Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hitoshi was always destined to become a villain. That's what everyone told him since he turned four, and if they didn't say it verbally, their actions spoke loud enough for them. It was five months after his quirk developed that he found himself standing in front of an orphanage with two bags, his parents car speeding away far to quickly for the rain that was falling in droves. 

He's been through eight homes in the last 6 years. Eight homes have turned their noses up at him, deeming Hitoshi a danger and a stain on society for merely existing. He can't help the flare of heat sparking in his chest as his social worker drives him away from his latest home. This last family practically pushed him out the door, claiming they felt threatened by his quirk, afraid he could've used it on him and they wouldn't even know.

Hitoshi couldn't remember the last time he had spoken out loud. He hasn't been muzzled for four years, not since the cops had been called and his social worker officially reprimanded for not vetting the home properly. Maybe that's another reason why Kitagawa-san looks at him with such distaste. But that doesn't matter, everyone still thinks of him as a threat, even when his voice is as much of a mystery to himself as it is to them.

"Your next set of fosters are called Akiko." Kitagawa-san spoke up some time later while stopped at an intersection. "They currently house 4 other children, one is around your age."

Hitoshi nodded from the backseat, not taking his eyes away from the window. He wasn't sure what to do with that information. The kids would undoubtedly be informed of his stupid quirk as soon as he arrives, and it's all downhill from there.

The rest of the ride passed in silence. By the time they pulled up to a rather large house, Hitoshi was leaning against the window with his eyes half closed. As he slid out of the car, dragging his suitcase and backpack with him, Kitagawa-san started making her way towards the front door of the home. Hitoshi quickly shut the car door and scrambled after the women, catching up as she was ringing the door bell.

The door swung open, revealing a girl of about 10 years, who gave them a short bow before stepping aside and motioning them in.

"Mr and Mrs Akiko are in the kitchen. I'll take you there." The girl said, pushing a lock of light brown hair out of her face.

"Thank you." was all Kitagawa-san said as they all followed the girl down the hall to the kitchen. Sitting at the table was a short women with blond hair and a average man with uncanny red hair and eyes a similar shade. 

"You must be Shinsou!" The women, Mrs. Akiko, said in a voice that was far too saccharine sweet. Hitoshi nodded and bowed towards the both of them before straightening back up. Mr. Akiko gave him an assessing look before turning to Kitagawa-san.

"Do you have the paperwork ready to sign?" The man said. Kitagawa-san nodded and set her binder on the table.

"Thank you. Akari," Mrs Akiko turned towards the two children in the room. "Go help Shinsou find his room."

"Yes ma'am." Akari nodded and turned to leave, motioning for Hitoshi to follow. The two of them walked in silence back towards the stairs in the entryway. Hitoshi poked his head into the doorways they passed, locating the living room and what appeared to be a study along the way.

Following Akari up the stairs, they stopped on the landing. "This is the common space us kids share." She pointed to a door on the far wall. "That room is shared by Yamazaki and Makoto. They aren't home right now, but you'll probably meet them at dinner." Turning left, Akari walks down a small hallway, pointing to a door on the left.

"This is the bathroom." She pushed the door open and Hitoshi peaked in. "Towels are in the cabinet across from the shower. You can use either sink, just clean up if you make a mess." Akari sounded tired as she said that last part. Hitoshi got the impression that the others kept making messes she had to clean up.

Stopping at the door on the right, Akari knocked before pushing it open. "Hey Ogawa, Shinsou is here."

There was a rustling of sheets before an older looking girl appeared behind Akari. She had soft features, with light blue hair and matching eyes. She looked friendly, but Hitoshi knew better. He averted his gaze and stared at the floor, cheeks reddening. If they didn't already know about his power, then they'd stop being friendly soon enough. Or they're just faking, trying to get something out of me.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a hand entering his field of view. Hitoshi tried to hide a flinch and looked back up at Ogawa, who was still holding out her hand.

"Hi, My name is Ogawa Natsumi."

Hitoshi looked from her face to the hand, then hesitantly took it, giving it a quick shake before letting it go. A soft smile graced Ogawa's lips as she turned back to Akari.

