Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shinsou Hitoshi didn’t have a single minute to rest. He had been given the chance to join the hero course and though that made him closer to his dream, he had to work twice as hard to catch up to his new classmates in class A. And his hard work had finally paid off, since he was now on his way to a stadium in Osaka, ready to take his provisional license exam with the hero students of first year. As a second year student himself, he didn’t know them very well, so he planned to survive the test on his own, instead of teaming up. Though the students in class A were very friendly and no one seemed to dislike him because of his quirk, he was still wary of others. He couldn’t help it, years and years of being a loner was something he couldn’t shake off so easily. 

He had heard from Midoriya that it was likely students knew of his quirk, because of his participation in the sports festival. He was okay with this, he had improved so much since his appearance there. Soon enough, the teacher announced they had arrived. It was time. 

Students from so many different hero schools were there, but Shinsou wasn’t that interested in meeting anyone there. Maybe it was nerves or a secret hope that he would get lost in the sea of students, so he wouldn’t be considered a threat by them. Shinsou hated to be minimized by others, but he had learned that it was the best position to be in, since no one would be expecting him. 

In the battlefield, he learned that others did know what his quirk was, but since many schools fought in teams, he could always confuse them with his vocal cords, gaining points quietly but at a very quick pace. Soon enough, his name was announced on the speakers and he made his way to the resting area. He knew Eraser Head wasn’t there watching over him, but he silently hoped he was. He imagined what he would say, giving praise and criticism alike, all with a neutral face. 

He was finally in front of the doors of the resting area, along with other students who had gained the first part of the exam. He vaguely remembered hearing their names, but he didn’t recognize them at all. 

“Your quirk is very cool” A girl next to him spoke. He wasn’t sure if she was talking to him, so he stayed in silence, staring at the door which was finally opening. He walked inside, and as he took one of the beverages they were offering to the students, he noticed the girl had followed him there. Well, actually, she almost made him drop his water all over himself, when she started talking to him. “I saw how you used your quirk with those students outside, if it wasn’t for my good senses, my classmates would have fallen trap of your trick. It’s really impressive” 

Shinsou knew it was appropriate to look people in the eyes when speaking to them, so he turned his head to look at this girl who had struck a conversation with him out of nowhere. He had noticed the white hair, but had missed the ears that struck out of her head, ears like those of a cat, that were previously hidden under her hat, which she now held in her hands. Her hero suit consisted of a simple crop top and a skirt, all white. It reminded him of Yaoyorozu’s suit, whose designers seemed to put aesthetics on top of practicality or protection. 

“Oh you must be so confused, I started talking with you out of nowhere! I’m sorry, I’ll introduce myself. My name is Nekozawa Rose and I’m from Shiketsu High” She smiled at him. 

“I’m Shinsou Hitoshi from UA. ” He simply stated, but did make the effort to smile at her, though he wondered if he looked awkward doing it. “What kind of quirk do you have? I mean, you did mention you had good senses, Nekozawa-san” What was he even saying? 

“Just call me Rose, I don’t like how my last name sounds” She said, wrinkling her nose. “I thought it was obvious by how I look, but I have like a cat quirk. So I can do anything a cat does? It’s not as cool as being able to brainwash people” 

“You think my quirk is cool? Don’t you think it’s scary, since I could make you or anyone do whatever I wanted?” 

“I mean, it clearly can be used for something bad, but it’s the same for most quirks. Besides, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to use your quirk to help people, right?” She said but all he could do was nod along. He had heard the same thing from his classmates, but somehow as Rose stared at him with those big golden eyes of hers, it meant so much more to him, though he couldn’t understand why. 

He was about to ask her about the intricacies of her quirk, when a girl wearing the characteristic Shiketsu hat walked up to them. 

“I’m sorry, Rose, but the class president is asking everyone to regroup, the second phase is probably going to  start soon. Also,  I don’t think I need to remind you of Shiketsu’s rules, right? ” The girl said, pointing to her hat, which Rose quickly put on her head again. But Shinsou almost missed the action, his mind running with the idea he had lost all the time he had in the resting area just talking, instead of preparing for the next phase of the exam. While talking to Rose, his mind had totally checked out from the exam, which wasn’t something he usually did. 

