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Hitoshi steals away to the bedroom on silent feet, praying to all the gods he knows that Akabane is already too drunk to notice him. He's slightly late and normally that ends in a beating, but if Hitoshi is in the room before he comes to check then things will be fine and Eri won't have to cry again.
Hitoshi slips into the room and a small body immediately slams into him, arms that barely reach all the way around him, squeezing him so tightly that it takes his breath away and for one moment he fears that he's too late, that Akabane already knows he wasn't here on time, but then Eri looks up at him and gives him a shaky smile.
"He wasn't here yet," she whispers out and Hitoshi pats her head in relief.
"Good. How are you doing?" he asks and kneels down to take her gloved hands into his. "And pain?"
He checks the fit of the gloves, how tight they've been fastened around her wrists, but the blood flow doesn't seem to have been cut off and Eri gives him another smile, this time more steady.
"No pain," she gives back and from what Hitoshi can see, he even believes her.
"That's good then. How was your day?"
Hitoshi picks her up and settles down on the bed, Eri in his lap and something warm and protective settles in his chest as he switches on the flashlight on his phone.
It's the only source of light in the room, because Akabane barricaded the window a few months back when he caught Hitoshi trying to climb out of it and then he took the lamp for good measure, too.
Eri launches into an excited retelling of her day, and Hitoshi nods along and asks all the right questions and thanks every god out there that this wonderful sweet child managed to keep some of her hope and spirit despite the circumstances.
Hitoshi has been with the Akabane's for a while now, but Eri was only recently placed with them but to Hitoshi it almost feels as if she has always been his sister.
And he'd do anything to protect her.
Once Eri is all out of words, Hitoshi nudges her gently.
"Come on, Eri, time to get ready for bed," he whispers and tries to ignore the pout on her face.
It's early, even for a child as young as her, but the Akabane's are strict about this kind of thing and neither Eri nor Hitoshi are allowed out of their bedroom after six, so if they want to brush their teeth and use the bathroom again, then they have to do it before that.
"I'm hungry," Eri mutters and Hitoshi's chest constricts.
"Did you have dinner?" he asks, even though he can guess the answer and predictably Eri shakes her head.
"My glove slipped at school," she admits and presses her hands to her stomach. "He saw."
And because she broke a rule with that she didn't get dinner, Hitoshi bitterly thinks and forces himself not to sigh.
It's hardly her fault and he guesses her glove didn't even really slip, just moved a little bit, because for all the time he has known Eri he has never seen her even try to remove the gloves.
"I have an energy bar in my bag, wait a moment," Hitoshi gently says and deposits her on the bed while he goes to retrieve his emergency stash.
He'll have to refill it again somehow, but that is a problem for later. For now, it's more important that Eri eats something.
Hitoshi doesn't have to worry much about that anymore, because Aizawa either brings him something to eat for after training or just straight up takes him out for dinner, so Hitoshi is now at two solid meals per day and his emergency stash is really more for Eri these days than himself anyway.
"Look, here. It's not the tastiest, but it's still good," he tells her and hands it over.
Eri tears into it as if she hasn't eaten all day and Hitoshi fears that it might be true. She doesn't talk much about her school but he thinks that maybe she doesn't get lunch there all the time and with how precarious the food situation in the house is, Hitoshi fears that there are days where she doesn't eat at all.
Hitoshi tries his best to compensate for it, brings the dinners Aizawa gets him home sometimes so she can eat it, but he knows that it's not enough for a child like her. And the energy bar is hardly going to tie her over until tomorrow.
"It's good," she agrees with her mouth full and Hitoshi smiles at her, even as he urges her to eat faster, so they can still use the bathroom in time.
They make it, just barely, and by the time they are curled up in bed her stomach is no longer grumbling.
Hitoshi reaches for his phone, to turn off the flashlight, so that Eri can sleep in peace, but he can feel her tense next to him.
"No, please don't turn off the light," she whispers out, her voice shaky and afraid and Hitoshi lets out a measured breath.