"I'll go grab the vacuum, his room might be a little dusty." With that, Ogawa squeezed past them and headed back the way the two younger kids had come. Akari had a sad smile one her face as Hitoshi turned back to her.

"Ogawa is the second oldest of us," She said quietly. "She'll be moving away in a year or so to go to college, but she's been here forever. The Akiko's love her because of how well she does in school and the community."

Akari then jolted. "Shit! Your room! Sorry!" She turned and bolted down the hall to the door at the very end. Hitoshi scrambled after her, following her into a small room. There was a closet along one wall, and a bed with a matching nightstand sat by a window. A bookshelf sat on the last wall, though it was devoid of anything for the moment.

"Sorry, it's bare bones, I know, but all of our rooms were. There is a donation drive for kids like us twice a year, that's normally where I pick up my decorations. That or I make them." Akari huffed at that, scuffing the floor with her foot. "Ogawa will be here soon with the vacuum."

With that, the girl left. Hitoshi waited to hear her door close before he finally relaxed. Opening the closet, he pushed his suitcase inside and unzipped it, leaving it propped open against the back wall. No point in unpacking just yet, better to get the feel of the house first.

A knock at the door made him jump. Ogawa was standing in the entrance, holding the vacuum she promised. After giving him a quick tutorial on how it works, with Hitoshi nodding along, she turned and left as well, leaving him staring after her. Did... did she knock?! Shaking his head, Hitoshi got to work clearing the dust from the floor and surfaces. The bed looked freshly made, but he carefully inspected it for any unpleasant surprises.

After finishing up with the cleaning and wrapping the cable to the vacuum back up, Hitoshi layed down on his bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. Ogawa and Akari had been nice, but who knew how long that would last. And what about the other two kids? Yamazaki and Makoto? He doubted they would be as kind as the two girls had been up until this point.

Hitoshi doesn't know how long he laid there, staring at the ceiling, but eventually there was another knock at his door. Akari stood in the doorway, her hands twitching in front of her nervously.

"It's time for dinner, you should come down stairs." She said once she realized she had Hitoshi's attention. "Normally meals aren't mandatory, but the guardian's want to make sure you know the ground rules." Hitoshi nodded and stood, but paused when Akari didn't move from where she stood at the doorway. The girl was looking off to the side, her eyes unfocused. Hitoshi was about to get her attention when her hands suddenly stopped moving and she focused back on him.

"Listen," she said quietly. "I... I don't know how things were at your last homes, but here..." Akari trailed off. "They may not look it, but they are extremely strict. Their just waiting for us to screw up."

When aren't they? Every where is strict when you're a villain. Strict didn't even come close to some of the places Hitoshi had to stay at. He felt some of the old heat return to his chest. Why couldn't he end up in just one stable, normal home? And if this normal girl thought that the guardians were strict, then what would they do to the villain kid? 

Akari turned them. Looking back, she quietly mumbled "Sorry for dumping that on you. I just wanted you to be ready." Her gray-blue eyes met his own, and they seemed distant for reasons Hitoshi didn't want to guess at. The two of them walked down to the Kitchen in silence after that.

Sitting at the counter were to boys he assumed were Yamazaki and Makoto. They both stopped their card game and turned to look at him with varying degrees on interest.

"Whose the squirt?" The boy with ginger hair asked, pointing one finger at Hitoshi. 

"That's Shinsou." Mr. Akiko said, not bothering to look up from his tablet.

"Who?"

"Remember that new Foster transfer they told us about last week Yamazaki?" The other boy said, sizing Hitoshi up like he was a threat. Which, to be fair, he was.

"Ohhh. I totally remembered!" Yamazaki looked at Hitoshi one last time before turning back to his game.

That's it? Hitoshi knew that they hadn't been told what his quirk was, they wouldn't be speaking to him if they knew. But that was still a surprising interaction. Yamazaki seemed a bit dense in the head, which wasn't a fair assessment since Hitoshi had only just met him. But the point still stood. Makoto, on the other hand, wasn't giving Hitoshi anything to work with.