“Yeah, sure, I’ll be there in a minute” The girl shook her head, clearly indicating she had to leave with her at that moment. Rose turned  to him.  “It seems like I have to go, but please do look for me when the test is over! And good luck, Shinsou-san!” Rose said and waved her hand enthusiastically before leaving with her classmate. 

Despite the distraction, he managed to get back into the right mindset just in time for the second phase. Though the second part was very collaborative and he managed to catch a glance of several Shiketsu students, he didn’t see Rose anywhere. But maybe it was best like that, since for an unknown reason, he had been completely absorbed by their small conversation before, something he knew wasn’t something that could happen in the test or in the battlefield, for that matter. 

After what felt like an eternity, the second phase was over and now changed into their uniforms, the students waited for the results to be announced on the big screen. He skimmed the list, quickly finding his name. He was finally in the same starting line as his classmates in the class 2-A. He also saw Nekozawa’s name in the list, but still didn’t see her anywhere. 

Some students were booming with energy outside of the stadium, cheering over passing the exam, while others were comforted by their peers or teachers, over their failure. After all, the exam had only gotten more and more difficult as the years passed. Shinsou had to be proud that despite being a simple general studies student a year ago, now he belonged to the selected few who had gotten their hero licence.

“Shinsou-san, congratulations!” Said Rose, appearing out of nowhere, which seemed to be a common thing for her. Her voice was loud and excessively clear, maybe a way to mask an almost imperceptible accent, but he was sure he would have to ask her to teach him about stealth, since she seemed to move in such a quiet way that put even Hagakure to shame.   

“Congratulations to you as well, Rose-san” He gave her a small smile. 

“Can I see your license? Let’s swap, you can see mine as well!” She offered the plastic ID to him and he gave her his license without thinking. “I don’t think I look good though, my hair was all over the place” 

He looked down and despite Rose’s comment, he thought she looked fine, with a huge smile that showed her sharp canines. She looked pretty, if he was allowed to think so.  He wondered what she thought of his license. He hadn’t been too preoccupied with his picture, the end goal a lot more important, but for some reason now he wondered if maybe he should have checked it before giving it away. He knew cameras would often highlight his eyebags, and despite Kaminari once saying he looked like he was popular with girls, he had never seen it happen in his lifetime so far. 

“Oh, you look good! So mysterious-looking, in a good way” She said, her eyes still fixated on the license. 

 “Uhhh, you also look nice in your picture and your hair looks good” He said, internally asking if that was a weird compliment to give. But she didn’t mind, giving him a big smile, before asking him about the second phase. For someone who usually had to be quick on his feet to make conversation with anyone, since his quirk depended on it, he found she was better than him at making conversation, so this was again another thing she seemed to be better at. Where was Midoriya with one of his damned notebooks when it was needed? 

Still, he tried to ask more questions, telling himself he couldn’t let the conversation become one sided, but also to satisfy his own curiosity about the girl standing in front of him. So he asked her about his role in the last phase of the exam, of her school and her hero suit. 

“So it’s not just a crop top and a skirt, but it also has a protective base under it?” He asked. 

“Of course! It would be so dangerous for me to go into the battlefield without proper protection. So yes, my suit is cute because the media doesn’t like heroines who wear too many clothes or say protection looks bulky and “unsexy” but that’s why the support students came up with these  almost invisible pieces we wear under our suits to keep us protected.   So despite how it looks, my suit can protect me from bullets, fire, everything. I get the surprise though, I’m certain your UA classmates surely use something a lot more advanced, maybe nanotech or something” He was surprised, that was true, but at that moment he didn’t know how to tell her that his female classmates had nothing of the sort. Were they really the top hero school if their students weren’t really properly equipped? He would have to mention this to them and to Eraser Head. 

But before he could mention this, the same Shiketsu classmate from last time approached Rose. Was it their time to leave?  

