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"Don't you know we're all okay? Dad, you saw the notes, you were there the whole way, so why are you pushing us, pushing me, so hard?" asks Hitoshi tiredly.
He's panting, hands gripping his bent knees as he tries to catch his breath.
"Yes, I was there. I've seen everything. But you all need to be faster. You need to be faster, Hitoshi. So, come on, let's go one more time." says Shota in his normal deadpanned tone.
Except, Hitoshi can hear it. The desperate edge, the worry in his voice. And he knows why it's there. It's hard not to when his words and training simulations tell them all.
****
There was a fight. A villain decided to cause problems during a class outing that Hitoshi was invited to. It was a trip to the mall, then the arcade, and dinner was supposed to be at the pizza joint around the corner from the arcade.
But that didn't happen.
They didn't even make it to the mall. This villain came out of nowhere and decided to ruin everyone's day. Most of Class 1-A were dealing with the civilians, calling for back-up from Pros that were supposed to be in the area, and then they were trying to evacuate buildings. This idiot was technical, so there were bombs. He called himself The Mist. He also seemed to have a vendetta against Shoto, Katsuki, and Izuku... Mainly Shoto.
The problem trio.
But then nobody showed up, and Hitoshi ended up protecting Kiri, Kami, and Mina when they were knocked unconscious trying to help in the battle. Everyone protected someone. Katsuki, Izuku, and Shoto tried to handle the villain and protect them as well. But Hitoshi was a wreck, they all were, clothes torn to shreds, blood everywhere, it was bad.
"We're coming! I'm going to kill that bastard for this."
Hawks flew into the mix as Hitoshi fought off another piece of flaming debris.
"Hitoshi!"
His dad's voice was the last thing Hitoshi heard before he dropped.
****
"Dad, we're okay. And you said he was part of a group bought and instructed by Endeavor after Shouto and Dabi, along with the others, resolved things nad came out about everything. You, Pops, and Hawks are a large part of why we're okay. You are the reason. You taught us to work together, you showed us our strengths, our weaknesses, and how to support each other."
Hitoshi knows his dad is beating himself up over everything, especially because he was supposed to be there, but Pops needed him for Eri because of an emergency. He told them to be safe, and that was it.
"I-I know that. I do. I just-" starts Shota with an exhausted, broken sigh.
"Dad, you're pushing us because you were scared, you blame yourself. But you've done so much for us. I mean, you saw us. Just help us do better." says Hitoshi.
His voice is soft as he steps in front of his dad, his mentor, his inspiration. He hugs him, sighing in relief when he's hugged back.
"I'm sorry, Hito, I owe you all an apology. That just scared the shit out of me, but you all did so well. I'm so proud of all of you, especially you. I'm sorry, son." Shota apologizes seriously, pride filling his voice as he pets his son's head.
"I know. They do too, though you should tell them tomorrow. It'd be funny as hell. But we do know, you've shown us in training, muttered it while going over moves. We know, dad." whispers Hitoshi as amusement colors his voice.
"Alright, brat, let's get back to the dorms before I make you run it again just for that." says Shota as he nudges his son away with a huff.
"Whatever, you know it's true!" exclaims Hitoshi to his dad's back as he walks away.
"Hurry it up, and you might be able to catch Kirishima before he hides if you move it." calls his dad over his shoulder with a smirk.
"Hold it... You know?!" exclaims Hitoshi as he catches up with his dad.
"That you have feelings for Eijirou Kirishima, or that he's avoiding you?" asks Shota with a shit-eating grin as Hitoshi sputters. "Yes. To both, it's a yes kiddo."
"What the hell?! Wait, does Pops know?" asks Hitoshi seriously as his face goes red.
"Well, he didn't. Then he heard you talking to his favorite Loud Blondes, then he asked me. So, he does now." replies Shota with a shrug as he laughs at his son's squawk.
"Screw my life. Great. It doesn't matter anyways." mutters Hitoshi, hiding his face in his capture weapon.
"Why not? No, answer me before you go into B-Dorm." says Shota as he stops Hitoshi from walking away, confusion etching onto his face.
"Sunshine meets moonlight, according to Denks. But really, he'd never like me. Not that way." says Hitoshi with a defeated sigh.
"Hitoshi, that boy likes you. He's just got a big heart and insecurities of his own. Don't decide how he feels when he hasn't told you." replies Shota softly.
"Dad, he doesn't. I know it." replies Hitoshi with an eyeroll.