"Shinsou, over here." Mrs. Akiko said. Hitoshi moved until he stood at the other side of the table from his new Guardians.

"There are some ground rules we need to go over." Mrs. Akiko's smile was almost to wide as she spoke. "You will be helping in the household chores. If they are not completed, you will be punished accordingly with the others. Everyone take turns cooking, dinner is to be on the table no later than 7:30 every night. Chores are to be completed by 9PM. The lists are on the fridge and are updated every day." Hitoshi glanced towards the fridge and noticed a small screen stuck to the door.

"You are to attend all of your classes, and maintain exemplary grades. You don't have to come home immediately after, we don't enforce a curfew unless you are being punished. Akari will bring your uniform home tomorrow, so you will start classes on Tuesday." Mrs. Akiko paused, looking at her husband, who finally set down his tablet and leveled Hitoshi with a glare that left him pinned to the spot.

"I don't care where you go or what you do so long as you don't get into any trouble. If I have to hear about it, we will correct you behavior." Hitoshi repressed a shiver at that. He found himself remembering the words Akari told him upstairs. "We took a risk taking you in, don't make me regret it." 

Hitoshi nodded fervently. He was not eager to figure out what they meant by correction.

"One more thing," Mrs. Akiko said, holding up her hand. "I think it should be obvious, but we have no tolerance for quirks like yours being used. Do you understand?" Hitoshi nodded again.

"Wait, what is his quirk?" Yamazaki piped up, glancing between Makoto and the guardians. 

Please don't say it, just let me be normal for once! But Hitoshi knew better, he knew it would only be a matter of hours.

"His quirk is called Brainwashing."

Fuck.

Chapter Text

Hitoshi's whole body was tingling. This was it, the moment when people turned on him. The numbness that ran through his chest and down to his fingers made his breath feel cold and his hands too hot.

He had expected the cold stare from Makoto, that was pretty standard as far as reactions to his quirk went. The older boy had been sizing him up since he walked in, so it wasn't a surprise to find the boy glaring at him now.

The cruel laugh that came from Yamazaki wasn't as expected. Most people didn't laugh at his quirk, they ran from it or mocked it, but never laughed when they first found out about it.

"Brainwashing? That's priceless! No wonder the Quirkless freak has taken a liking to you!" Yamazaki wiped fake tears from his eyes. "It's always had a thing for villains."

Akari's shoulder tensed and she whirled towards the older boy. "Yamazaki! Don't you talk about Hi-"

"Akari." The single warning from Mr. Akiko was all it took to stop the girl in her tracks, shoulders relaxing and her mouth closing over the words she clearly wanted to say.

Instead, the girl walked straight past a still laughing Yamazaki and into the kitchen proper. Pulling out bowls and cups, she got to work serving up the dinner that was sitting warm on the stove.

"Why don't you go and help her?" They way Mr. Akiko said it made it clear it wasn't a request. Hitoshi bowed towards his new guardians and went to do as he was instructed. The dinner seemed to be some type of curry and smelled really good. Hitoshi hadn't realized how hungry he was until he was standing right next to the prepared food. Akari was pouring the sauce over a serving of rice before turning and handing him the bowl and pointing with her free hand to one of the many drawers.

"That's where we keep the silverware. This bowl is for Mr. Akiko." Hitoshi nodded and went to grab a pair of chopsticks before going and setting the meal in front of the man. Returning to the stove, Hitoshi brought each person present in the kitchen, besides himself and Akari, a bowl before being stopped by Akari.

"Do you want to dish up your own food?" She asked him. Hitoshi just blinked at her, surprised. Had she not been paying attention when the Akiko's told them about his quirk?

He must have taken longer to respond than he thought, because Akari had turned back to the stove and moments later was pressing a warm bowl into his hands. After dishing up her own bowl she turned and nudged Hitoshi with her foot, motioning with her head to follow. The girl led him to the opposite end of the spacious dining room table than where their guardians were sitting.