“Rose, you disappeared again! We have been looking for you for a while!” She said, exasperated. “No time for goodbyes, let’s go, Mr. Suzuki isn’t in a good mood. Besides, I don’t think I have to remind you of the school’s policy, right?” She looked at Shinsou, before looking back at Rose. What was that about? Rose was wearing her uniform, including the hat. What more rules did Shiketsu have? 

This classmate seemed to be very strong, since she pulled Rose’s arm without the latter being able to resist, resigning to waving Shinsou goodbye as she was dragged away. 

He didn’t had much time to react to anything, as a first year appeared to take him to the bus back to UA. And it wasn’t until he was in his seat that he noticed that the license on his hands wasn’t his, but Rose’s. They had never exchanged them back and they had both left without exchanging a single contact info. How was he now supposed to explain he did get his license but didn’t have it with him? 

Chapter Text

Aizawa was waiting for Shinsou in the 2-A dorm, along with his classmates. Everyone wanted to know all the details about the exam, flooding him with hundreds of questions as soon as he opened the door. 

“Let him breathe!” Said Momo, her way between everyone, asking everyone to give him some space.Shinsou-kun, come sit down on the sofa. “Todoroki-kun, can you bring him some coffee?” The guy in question walked to the kitchen, all to bring him a fresh cup of coffee. Even though they hadn’t been classmates for long, Momo and others had made an honest effort to learn about him so he wouldn’t feel left out. That or since he had replaced Mineta, the girls could go on with their lives without fear of someone being inappropriate towards them on a daily basis. 

Either way, he was thankful for the coffee, since he didn’t know how to start talking about the exam. He figured if he just focused on other details, he could get their minds off seeing his license. It didn’t matter too much, right? After all, Aizawa-sensei would get an official report that he got his license and his plastic ID was to show around in an emergency. Surely he would get back his own license before that. Besides, Aizawa-sensei seemed to be content enough with knowing he had passed and obtained his license, opting to leave the dorm before they all got too invested in the details of the test. 

“...so that’s what I did in the second part, very similar to what you did last year” He finished. 

“Can you tell me more about what that other student was doing in the waterfall? I am really interested in getting the details of how their quirk works!” Midoriya enthusiastically asked. 

“I will tell you all about it tomorrow, Midoriya. I kinda just want to take a shower and go to bed, I think I still have sand in places where it shouldn’t be” He scoffed. “Good night everyone” He waved his hand to everyone with a bored expression, the one he usually wore. It was important that he acted nonchalant, so he wouldn’t raise suspicion. He turned back, smiling to himself as he walked towards the elevators, happy over his successful con. 

“Oi, eye bags,” Bakugo called him, successfully making everyone else shut up with his yelling. “You didn’t show us your license, did you? If you’re going to come here and act like you’re better than me and the half and half bastard then you better  prove it”

Shinsou froze. He was lucky he was facing the elevator, so he had a minute to put himself together before facing his classmates. 

“It’s somewhere in my backpack. I am not vacuuming the sand out of the carpet just because you still can't believe someone without your natural talent got his license in the first try” He grinned. “Good night, everyone” 

And just like that, he got into the elevator and finally got a chance to breathe. What was even the point of passing the test if he couldn’t prove it? What was the point of his 1-A classmates making an effort to get to know him if he didn’t trust them for something like this? 

But he would have to, since two days after the exam he still had no idea how to contact Rose. The school refused to give him information about a student (fair, but troublesome for him) and he wasn’t the best at finding people online. He barely kept an instagram profile, whose latest photo dated from two years ago. 

So when his wallet fell off his backpack and Kaminari picked it up, immediately pulling out his license, he figured he was fucked anyways and maybe it was time to ask for help. 

“Ohh so this is why you didn’t want anyone to see your license!” He said, grinning. “Who is this pretty chick though? Is exchanging IDs the new way to show off your partner?? Why didn’t you tell me?” 

After Shinsou explained what actually happened, Kaminari still clearly had hundreds of questions running through his head. 

