I couldn't stop them." Shouta didn't look drunk, but with the way he was acting, Hizashi knew he was long gone and that he wouldn't remember a single word he said tonight unless he had solid proof. And solid proof is what Hizashi would provide.
"Holy shit. And here 'Zashi was just a moment ago, explaining to you why the shirt reminded him of you when you were just sitting here the entire time. Just. Taking it," Nemuri chimed in. She was also struggling to hold in her laughter at the news but she was doing a much better job than Hizashi who was close to getting them kicked out of the izakaya because of how loud his quirk made him when he laughed.
"They're dumb. The commission said that I could pay someone to design it. But screw that. I like art. They can't take that away from me." Shouta really looked like he was about to pass out at this point, but he kept going. "B-but now. Now, I can buy a bigger house. A bigger house for Mochi. And Mochi friends."
"Mochi friends?" Nemuri asked. "What-"
"Oh my god," Shouta gasped, his eyes widening. "I can get friends for Mochi!" Shouta looked like he had just seen the face of god himself.
"Ok I think it's time for us to call it a night." Hizashi had tears in his eyes at this point. "C'mon Sho," Hizashi said as he grabbed Shouta by the arm to hoist him up.
"Where're we goin'?"
"To Mochi Sho. To Mochi." Hizashi lead him to the passenger seat of his car and opened the door before gently depositing him onto the car seat. As he got to the drivers side, he could already see that Shouta had passed out and was clutching the little cat plushie that HIzashi left in the car for times like these.
Hizashi smiled to himself as he started the car and drove away, Shouta snoring softly beside him.