"Ogawa is out for her part time job right now." The girl murmured, keeping her voice low enough for only Hitoshi to hear. "She normally eats out when she works late, so we just package up the leftovers and leave it in the fridge." The flicker of surprise he had felt at the stove returned. While people normally talked at Hitoshi, that was only when they absolutely had to. People didn't just talk to Hitoshi.

He didn't realize he had zoned out until there was a light tap on his arm. He started, leaning back and bringing up his arm before realizing Akari was already leaning back, looking guilty. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I asked if you wanted me to show you where the dishes go tonight."

Dumbfounded, Hitoshi could only manage a small nod as he signed a quick 'Thank you' to the girl. Akari's eyes went wide and, once again, she caused Hitoshi to question her sanity.

'You know JSL?' Akari signed.

Signed.

Hitoshi just nodded, squirming in his seat. One of his teachers had sat him down and started teaching him how a few years ago. After he had been moved on from that home, he continued to learn through library books and YouTube tutorials on school computers. He hadn't met another person who could speak more than their own name since then, and no one ever wanted to learn.

The two of them are in silence after that, leaving Hitoshi alone with his thoughts. He spent the time going over everything he had learned in the last 20 minutes.

1. Akari spoke JSL
2. Yamazaki had said 'Quirkless freak', which Akari had had a adverse reaction to
3. Their Guardians seemed to side against Akari, and likely against Hitoshi as well

At the counter, Yamazaki was not being quiet about all of his jokes surrounding the 'Quirkless freak and her Villain friends' .That was another thing to add to his list. Yamazaki was a quirkist jerk who, from all the jokes and comments that Akari was pointedly ignoring, thought all quirkless people were better off jumping.

Apparently Akari also had villainous friends. If Hitoshi had any money, he would bet that those 'Villains' were really just other kids with quirks like Hitoshi's own. He had met a few other kids like him in the system, most with scars covering their arms and angry voices to match. Hitoshi found himself tugging down the hem of his sweatshirt, making sure his abdomen was covered completely.

After a while, Akari got up and started clearing the dishes from the table, bringing them to the sink and turning on the tap. Hitoshi got up to help, standing awkwardly off to the side before grabbing a towel from the counter and drying the dishes Akari didn't put into the dishwasher, setting them carefully off to the side. The two worked in silence before Mr. Akiko cleared his throat.

"We are going to bed. Keep it down." was all he said before leaving the kitchen with his wife. Yamazaki stood up too, walking over to a cabinet and pulling a glass out of a cupboard. 

"Move it, Freak." Yamazaki grabbed Akari's arm and the girl jumped back, clutching her arm through gritted teeth. The boy just laughed as he filled the cup with water from the tap. Downing half of it in one go, he poured the rest into the sink, causing it to splash back out and soak the counter .

"Let's go Makoto." Yamazaki set the cup as far back on the counter as it would go before walking past Hitoshi.

Akari glowered after the two boys as she stood on her tiptoes, barely reaching the glass before setting it in the dishwasher. Sighing, she glanced back at Hitoshi.

"Thanks for the help Shinsou. Normally Ogawa helps with the dishes, but she's out more these days..." Akari started to open cabinets, pointing to each stack of dishes and drawer full of utensils as she explained where everything went. Hitoshi did his best to memorize it so he wouldn't get into any trouble for misplaced dishes. He winced at the memory of a tightening strap around his face and briefly brought his hand up to his face, willing his heart to quiet down.

It's not there it's not there it's not there. He didn't realize that Akari had paused what she was saying until a cold glass had been pressed into his hand. He looked up and met the girls unreadable expression. She didn't say anything for a few moments, just gave Hitoshi some space before continuing. 

"The screen on the fridge is updated daily. You just find your name every morning and it tells you what chores you need to get done." Akari finished as she started the dishwasher and hung up the towels. "I'll be home around 3 tomorrow, if you need any help."

Hitoshi tapped the counter to get Akari's attention before lifting up his hands to sign.

'Why are you still helping me?'

"Is it really so strange to be a decent person?"