“How did you even forget to exchange back? For such a smart guy, I never thought you would fall so easily” 

Shinsou looked at him confused, not really getting what Kaminari meant. But that was something that happened often with him, so he decided  to let it go. “Can you help me? I’m bad with…online stuff and I couldn’t find her at all” 

“Well, I can’t help you directly, but I know who can”

That’s how he ended up in Mina’s room after class, who seemed very amused by the whole situation. 

“Well, I will need to see the girl’s license,” Said Mina, after a few minutes on her phone. Was she even doing anything? 

“Why?” 

“How else am I supposed to find her online without the only piece of information we have of her?” Mina grinned. He pulled the license from his wallet and handed it over. 

“She looks nice, just like a cute kitten! I had found her already though” Mina grinned. 

“How?” 

“Just had to find that guy our age from our own license exam and it was a piece of cake from there. Besides, it’s not like she was ‘hiding away’ really, you’re just bad at social media” 

“Or you’re too good,” Said Kaminari, a bit in awe. 

“How much do I have to pay?” Asked Shinsou. 

“Nothing. I just want to see how this one ends, that’s more entertaining than anything else” Mina smiled, but the mischief on her eyes made him worry. After all, Mina’s parents were gossip journalists and she seemed to have the same affinity of her parents for the scandalous. 

Now in the safety of his room, Shinsou stared at the piece of paper Mina had given him with Rose’s instagram handle. He had only skipped over the profile before on Mina’s phone, only to make sure it was the same person, but now that he had all the time and privacy to look at it, he felt nervous. 

After all, he had to DM her first. 

Rose’s profile was filled with pictures with people that were important in her life. Her family (did she really have so many siblings?) and her school friends. She loved to post pictures of outfits, food and famous sites she had visited in her many travels. Shinsou couldn’t help but be jealous, since he had never left Japan in his life. He also didn’t have many friends or even a cool quirk. His heart sank with the feeling they were on different levels in life. With his hero classmates, he had proven he was just as good as them, time and time again. He had high grades and did well in his classes, most of what he did was for himself (or so he told himself).  He was used to having this feeling of not being good enough, of having to prove himself, but for some reason this hurt in a different way. 

It was like no matter what he did, he would never be good enough. 

Shinsou sighed. He would just contact her, exchange licenses and never see each other again, like it was always intended. 

@Rose <3:  

Hi Shinsou! :D Glad to hear from you! I am sorry about the licenses, I hope I didn’t cause you any problems at your school! :s 17:15

Want to meet up this weekend? 17:15

For the exchange, of course! 17:17

@Shinsou: 

Alright 17:18 

@Rose<3: 

We can meet up on Saturday if you want? There is this amazing bakery in the center I always wanted to visit! 17:18

@Shinsou: 

Sounds good 17:19

@Rose<3: 

Ok I’ll send you the details later 17:19

See you then :D 

--------------

On Saturday morning, Shinsou couldn’t shake the sense of excitement and nerves. All his clothes seemed too dull and boring to him and he at that moment understood that feeling of having nothing to wear. He settled for something simple, something he would wear on a normal outing with friends and unsuccessfully tried to comb his hair. He stared at himself in the mirror in annoyance, not happy with the result, but soon enough his phone alarm reminded himself he didn’t have any more time to dwell in self pity. He had to leave soon. 

Aizawa had given him a permission slip to go out and though he seemed to have many questions about the situation at hand, he didn’t ask Shinsou anything, something he was thankful about. He had enough with Kaminari and Mina giving him weird looks all week long. 

He left UA as quietly as possible, taking his train to the center without any delay. Rose had texted him she had arrived a few minutes ago and was now waiting for him inside the Versailles cafe. Upon entering, he was greeted by a multitude of cats. He hadn’t realized this was a cat cafe, but he was glad. He could pick a cat up and scratch its little ears as he skimmed the cafe looking for someone. 

“Shinsou!” He heard a female voice say, and he turned his head until he found its owner sitting by the window. 