"Did he say that? Or have you just decided it's true?" asks Shota as he narrows his eyes.
"Mina-" starts Hitoshi as he tries to argue with his dad.
"Is crushing hard on Uraraka and Tsuyu." replies Shota as he looks at him seriously. "Go to bed and think about it. Okay?"
"Fine. See you in the morning." huffs Hitoshi as he turns to head into the building.
"See you in the morning." says Shota as he huffs out a chuckle.
Hitoshi grumbles as he passes through the dorm's common room on his way to the elevator.
"Hitoshi, I-uh-I think we should talk."
Hitoshi stops at the start of the elevator hall, looks at Monoma, and turns around.
"I'm staying in Class A's dorms. Bye!" hollers Hitoshi as he heads to the door again.
"No, wait! I need your help idiot!" huffs Neito from behind him.
"Neito, buddy, I am noping out of this conversation. I cannot hear you whine about Sparks. Not today." says Hitoshi seriously. "And before you try to convince me otherwise, what the fuck is up with that starter? My dudes, no... Just no. Why?"
"You need to help me. Denki is in my room bawling, and I know why. But I can't handle it, so please do something." growls Neito harshly.
"Woah... Who hurt sparks, and why is he alone?" asks Hitoshi lowly, anger simmering under his skin.
"I- Look, he's not alone. The squad is there, aside from Kyoka because she's with MoMo and the rest of the Dekusquad at the dorm. I'm not happy about it, but he needed them." explains Neito with a disgruntled look on his face before his eyes grow dark. "It was that pain in the ass Iida Tenya. Denks was studying with Momo in the common room while explodo-boy made dinner. Denks failed his math test, but they're doing retakes on Friday though. And Iida comes out and reams him for failing his test and taking all of Momo's time."
"Please tell me Izu or Katsuki did something to him. He deserves to be a crater. Like, tell me they did something." snaps Hitoshi with a low growl.
"Nope. Izu is holding him until your dad got back. But your dad's not going to really punish him." says Neito lowly. "He's just going to make sure Iida recognizes how wrong his little temper tantrum was. But Denki is bawling, and Iida should be hurting too."
"You are so protective of him. You asked him out yet? asks Hitoshi with a shit-eating grin despite changing the subject on Neito.
"Of course I haven't, and you can't change the subject. He made Denks Cry!" snaps Neito as his cheeks turn red, despite his irritation.
"You know he was just throwing a tantrum, his apology will be sincere, and the squad won't let Denks forgive him until he's groveled enough." Hitoshi's voice is light, but he does let his anger simmer into his words. "But don't worry. He's going to learn not to lash out at Denki just because he's upset and chooses to act like he's not a peer. I'll deal with that myself. He'd gotten better, but this setback won't last."
"You were about to get yelled at for diminishing how much Iida's lashing hurt Denki, but you clearly know more than I do. So, I'll forgive that. But Denks would kill us if we did anything severe to the idiot president..." grumbles Neito with a pout that makes Hitoshi thump him.
"That's why you get Izu or my dad to handle the situation. Dad does well considering he and older Tenya are close, but Izu is mighty scary when it comes to boundaries. Either will do, and we won't be in trouble with sparky." replies Hitoshi with a shrug and a grin.
"Well, I guess-"
"Where's Denki?" knock. knock. knock. "I must apologize to Denki. He deserves a formal apology for hurting him and for lying to him. He's a talented young hero, and he's doing his best. I let my emotions overtake me, and I lacked control. I must say sorry."
"Great. Let him in." huffs Neito as he rolls his eyes at Iida's incessant knocking.
"Don't worry, Blasty's gonna get him one good time before he's allowed to go near Denki." murmurs Hitoshi just before he opens the door and waves Iida in. "Follow Neito."
"Thank you!" says Iida.
"You're coming too Hitoshi." hisses Neito as he grabs his arm and then Hitoshi is being dragged back from where he was retreating.
"I don't like this plan." whines Hitoshi quietly.
"Neither do I, so come with me." hisses Neito as they reach the opening elevator.
Hitoshi huffs, but he steps into the elevator, nonetheless. He's shaking like a leaf with his nerves getting to him at seeing Eijirou again, at hopefully being able to talk to him. But this is for Denki, he's going to get the apology he deserves from speedy. They go up three floors, and Neito leads them off. He's still dragging Hitoshi, which is unpleasant, but Hitoshi wisely stays silent as they reach Neito's room. He is not prepared for this, but he is prepared enough to pull Neito away from the door as it opens in time to avoid Katsuki's blast. There's a nice Iida sized crater across from Neito's room now, won't that be wonderful to explain later.