"Eri, did something happen at school?" he asks, because normally she's fine without light, as long as she didn't have a nightmare the night before and as far as Hitoshi knows she didn't have one of those.
"No, it's just—" she fiddles with the straps of her gloves, though clearly she knows better than to take them off. "My horn hurts."
"I see," Hitoshi softly says and pulls her closer.
He knows what her quirk is, at least as much as Eri herself could tell him about it, and her horn hurting must mean that there was another surge of energy. Hitoshi fears that one of these days it's just going to break out of her, no matter that she's wearing gloves, and that day is going to be devastating for them, Hitoshi already knows it.
"Anything I can do?"
"Just leave the light, please," she gives back and Hitoshi nods, even as an uneasy feeling settles in his chest.
If Akabane catches them with the light on, it's not going to end pretty.
Eri falls asleep not long after and Hitoshi is quick to turn off his flashlight, desperately checking the battery to see if it'll last until the morning but when he sees the percentage, he knows that he's fuck.
There's no way his phone is going to survive and that means there will be no alarm to wake him in time to get Eri ready for school before he has to leave himself. Hitoshi closes his burning eyes even as he fumbles his wristwatch out of his pocket and then he settles into the most uncomfortable position he can find, so that he can stay up the night.
It's not the first time, and it won't be the last and with his insomnia it's not really a problem anyway.
Everything's just fine.
~*~*~
Hitoshi tries to rub some blood back into Eri's hands, the gloves discarded at the side, while she nervously vibrates in place.
"Eri, it's fine. You're not going to hurt me," Hitoshi gently reminds her, but he still tries to be as fast and efficient as he can be because she's clearly uncomfortable like this and he knows he should get the gloves back onto her as soon as he can.
"You don't know that," she shakily gives back and Hitoshi wishes he could refute that statement, but she's right after all.
He still hasn't seen her quirk in action, still doesn't know how exactly it works or how much control she really has over it and he knows it's something to worry about, but right now it's more important to make sure that she's not going to lose her hands completely.
The colour is slowly returning to her fingers, though and Hitoshi lets out a relieved breath.
He doesn't know how many more times it will just barely work out but for now he's going to take everything he can get.
Hitoshi is so focused on Eri's little hands that he hears Akabane's footsteps a moment too late; it's the way Eri tenses that finally clues him in but then the door is already flung open and instinctively Hitoshi whirls around, Eri safely behind him.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Akabane dangerously asks him and Hitoshi can spot the discarded gloves from the corner of his eyes.
"Did you take them off, you little hell-spawn?"
Eri lets out a scared whimper at his tone and Hitoshi slowly stands up.
"It was me. I made her," he says pushing Eri back and hoping that she'll take the hint to hide under the bed.
Hitoshi feels surprisingly calm as Akabane's eyes almost blaze with anger, because he knows he'd do anything to protect Eri and taking the blame for this is hardly worth mentioning.
Yes, it will leave him black and blue and probably with the muzzle to boot, but as long as Eri is safe, it's all worth it.
It's all worth it, he thinks as Akabane's fist connects with the side of his head. It's all fine, he thinks as Akabane's foot slams into his stomach. It's okay, he desperately thinks as hit after hit rains down on him and when he can't think at all anymore, he still knows that it's worth it.
For Eri, it's all worth it.
"You little bastard, you really think I don't know what you're doing?" Akabane hisses as he yanks Hitoshi's head up by the hair, muzzle already in his hand. "You won't always be here to protect her. One of these days you'll be late, one of these days she'll be all alone and she's old enough by now to take a beating, don't you think?" Akabane almost pleasantly asks and Hitoshi feels like throwing up just from imagining Eri having to go through something like this.
"Please don't," he mutters, right before the muzzle is tightened in place but Akabane only smiles at him.
"One of these days," he promises Hitoshi and then pushes him back onto the floor, where Hitoshi can do nothing but lay and try to catch his breath, try to stave off his panic.
