Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Fuckk..how are you supposed to get this wheelchair up all these stupid stairs? You would think that in a school full of people with freaky Quirks, they’d know how to deal with a disabled person.

You groan as you look up at the large staircase just inside of the UA school barrier. You’d planned for everything; packed emergency snacks, contacted Recovery Girl to make sure you could carry your medication on you, even had a lengthy conversation with your homeroom teacher (well, you’d talked while the poor man attempted to drown himself in his coffee cup) about the medical accommodations that you would be receiving over the course of the year. But of course..you’d never thought about actually getting into the building.

You’re considering trying to wheel yourself around to another side of the school to look for a ramp, when somebody bumps into your wheelchair from behind. A gravelly voice interrupts your thoughts.

“Hey, move-oh.”

You wheel yourself forwards and around to look at the boy who bumped into you. He was..not what you were expecting. A pale boy, with dark circles under his eyes and a dishevelved uniform which gave him the appearance of having just tumbled out of bed. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and he was shuffling his feet as if he would rather be anywhere than where he was at the moment. When you finally meet his gaze, you note how his eyes are the same shade of violet as his hair. You also notice just how hard he’s trying to not look at you.

“Never seen a person in a wheelchair before?”

There’s no malice in your voice. You’re used to it. Especially at a school as prestigious as UA, where the best and the brightest go to chase glory and a successful career at a hero agency, of course you’d stand out. You always do.

You shake your head, trying to quash the feelings of doubt already invading your mind. This is only your first day. You can’t let this get to you. So you steel yourself, preparing to deal with a whole lot of questions, and even more false sympathy. Instead, the purple-haired boy is looking at you with nothing more than vague curiosity. Mostly, he just looks tired. When he opens his mouth to respond, you notice how straight his teeth are. A little odd, but not bad-looking.

“I have. Just wasn’t prepared to have to battle with a metal monster on my way to class.”

You blink. That was..certainly a statement. Usually, you would have responded with a quick retort and a huff, but he still doesn’t sound like he’s trying to make fun of you, so you’re not sure how to react.

“Are..are you calling me a metal monster?”

The boy’s violet eyes look back at you blankly, then he shakes his head. Gesturing to the wheelchair you’re sitting in, he responds, in the same flat, almost monotonous tone.

“No.”

Uh..okay. Well, this guy is certainly dry as fuck. You exhale deeply, trying to calm yourself, before trying again.

“Alright then…do you know if there’s a different way to get into the school, or-”

“No. There’s construction going on at the side of the school building. I think they talked about it at the orientation. Everybody has to use the front entrance for the first week or so.”

Well, fuck. You groan, rolling your eyes. First period was going to start in twenty minutes. If you weren’t able to get inside..Well, that would be a pretty fucked up way to start the school year. You eye the boy in front of you. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll be able (and willing) to help.

“Hi. Uh..nice to meet you. My name is-"

You proceed to introduce yourself. There's a pause, your name left floating in the air like some abandoned dust bunny. You wait, wondering if he’ll respond. Quite frankly, you’re shocked that he’s stuck around this long at all, but maybe he just has nothing better to do. He looks like the type to loiter outside of school so he can show up to class at the last possible minute.

“Shinso. Hitoshi Shinso.”

Hitoshi Shinso. Interesting. You could’ve sworn you’d heard that name before..

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m in Class 1-A. I’m a first year. And..I’m kind of stuck.”

You gesture to your wheelchair, and then at the stairs. Shinsou’s gaze follows your hand, and his eyes widen slightly. It seems like he’s starting to understand what’s going on.

“Ah..you can’t get your chair up there, and that’s why you’re sitting here in the middle of the walkway instead. Real shitty of the school to not warn you that you wouldn’t be able to get in. For all the talk about how great UA is, that’s kind of a big deal if their precious hero kids can’t even make it through the front door.”

You nod, letting out an exasperated sigh. At least this Shinsou guy didn’t seem like a total douchebag. As great as that was, though, his sympathy wasn’t going to help you get inside.

“Can you walk at all?”
Shinsou’s abrupt question pauses the whirlwind of thoughts in your head.

“Well, sort of. I’m an ambulatory wheelchair user, so I can usually stand and walk and things. The wheelchair is just for flare-ups. Most days I just have a cane, or go without a mobility aid. I’d possibly be able to get up the stairs if I went really slowly, but then I’d be stuck without my wheelchair, because there’s no way I could get it up there. And that would definitely pose an issue..”

“No problem then. I’ll just help you.”

You pause. You hadn’t been expecting him to actually offer his help. Maybe you’d misjudged him.

“I’d really appreciate that. If I can just get up there today, I’m sure I’d be able to talk to someone to help me get in for the rest of the week..”

He nods, pulling his hands out of his pockets. His face is still relatively emotionless, but he seems determined.