The girl didn't look at Hitoshi again as she moved to turn off the lights. "Good night, Shinsou..." And with that, she was gone, leaving Hitoshi with more questions than answers about his new home.

Chapter Text

Hitoshi didn't sleep that night, instead sitting with his back pressed against the headboard of his bed with his knees tucked in close to his chest. Any attempt to rest was dashed by the pounding of his heart in the utter silence of the room around him. Despite the sweater he had pulled over his head hours ago, he was still cold, causing him to be acutely aware of every sensation he felt. Even the music playing from his phone refused to quell the roaring in his ears and the nerves wracking his entire frame.

He didn't even notice the sun had risen until a beam of sunlight blinded him. Hitoshi blinked, clearing his vision and rolling off his bed. It was best to be up before people came looking for him. Stretching his stiff muscles, the purple-haired teen quickly got dressed and crept down the stairs of the silent home.

Or, should he say, near silent. There was a clatter in the kitchen, followed by a quiet expletive. Hitoshi padded down the hall, both curious of who was in the kitchen, and also wanting to see what chores he needed to do today. The list was on the fridge, right?

It turned out to be Akari in the kitchen, unloading the dishes in the pale dawn light peeking through the kitchen windows. Moving towards the counter, Hitoshi gently rapped the surface once. The girl jumped and whirled around. 

"Oh! it's just you." Akari gave a breathy laugh. "I was worried I woke up the adults. Would not recommend waking them up, by the way."

Hitoshi just blinked, studying the girl. She was dressed in her school uniform, even though it was only six o'clock. He could feel the girl's eyes on him as well, quietly taking in Hitoshi's pajama bottoms and oversized T-shirt. After a few awkward moments, Hitoshi slipped around the counter and padded over to the fridge. The quiet clatter of dishes resumed behind him as Akari returned to her own work.

Reading the chore list embedded into the fridge, Hitoshi felt his stomach churn. The list wasn't too long, only four tasks for him to complete. The issue was that he had no idea where to start, or any idea of where the supplies he needed were. He was meant to vacuum the whole upstairs as well as the stairs themselves, but where was the vacuum? When he'd gone back to his room, someone had taken it away and now he had no idea of where it could be. He was supposed to scrub the kitchen floors as well, but which tools was he allowed to use? Where did they keep the-

There was a tap on his shoulder, and he realized Akari was standing next to him. She leaned past him, reading the list for herself before nodding to herself and turning back to Hitoshi.

"The vacuum and mop are kept in the closet in the hallway." Akari pointed towards the kitchen doorway before moving to the sink and opening the cupboard underneath. "Most of the cleaning supplies are kept here. Fill the big bucket with hot water and dish soap for mopping the floor" She moved out of the way and Hitoshi slowly crept forward, pausing when he saw the bucket the girl was talking about.

Hitoshi signed a quick 'Thank you' and Akari nodded. He was grateful, if maybe a little miffed, at the girl's actions. Normally, he was shown around the second he walked into a home and then the only times anyone talked to him was to yell and berate. This was a nice change of pace, even if it wouldn't last.

Akari looked over at the clock and grimaced. "I have to go." 

Hitoshi watched, startled, as Akari practically fled from the kitchen. He stood, staring after her as the sound of the front door opening and closing echoed down the hall. Had he offended her somehow? Hitoshi looked down at his feet and shook his head. It didn't matter, Akari would stop talking to him soon. She would look at him with the same hatred and fear everyone else did.

Ignoring the sick feeling coiling in his stomach, Hitoshi turned to get a glass of water. Better to get a start to his day since he was up anyway. Deciding to get the quietest chores out of the way first, he headed up stairs to get to work. Sometime around 7:30, the rest of the foster children got up and left the house. Ogawa gave him a nod and a quiet "Good morning, " as they passed in the hall. Makoto ignored him, apparently having decided since last night that he wasn't a threat to him.

Yamazaki, on the other hand, stuck out his foot as Hitoshi was walking up the stairs. Hitoshi barely managed to jump over the step and Yamazaki's leg, much to the older boy's distaste. Deciding it was better to get out of the way, Hitoshi scrambled up the rest of the steps and away from the scowling teen. He probably should have just tripped and caught himself on the stairway, if the quiet curses he heard from the stairwell was anything to go by. It's too late now.