It's so worth it though. Denki laughs.
"I'm going to my room now... Actually, Eiji, can we talk?" asks Hitoshi as he fights off his nerves to try to make something happen.
"I should really stay-" starts Eijirou as he instantly tries to deflect.
"Nope, you need to talk to him. He deserves an explanation." says Denki.
"If he doesn't want to, it's fine. I'm not going to pressure him into talking to me. If you need me, I'll be in my room. Nice shot, by the way, you almost caught me off guard that time Blasty." interjects Hitoshi softly, taking the attention off of Eijirou with a sheepish grin.
Hitoshi heads down the hall to the spare room at the end of it, and he pulls his key out to unlock it. He's just pushing his way inside when he hears, "Wait, Hitoshi!"
He leaves the door open, but he doesn't wait. Hitoshi walks inside and sets his bag on his desk, then h e immediately walks over to his bed and flops onto it with a groan of relief.
"Are you still up to talking?"
"Eijirou, I'm up for talking. But only if you are." says Hitoshi as he turns over to look at him as he leans against his closed door.
"We should talk then." says Eiji nervously.
He's standing awkwardly against the door, and Hitoshi gives a deep sigh before moving over to his desk chair and settling into it.
"Take the bed, you deserve the be comfortable, even if it's not in a comfortable place." says Hitoshi softly as he leans forward.
He presses his elbows into his knees as Eijirou carefully settles onto his bed, sighing as he settles against his soft pillow topped bed.
"Are you sure you don't want to sit over here? Your bed is super soft Toshi... I might have to get myself one." says Eijirou, melting.
"Nah, I get my bed all the time. You're uncomfortable, so smush you into comfortability with the bed. It's a dream when I can sleep." replies Hitoshi with a soft sigh as he lets his head fall forward to avoid showing his blushing cheeks at Eijirou being adorable on his bed.
"Okay... You wanted to talk, but uh- what about?" asks Eijirou quietly as he forces them onto their subject.
"Well, you're avoiding me. But also, Denks and Blasty told me that you blame yourself for me being injured. And I think I want to focus on that first." explains Hitoshi.
"I am the reason that you had to have surgery, Hitoshi, you were speechless for a month. Don't tell me that wasn't my fault when I was too weak to protect you." says Eijirou lowly.
"See, that's where you're wrong. You didn't injure my voice. The villain did." replies Hitoshi. "I get that you think you're to blame, but I don't. I think that you protected me, and I returned the favor. I think that you took a hit meant for me, so I protected you until I couldn't. The villains and Endeavor did this, not you, not me, not anyone of us."
"Hitoshi, I-" starts Eijirou and he just looks like he's going to argue.
"Eijirou Kirishima, if you are about to blame yourself again, you can leave. If you want to blame yourself, despite knowing that what happened was beyond your control, I can't stop you." says Hitoshi, softly. He understands, but he's upset because this situation wasn't Eijirou's fault. "I can't blame you for this because I would do the same thing, but I can't for this one because there isn't a single moment that I would change in this battle."
Eijirou sighs as he looks at him.
"I wouldn't change anything either, but I can't help feeling like I should've done more." whispers Eijirou dejectedly.
"Okay, but this was a learning moment for us. We weren't prepared, but we still managed to hold our own the entire time. You could've died." explains Hitoshi.
"I know. That's why I'm irritated that I can't get over my guilt for this when I know I did what I've been trained to do." groans Eijirou as he flops back onto the soft bed.
"Okay, well, I can't solve that... But, maybe we can talk about why I'm being avoided." offers Hitoshi.
Hitoshi cringes at his segue, but Eijirou sits back up. His eyes are avoiding Hitoshi's, but he seems thoughtful.
"Okay, don't be mad at me. I just- I needed to think about some things because I watched that video. And yes, I feel guilty, but that wasn't all." says Eijirou.
Eijirou is speaking quickly, wringing his hands as he forces his eyes onto the floor, leaning onto his own knees in a mimic of Hitoshi.
"Okay, so what else caused me to lose out on my Eiji time?" asks Hitoshi softly, tilting his head as he focuses on Eijirou and his nerves.
“You didn’t lose your ‘Eiji time’… I just- I needed space to work things out, and I really don’t want to say anything because I don’t want it to change how we are.” says Eijirou quietly, a bit brokenly as he looks up and finally red meets purple.