“This is my first year, too. I’m in business class, but I’m going to transfer into the hero course later in the year." The messy-haired boy shifts his stance, his voice taking a conspiratorial tone. "I’ve heard that the 1A homeroom teacher fails dozens of kids every year, so I’m just gonna wait until that happens, and snatch up an empty spot. So..you want me to grab you or your wheelchair first?”

Chapter Text

You perk up a bit after hearing that he’s in your grade. It’s always a good thing to have allies in highschool, after all. When he mentions Aizawa, you can barely contain a snort. You wouldn’t have been surprised if he and the boy in front of you were related, with their obvious lack of a proper sleep schedule. Mentally slapping yourself for getting distracted, you consider his question.

“Um..chair first. I'd rather you take your time with that.”

“Alright.” He nods at you, grabbing the handle of your wheelchair before pausing. “Hey..uh..you want to sit in the grass or something while I do this, or..?”

You nod, sighing internally. Now here comes the hard part..You haven't even opened your mouth before you're being hoisted up by your armpits, and quite unceremoniously, dropped onto the grass. You stare up at Shinso, mouth gaping.

Did this motherfucker actually just-

The boy who literally just dumped you on the ground wasn't even looking at you anymore. Instead, he was already making the short trek up the stairs, wheelchair folded up and under his arm. You watch as he carries your chair (handling it with a significantly larger amount of care than when he'd picked you up, you notice) all the way to the top of the stairs, before unfolding it and placing it at the top. He then starts to make his way down.

“That thing's heavier than I expected, I don't know how the school could possibly expect you to-” he pauses at the bottom stair. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

You stare at him, incredulous. How dense is this guy? “You can't just go around picking people up. Especially not disabled people. It's fucking weird, dude. We aren't objects.”

Shinso blinks, and considers you for a second. It seems as if this idea never occurred to him. “I didn't..shit.” Shinso's hand returns to the back of his neck. It seems like a pose he assumes often. He sighs, and starts to speak again, once more avoiding eye contact.
“I didn't mean it like that. I'm not used to interacting with people in general, much less..well..” He groans, facepalming. “I sound like such an asshole right now. Look, I'm sorry if I offended you. I didn't hurt you, did I?” He steps off of the stairs to stand next to you.

Aside from feeling displeased with how he treated you, you're physically fine. Honestly impressive considering the manner in which he picked you up..maybe he was a bit more careful than you realized.

“Just..for the future, don't touch people randomly. And that doesn't only apply to people like me, either,” you gesture in the general direction of your wheelchair at the top of the stairs, your eyes flicking towards it absentmindedly. Only..your wheelchair is no longer the only thing at the top of the stairs. To your dismay, there's an orange-haired boy sitting in it.

“Hey, that's mine! Don't-”

“Get the fuck out of their wheelchair.”

Shinso's voice interrupts your own, monotonous and cold. You turn to look at him next to you, and if you'd had the ability to stand up and run away, holy shit, you would have. Shinso looks furious. You'd thought he was somewhat intimidating when you first met him, but now..yikes. His fists are clenching and unclenching at his sides, and he's scowling at the kid currently sitting in your chair. You can practically see smoke coming out of his ears.

The ginger, also dressed in a UA uniform, rolls his eyes, and doesn't appear to be at all intimidated by the glare Shinso is giving him. He grins, and squeezes the handle of your wheelchair. You watch in utter horror as the chair stairs to hiss and steam, the metal bending under the smirking asshole’s fingers.

“What are you going to do, bitch boy? Of course you're teaming up with a cripple. I doubt a villain like-”

Mid-sentence, the boy freezes in place. His face has gone completely blank. You look on with a mix of shock and horror. He looks absent from his own body, no thought behind his eyes. It's as if…

“Hey.”

It's Shinso's voice. Softer than you've heard it so far, but still with an undertone of something dark enough to be unsettling. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” you respond, as you try to catch your bearings. “I'm used to this kind of stuff. But what was-”

Turning to him to ask what that bully had been talking about, you're instead greeted with the view of his back as he walks up the stairs. When Shinso reaches the top, the ginger stands up, and walks stiffly away, still with the same blank expression. Watching as the boy jerkily marches towards the entrance to the school, Shinso lands a firm kick to the kid's retreating rear end.

“Fuck..”

Now, he's looking at your wheelchair with a somewhat panicked expression. One of the metal armrests has been bent in the wrong direction, and when he reaches out a hand to touch it, he hisses in pain as his fingers connect with the still-hot metal. Shinso calls out your name from the top of the stairs. “So..how bad is this?”

You realize he's asking you to gauge the condition of your still-smoking mobility aid. Still sitting in the grass at the bottom of the steps, you can't see your chair well, and you definitely can't properly assess the damage. You shrug, and gesture to him to come back down the stairs.

“I can't see from down here. But more importantly, what the fuck was that? I know that guy didn't just walk away like a damn nutcracker just because he ‘felt like it.’ You did something! And did he call you a villain? What’s that about?”