The rest of the morning went by without incident. Both foster parents left the home at the same time, leaving Hitoshi alone. He pretended not to notice the worried looks that Mrs. Akiko kept shooting at him as she was leaving, glancing up at her husband and then around the house. It might have surprised him, maybe even hurt, but Hitoshi couldn't bring himself to care anymore. It took him another few hours to finish the chores he had been assigned which was fine since he had nothing to do anyway. 

The afternoon found him lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The fuzz that so often surrounded his vision grew heavier and darker. With the house empty and silent, Hitoshi finally closed his eyes.

The quiet of the house was broken by the opening of the front door. Hitoshi bolted upright in bed, grabbing his phone and checking the time. It was 4:27, he'd only slept for about 5 hours. Doing his best to keep as quiet as he could, he slid off his bed and crept down the hall, peering down the stairwell and into the hallway below. He relaxed slightly when he spotted Akari taking off her school bag. Hitoshi watched as Akari gently nudged the door closed with her foot, unzipping her backpack and pulling something out. Ducking back behind the corner, he padded back to his room, pushing his door just closed enough to hide him from sight. He didn't want to bother Akari, she'd come to him with his uniform, if she remembered to pick it up for him. He'd be fine taking the trip there to pick it up if she had 'forgotten' to grab it.

Opening his phone to scroll through his news apps, he was surprised to hear a knock on his door just a few minutes later. Getting up, he paused for a moment, waiting for her to come in, but he was instead greeted by another knock. Pulling the door fully open, he was greeted with a small smile from Akari and a bundle of clothes hangers. 

"Here are your uniforms. We're only issued two pairs, any extras or replacements you have to pay for." Hitoshi reached out and grabbed the offered hangers, eyeing the bundle of clothing for any creepy crawlies that might pop out. Akari gave a small huff at his expression, and he looked up to see her running a hand through her hair, shaking the longer strands in the back.

"It's just a pile of clothes dude, I don't think it bites." Akari gave him one last look and a thumbs up before heading down the hall, closing the door to her room behind her.

Hitoshi retreated into his room, laying out his uniform on the bed. Two pairs of shirts, slacks, and blazers accounted for, as well as a matching tie. Checking over the articles of clothing one last time, making sure there were no weird stains or thumbtacks in the seams, he hung them up in the closet before deciding to unpack some of his clothes, gently sliding them into the wardrobe for convenience sake. 

Grabbing his phone from off his bed, Hitoshi slid down to the floor and started scrolling. He wasn't necessarily reading everything - or anything, if Hitoshi was being completely honest - but it was still good to keep up with the current hero news in the area. He didn't think he had gotten so lost in his phone, so it was a surprise when he heard his name being called from down stairs. Hitoshi bolted upright, cursing his lack of awareness as he realized the sun had drifted downwards and had already set. Moving as fast as he dared, Hitoshi found himself standing in the kitchen just moments later.

Dinner was a quiet affair. Hitoshi was asked if he finished his chores, to which he nodded an affirmative, and then set about helping Ogawa dish up dinner. Yamazaki came in, loudly complaining about something to Makoto, and shot Hitoshi a sullen glare. When Ogawa handed him his own bowl, he carefully made his way around the boys sitting at the counter, and sat in the same seat as last night.

Hitoshi almost jumped out of his skin when Akari slid into the seat across from him. He hadn't even seen her come in. She gave an apologetic smile before diving into her own food. The clean up was almost as quiet as the dinner itself, minus another attempted tripping from Yamazaki. This time, it was Akari who nimbly stepped around the sweeping leg. Hitoshi made extra sure to steer well clear of the teen whilst carrying the dishes after witnessing that. He was not in the business of smashing glasses right now, thank you very much.