“Rose, hi” He waved his hand, as physically possible as it was while holding a cat. He decided it was best to put the cat down, only then noticing it had been a bad idea to wear all black clothing to a cat cafe, since he was already covered in cat hair. This only made him anxious, since he couldn’t help but notice how pretty Rose looked that day. He didn’t understand a lot about fashion or makeup, but he could confidently say her outfit suited her perfectly and her makeup accentuated her bright, big eyes that now looked at him expectantly. Right. He figured he would get it over with. He pulled out his wallet, putting Rose’s license on the table in front of her. 

“Don’t be so cold! At least take a seat and try some of their coffee. You like coffee, right?” He nodded, as they ordered. “Well, how couldn’t you, half your pictures on Instagram are from different coffees you have tried or your cats” Now the idea of a cat cafe made sense in his mind, she had been looking at his pictures. Now he wished he had put more effort into them, as his mom had suggested. 

“You have traveled a lot” 

“Mmm?” 

“From your pictures. You have been to so many places” 

“Oh, right! Well, my parents are ambassadors, so it was just part of the job” She stated simply. “What do your parents do for a living?” 

“My dad does research work and my mom is a librarian, nothing very exciting, if I’m honest” 

“Not at all! What kind of research has your father worked on? And is your mom one of those very stern librarians or like a fun one? I’m sure it must be so cool to have parents that can help you out with any homework, they sure know where to get their sources!” She said, excitedly. 

Shinsou did his best to answer all of her questions. In all honesty, for someone who spoke as much as she did, he noticed she barely spoke about herself. But when their orders arrived, he decided he would  turn the conversation around. After all, he didn’t want to seem rude. 

“Do you have siblings?” He asked, though he had seen pictures of her and her siblings on her profile, something she probably was aware of as well. 

“I do, I am the youngest of six” 

“Wow, I am an only child so that’s hard to imagine. And how long have you lived in Japan?”

“Just over a year, but I have had tutors for Japanese since before that. Why? Is it hard to understand me?” 

“Not at all” He shook his head enthusiastically. “I just wondered, since it’s the contrary. It’s hard to notice an accent at all” 

And he hoped she would explain where she was from, but she just focused on eating her crepe. He still had many questions, so many things that kinda didn’t make sense or that he just personally wanted to know, but he figured she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. So he asked about her classes and classmates and all the things that made Shiketsu different from UA and she went back to being her bubbly, talkative self, making it clear her family was a difficult thing to talk about. 

“We should be heading back soon,” She said. He looked at the clock in the wall and she was right. It was past 5 and he had to take his train back at 6 at most or he wouldn’t make it in time for the curfew. He watched as Rose rummaged through her purse to put his license on the table. 

Right. 

That’s why he was there. 

He took it and put it in his pocket, suddenly feeling deflated over finally having his own license.  He knew this whole thing had been too good to be real. Now they would say goodbye and never cross paths again. It didn’t matter how good it was their time together, it wasn’t realistic to think this would happen again. 

“So, are we meeting again next week?” She asked as a matter of fact. “Did you like this place or would you rather go to a different one?” 

“What? But uhm, why would we be seeing each other next week?” 

“Well, don’t  you want to see me again?” He nodded and she smiled. “It’s a date then!” 

“It is?” He stared at her in complete confusion. 

“I mean, why else would I ask you out?” 

“To exchange the licenses?” The air filled with Rose’s laugh, rich and bright as she was. He maybe didn’t mind if she was laughing at him, he wanted to hear her laugh a lot more. 

"So why did you think I asked all those questions about your family?"

"To pass the time?" She smiled again, clearly amused with his answer.

“I thought we were on the same page, you know? But for a smart guy  you don’t seem to get a lot of things. So let me make myself clear. I talked  to you on the test because I thought you were handsome and though I was interrupted, I hoped you would find me. So I asked you out and here we are. Or why else do you think I invited you to this hot spot for couples in Tokyo?” Shinsou finally looked around, finally noticing that it was filled with couples. It was why he had never come here, though he loved visiting cat cafes in his free time. He had been so focused on Rose, he hadn’t even noticed. 

“So we’re dating?” 

“If you want,” Was all she said, smiling brightly at him.  

And as Shinsou walked back to the train station, he realized he had one hell of a story to tell Kaminari and Mina as soon as he arrived.