Shinso's face hardens. While he certainly doesn't look as upset as he did while your wheelchair was turning into a DIY candle, his expression has become closed off. Whatever just happened, he wants you to move on.

He turns to you, still looking anywhere but into your eyes. “I'm going to help you get up the stairs. I'll find a teacher, and we'll figure out this bullshit with your wheelchair. Somebody in the support class can probably fix it. And you should probably file a complaint about the construction. You'd just be sitting outside all day if I wasn't here.”

You open your mouth to argue, but the look in Shinso's purple eyes is clearly telling you that you aren't going to get anything out of him. You sigh, and relent.

“Fine. But we're talking about this later.”

Chapter Text

You did, in fact, not talk about it later. With a bit of grumbling, Shinso managed to successfully help you up the stairs. When you arrived at the top, you stared at your damaged wheelchair in dismay. You'd probably still be able to sit in it but you'd have to be careful to keep your balance, as the left armrest was now completely useless. You felt your eyes start to tear up. What if it couldn't be fixed? Wheelchairs were so expensive, and you didn't want to have to explain what had happened to anyone. What if-

“Hey. Calm down. You look like you're about to have a heart attack. Sit.” Shinso is talking to you. He gestures towards your chair.

“I’ll make sure you don't fall out. Chill. We’ll get it fixed. You're annoying enough conscious. I don't want to deal with dragging around dead weight because you lost your shit over some asshole.”

Shaking your head in an attempt to clear your mind of the sudden wave of anxiety that you're now experiencing, you grasp tightly onto his hand, and lower yourself onto your wheelchair with a huff.

Shinso moves to stand behind you, grabbing the back handles of the wheelchair.

“Hey..you mind if I push you, wheels?”

You blink. Wheels? That's seriously gonna be what he calls you from now on?

“No. Just..be careful. I'm not sure how bad he fucked up my chair, and I'm really not looking to be carried into class on the first day.”

Shinso hums in agreement, then starts to slowly push you towards the front doors of the school. Now that your mind isn't being invaded with a sense of crushing dread, you're blown away but just how..extra the school is. The giant metal arch, the huge UA school logo on the front of the towering building. It was all so..big. You check your watch, noting that your heart rate, which had finally started to steady, had kicked up again. Shinso catches this, and his dark eyes widen a bit at the steadily climbing number displayed on the small screen.

“Wow. There really is something wrong with you.”

You crane your neck around to glare at him as he pushes you into the foyer of the school building.

“Thanks.”

Shinso doesn't seem to quite get your sarcasm, nodding and continuing to guide your wheelchair. After a few seconds of silence, you pipe up.

“Hey, grumpy?”

“...are you talking to me?”

“Is there another guy with eye bags deep enough to swim in currently in the vicinity?”

"...

“We haven't reached class 1-A yet, so no.”

You smirk at his jab at your homeroom teacher. He's not wrong. That man looked like he'd never gotten a solid night of sleep in his life.

“That was..not a horrible joke. Congrats. I had no idea you had it in you. Anyway, can we go visit Recovery Girl? I think we have about fifteen minutes until first period, and she might have a solution for my half-melted chair.”

Your purple-haired companion nods.

“That's fine. Even if we're late, I doubt they can fault us. Wouldn't be very heroic to penalize a cripple.”

You whip your head around to affix him with a stern expression.

“Hey. Not a cool word. You can call me disabled, but I'm not ‘a cripple.’ I'm a person. That can be really hurtful.”

A bit of remorse flickers across Shinso’s face. His next words are gruff, but he sounds genuine, and you wonder for a moment if you're imagining the embarrassed flush to his cheeks.

“I..my bad. I haven't.."

"You haven't met someone like me before?"

"..yeah. I mean, no, I haven't, I mean-I'm just going to shut up now."

His face is definitely red now.

You continue to look at him, until he places his hand on your hair, and turns your head to face forward again.

“You shouldn't do that. You could end up with a neck injury.”

You're speechless for a moment. Sure, you'd only talked to this guy for maybe thirty minutes, but this seemed incredibly thoughtful of him, and definitely a bit out of character from what you'd seen from him so far.

Although, aside from him clearly being very socially awkward and not the most polite, he didn't seem to be a bad guy. Just..a bit misguided. Not used to people. Especially not people like you. At first you consider complaining about him touching you, but then you decide it's not worth it. He's helping you, after all.

After what feels like forever, but is actually closer to five minutes, Shinso stops pushing your chair. You've stopped outside the door to what you assume is Recovery Girl's office. You're glad Shinso clearly paid attention to the map new students were given because you'd never even bothered to fish it out of your bag after taking it home. Once again, you find yourself grateful for your awkward companion.

You hear a voice from inside the room, and a grey-haired woman, who you know to be Recovery Girl from the yearly broadcast of the UA Sports festival, pokes her head out. Her eyes widen a bit at the sight of Shinso pushing you in your busted wheelchair.

“Ah..hello, dearie. You seem to have gotten yourself in a bit of a pickle."