The night saw Hitoshi staring at his ceiling again. He knew he needed to sleep, he had school in the morning, but that had always been easier said than done for Hitoshi. He pulled the blankets up higher, trying to escape the cold air that permeated his room. Rolling over, Hitoshi turned on the newest episode of his favorite podcast, slipping his phone onto the pillow next to him so that he could still hear it on the exceptionally low volume. He finally closed his eyes, choosing to listen to the voice coming from his phone instead of the static that always enveloped his thoughts.

He didn't even notice as, sometime much, much later, his breathing finally evened out, and the emotional exhaustion of the last few days finally caught up to him.

Chapter Text

He was running. How long had he been running for? He couldn't breathe, his lungs burning like they were on fire as they convulsed. The metal clamped too tight too tight too tight. He couldn't see where he was going, only that he had to get away.

Then his foot hit something, and for a moment, he couldn't feel anything. He couldn't feel the strap digging into his skull, the muzzle scraping away soft tissue and bruising bone. Couldn't feel the blood running down his neck in droves or the sting in his eyes as the tears burned their way down his face. His vision finally cleared, his lungs seemingly having taken in all the air they needed for him to watch as the pavement rushed up to meet him...

Hitoshi shot up, throwing off the sheets. His jaw and cheeks ached, and he tried to breathe evenly as his heart pounded an erratic rhythm in his chest. He reached up - desperate to pull off the muzzle and throw it far, far away - only to have his hands close on empty air. It took him a few more seconds of groping the air in front of him to be sure, but eventually he pressed both hands to his face, slumping forward as the adrenaline from the nightmare began to wear off.

Hitoshi spent a good few minutes just lying there, breathing in and out through his mouth. His open mouth, because there wasn't anything to stop him from moving his jaw, nothing stopping him from breathing freely. There was nothing there .

Eventually, he reached out beside him, feeling around near his pillow for his phone. Squinting at the too bright phone screen, he looked for the time. 4:42. Great, just the time I was hoping to be up at! Sighing, he unlocked his phone and cancelled his alarm before rolling out of bed. He might as well get moving. 

Hitoshi opened his bedroom door quietly, making his way down the hallway to the bathroom before locking the door behind him. He had more than enough time for a shower. Turning on the tap so the water would warm up, Hitoshi dug through the cabinet on the wall for a towel and matching wash cloth before stripping down and stepping into the steaming water. His skin turned red immediately upon contact with the water, but he didn't care as he scrubbed his skin clean of all the grime from the last two days. He hoped no one noticed the missing shampoo and body wash, he would have to get his own soon.

He emerged from his room twenty minutes later, freshly dressed in his uniform and his gravity-defying hair still slightly turned down at the edges. The kitchen was empty at just past 5 in the morning, which wasn't a surprise to Hitoshi. Pulling open the pantry, Hitoshi picked up a box of cereal and grabbed the milk from the fridge. He didn't feel too much like eating, but he knew better than to expect to eat lunch, and he didn't feel like starving throughout the day. Even if you deserve it? The voice in the back of his head piped up helpfully.

Taking an angry bite of his cereal, Hitoshi decided to push down the voice and ignore the valid point. 

Shuffling from the doorway gave him a second of warning before Akari and Ogawa came into view. Both girls gave him a nod before setting around the kitchen to do their early morning chores, Akari dropping her backpack by the doorway as she did. Hitoshi quickly finished his cereal and got started on the dishes, making as little noise as possible. He had chores to get done as well, and he’d rather get started now and not have to rush to finish on time after school.

So, needless to say, he was shocked when he turned around and was hit square in the chest with a plastic bag. He scrambled to catch it before it hit the ground, realizing a bit too late that the bag held a sandwich and juice box. Hitoshi held the bag carefully and looked up, catching Akari’s amused gaze. “Lunch,” was all the girl said before turning back to her work.

Hitoshi stared at the bag for a few more seconds before shuffling to his backpack and putting the lunch bag at the bottom. He wasn’t going to decline the food, especially since he didn’t know if he’d get any at school. Well, to be fair, he didn’t know if the plastic bag would make it to lunch hour.