Eri's wide, wet eyes are staring straight at him from under the bed and right before Akabane closes the door he sees how she's trembling, pressing her hands to her mouth to keep quiet despite the sobs wrecking her body, and Hitoshi knows that he has to do something.
He has to get Eri out of here.
~*~*~
The muzzle cut into his cheek on the right side, and there's a purpling bruise on the left one, not even to mention all the other bruises littering his body, and while Hitoshi hates every second of it, it also cements his decision.
He needs help for Eri.
And there are only two adults he would trust with that.
Hitoshi resolutely knocks at the teacher's lounge, not giving himself a moment to doubt his decision, because it doesn't matter if he gets moved to a worse family after this. The only thing that matters is that Eri gets a good home, adults who care for her and even if Aizawa and Yamada can't take her in, Hitoshi trusts them to find a proper family for her.
"Shinsou," Yamada says, clearly surprised to see him and Hitoshi can pinpoint the exact moment he really takes him in, because his eyes go wide.
"Listener, what happened to you?"
"I need your help," Hitoshi says. "Yours and Aizawa's. Please."
"Of course, kiddo, of course, come in. Shou!" Yamada calls out as he shepherds Hitoshi into another room adjacent to the teacher's lounge.
Aizawa is just a step behind them, manages to slip in just before Yamada can close the door and his eyes narrow as they briefly touch on every visible wound on Hitoshi's face.
"Shinsou. What's going on?"
"I need your help," Hitoshi repeats and Yamada nods, as if he's agreeing without even knowing what's going on.
"I would say so," Aizawa drily says but when he pushes Hitoshi down to sit on the couch, his hands are gentle. "We're here for you."
"Not me," Hitoshi says and shakes his head. "I have a—" he bites his words off, because Eri is not his sister and if they think she is, it might just complicate things. "There's a little girl in the foster family where I'm staying. I need you to get her out."
"A girl?" Yamada asks, clearly confused.
"Eri. She just turned six a few weeks ago. Please, it's not a good home, you have to get her out. She doesn't deserve any of this."
"Shinsou, what about you?" Aizawa asks and Hitoshi blinks confusedly at him.
"This isn't about me."
"But maybe it should be, kiddo," Yamada gently says. "Have you looked at your face recently?"
"Not really," Hitoshi admits because he didn't actually want to see. It's bad enough that Eri has to. "But it doesn't matter. Eri matters. You're required to have foster licenses, right? At least for emergency fostering? Can you take Eri in? Until you find her a new home, a good one?"
"Hitoshi," Yamada breathes out and there's a trembling to his voice Hitoshi can't place.
"Aizawa, please," Hitoshi begs his mentor, because he needs them to make sure Eri is safe, but when he looks at him, he isn't prepared for how crestfallen Aizawa looks.
"Hitoshi, what about you?" Aizawa repeats himself and Hitoshi helplessly shrugs because why won't they understand?
"It doesn't matter," he breathes out. "This is about Eri, please, she's too little and Akabane said—he said—" Hitoshi gasps for breath, unable to even put it into words and he startles badly when Yamada sits down next to him and gently puts an arm around her.
"What did he say?" he prompts and Hitoshi forces himself to breathe and to talk.
"That she's old enough for a beating now. And I'm going to be late one day and who is going to protect her then?" he desperately asks and looks back at Aizawa. "You could protect her. You can get her out of there and make sure she's safe. Please."
"And who is making sure you are safe?" Aizawa shoots back and Hitoshi's eyes burn.
"No one, but that's how it's always been. I don't care what happens to me, I just need to know that Eri is going to be safe!"
"We care, kiddo," Yamada softly says. "We care what happens to you. And Eri of course."
"We only have one guestroom so—"
"Eri," Hitoshi immediately interrupts Aizawa. "Take Eri."
Akabane will kill him for this, Hitoshi knows, and even if he doesn't there's no guarantee that the next family Hitoshi will be placed with will be any better, but it doesn't matter at all.
None of that matters, if it only means that Eri gets to have a happier life than he did.