“Eijirou…” Hitoshi has to stop, breaking off his words to sigh, hurt trying to stop him from talking at all, he has to just breathe. “You ignoring me… that changes how we are, Eijirou. I don’t really know what to say other than I’m always here, and you can tell me anything.”
It’s silent for a moment, red and purple clashing as they just take each other in, searching faces to figure out what to do. The tension suffocating, yet easy to meld into. It’s uncomfortable, and yet this is the most comfortable they’ve been since everything happened.
Eijirou takes in a deep breath and harshly let’s it go before he mumbles, “fuck it.” and leans over to pull Hitoshi closer. “I’m going to say it. I am. But you cannot hate me for it. I tried so hard to ignore it, and then this happened. So, I’ll say it, but don’t hate me.”
“I could never hate you, Eijirou, never.” murmurs Hitoshi as confusion paints his words, body tending at the sudden closeness.
“I- I have some major, dopey, lovey-dovey, IzukuKatsuki, DenkiNeito feelings for you. It’s wildly problematic. Your adorable Toshi.” rushes Eijirou.
It’s like he didn’t breathe, but Hitoshi knows he did because he actually processed it as normal. Yet it’s not computing into his brain that Eijirou just said he has romantic feelings for him by calling out their friends… and he called him adorable. Eijirou.
“If anyone is adorable, Eiji, it’s you. And you can’t even argue with me because Izuku says you’re the most adorable one in Class 1-A. Like, there was a vote and Izu chose you. Landslide victory Eiji.” replies Hitoshi because his brain is caught on the compliment.
“Please tell me you aren’t stuck on that, I just blurted some major feelings Toshi.” whines Eijirou as he hides his face in his hands on Hitoshi’s knees.
“Not stuck, just trying to figure out how to respond to it all. And my dad is going to rub this in my face.” says Hitoshi.
“Okay… well, that tracks.” Eijirou’s voice is muffled by his hands and Hitoshi can see his ears are pink.
“Eijirou, you compared your feelings to our extremely lovesick, idiotic friends… I would have hoped we weren’t like them, but I was wrong.” says Hitoshi as he laughs.
“Shuddup.” huffs Eijirou.
“Eijirou Kirishima. I have major, lovey dovey feelings for you too, and it’s so bad that my dad told me to man up and tell you how I feel.” says Hitoshi seriously, still amused, but he’s grinning, eyes full of love and joy.
“You’re being serious right now?” asks Eijirou as his head flies up, only Hitoshi’s reflexes keep his nose intact at Eijirou’s breakneck speed. “You’re not joking with me? Like you want to date me and kiss and cuddle and be my boyfriend? Really?”
Hitoshi’s smile is soft, sweet.
“Eijirou, I have wanted that for a really long time. When you got knocked unconscious, I thought I’d lost my chance. I really, really like you Eiji.” whispers Hitoshi as Eijirou’s hands come up to cup his face, forcing him to keep looking at him when he tries to turn away.
“I’m going to kiss you, and then we’re going to lay down and cuddle as boyfriends, officially. So if that’s not okay, I need you to tell me right now.” his voice sounds hoarse, but Hitoshi is almost crying at the love shining through Eijirou right now.
“Please kiss me.”
Eijirou’s quick, but careful, as he instantly presses forward until their lips softly meet. He immediately pulls back, fear churning his stomach that he’d screwed up, but Hitoshi chases his lips until they’re kissing again. It’s soft, sweet, just a press of lips moving together.
And it’s everything.
When Eijirou pulls away, his eyelids quickly flutter open to look at Hitoshi. And he’s left in awe at the sight of Hitoshi’s eyes slowly fluttering open, almost like he was savouring their moment.
“Beautiful.” whispers Eijirou. “My boyfriend is beautiful.”
“And my boyfriend is breathtaking.” whispers Hitoshi shyly as he pays back the compliment.
“Let’s cuddle and sleep, Toshi, I’ve missed your cuddles.” says Eijirou softly as he tugs at Hitoshi’s hands.
“I’ve missed your cuddles too, Eiji. And this sounds perfect.” says Hitoshi.
So, they get themselves in his small bed, cuddling on the fluffy pillow top bed, holding each other as silence falls over them comfortably again. Eijirou lays his head on Hitoshi’s chest, right over his heart, listening to the loving drum as they both fall asleep.
Together.