"If you would let me talk," Aizawa rebukes him, though it's with a smile and said much more gently than Hitoshi is used to, "I could have told you that we expect you to share a room until we can find a bigger apartment."
Hitoshi doesn't understand where the ringing in his ears suddenly comes from and why everything goes kind of fuzzy around the edges and it isn't until Aizawa kneels in front of him and takes his hands in his that feeling comes back to his limbs.
"Hitoshi, we have regular foster licenses and we are more than ready to take you both in."
"We kind of feared that your home life wasn't the best," Yamada seamlessly takes over, "so we've had the guestroom prepared for a while. We didn't know about Eri, but of course we're going to get both of you out of there."
"Both of us," Hitoshi dumbly repeats because it just doesn't compute. "You're going to take both of us in."
"Yes, Hitoshi," Aizawa says with a determined nod.
"Until CPS places me somewhere else, right? But you'll keep Eri?"
"We're going to keep both of you," Yamada gently says. "CPS is not going to place you somewhere else, kiddo. Shou and I are going to be your family. Yours and Eri's."
"I don't need a family," Hitoshi says while he shakes his head even as his chest feels as if it's caving in. "I just need to know that Eri has one."
"Hitoshi," Aizawa breathes out. "You might not need a family, but you deserve one. Eri clearly is your family, and we want to be, too. Won't you let us?"
"You said you needed our help with Eri, so you clearly trust us," Yamada cuts in. "Don't you trust us to care for you, too?"
"Eri is more important."
"She clearly is your priority," Aizawa agrees, Hitoshi's hands still in his. "But you are also important and you are both going to be our priorities. We're going to get Eri out of there but we're going to take you with us as well. We're not going to separate you and we're going to give you both a family."
"Both," Hitoshi whispers out, hardly able to believe what he's hearing.
"Yeah, Hitoshi, both," Yamada says and cards his fingers through Hitoshi's hair. "Are you good to share with her for a while until we can find us a home that fits us all?"
"I'm sharing a room with her anyway. I doubt she can sleep alone," Hitoshi admits, because they've spent every night in the same bed since Eri came to stay with the Akabane's and Hitoshi has to admit that even if she was fine with staying in different rooms, he probably wouldn't be. Not yet.
"Okay, kiddo," Yamada says and squeezes him briefly, making Hitoshi gasps in pain and Yamada jerks back as if he's been burned.
"You're hurt elsewhere," Aizawa darkly says, not even making it a question and Hitoshi helplessly shrugs.
"He was going to go after Eri," he whispers out and Yamada lets out a soft "Oh, kiddo," before he nods determinedly.
"We're getting you out today. Shou call Tsukauchi. Hitoshi, we're going to Recovery Girl and then Shou and I will talk to Nezu that we won't be in for the rest of the week before we're going to get Eri. Do you know her schedule at school?"
"She comes home around four," Hitoshi says. "If Recovery Girl heals me, there's no way I'll make it."
"She knows her quirk best, she'll heal you just enough for you to be able to move freely. We'll get Eri directly from school, so she doesn't have to go back to that family, okay?" Aizawa interject and Hitoshi is helpless against the hope bubbling up inside of him.
"You mean it? You really want to take in both of us?" he shakily asks because it's hard to believe but both Aizawa and Yamada nod immediately.
"Yes, Hitoshi. We're going to be your family, and Eri's too. You don't have to worry about that anymore. You're both safe now."
Hitoshi is ashamed when he bursts into tears at that, but he was just so scared for Eri, so terrified of what could happen to her when he's not home and to know that she'll be safe—to know that he will be safe, too—is so relieving that it's hard to breathe with it.
"You're going to be just fine, kiddo," Yamada whispers and Aizawa pats his hands.
"We've got you now," he promises as well and Hitoshi dares to believe it.
He came to them for a reason, he asked them because he trusts them, enough to entrust them with Eri, and he is going to trust them on this, too.
If they say that they are both safe now, then they will be.