Ogawa was eating her own bowl of cereal, leaning on the counter near where Akari was making another sandwich. The older girl looked like she was about to say something, but Akari turned away, sliding a second lunch bag towards the edge of the counter before cleaning up the mess. The three of them moved around each other in silence, working through their individual lists. Hitoshi left the kitchen to clean the windows - because that is exactly what he wanted to be doing at 5:45 AM - and then moved to dusting the picture frames hanging on the wall.

“Hey, um, Shinsou,” he turned to face Ogawa as she came down the hall. “Akari said she’s gonna be leaving in about ten minutes.” Hitoshi blinked at Ogawa for a few seconds before realizing. You don’t know the way to school, you idiot!  

Hitoshi gave an exaggerated nod before quickly finishing up the dusting. He sighed internally, knowing that there would be more work to do after school. Such is life. Ogawa gave him a thumbs up before brushing past him, heading up the stairs. 

Putting away his cleaning supplies, Hitoshi grabbed his bag from the kitchen, checking one last time that everything was where he’d left it, before heading to the door and pulling on his shoes. Waiting inside for Akari would only make him be in the way, so he quietly opened the door and slipped outside. 

May was the weird month where the air was both cool and stuffy at the same time, like the world couldn’t just pick a temperature to sit at for a few weeks. Hitoshi sat on his knees in the shade of the porch, grounding himself with the breeze that blew over his face. No matter how many times he changed schools, it all ended the same. 

Well, maybe not the exact same. In the 7 different schools he’d been to, the ending to each first day was slightly different. He’d only been stuffed in a locker once, so that was nice. After the fourth school (The one where he’d been locked on the roof), he had stopped trying to make friends, or even talk in general.

The door opened behind him, and he slowly got to his feet as Akari stepped out and closed the door softly. Her blue-gray eyes met his and she jerked her head towards the driveway, making sure he followed before stepping off the porch.

The two of them made their way towards the train station. The streets were quiet at this hour, very few people wanted to get up so early, Hitoshi included. The silence was broken every now and again by Akari pointing out small landmarks or street names, and Hitoshi made sure to memorize the route. He’d probably only be shown once, and would rather not be stranded thank you very much.

The train ride was shorter than Hitoshi would have expected for them leaving so early. Checking his phone, it wasn’t even 6:45. Schools didn’t normally start until eight, but maybe this school was different? Was it some kind of private school? Hitoshi peaked over at Akari, who was sitting across the aisle, staring at the window and fidgeting with her hands again. Hitoshi turned to look out his own window, watching the streets flash by.

As it turns out, the school was just a normal public school. By the time the two kids reached the schoolyard, the gates were still closed and the building seemed almost vacant, save for the cars in the staff parking lot. Hitoshi watched as Akari walked along the wall surrounding the school, disappearing around a corner.

Hitoshi wanted to follow her, but he decided it was probably a bad idea. She would have said something if she wanted him to follow. Probably.

Backtracking, he made his way over to a set of benches. Pulling out his phone, Hitoshi settled down to wait until the gates opened. 

It hadn’t been five minutes when a clang sounded from the gates. Hitoshi jumped to his feet. The sound came from the gate. Was it time for the gates to open already?

Hitoshi did a double take when he recognized Akari standing on the other side of the gate, blazer sticking out of her bag and sliding back before pushing the gate open. Hitoshi hesitated before walking over. How the hell did she get in?  

Instead of questioning it, Hitoshi just ducked past the girl, who let out a small laugh before  sliding the gate closed and locking it again.  Wouldn’t they get in trouble for being on campus so early? The gates were locked for a reason after all. But Akari seemed perfectly at ease, picking up her bag and walking towards a large tree off to the side of the school.

This time, Hitoshi followed her, curious as to what she would do. She seemed to know what she was doing, like she’d been doing this for years. For all he knew, maybe she had. 

Wasn’t this wrong though? They were technically trespassing, didn’t that make them villains? Maybe I should head back out front. This isn’t a good idea…  

He’d started to back away when Akari slung her bag towards the base of the tree and jumped up, hauling herself onto one of the lower branches. Hitoshi just stood there, stunned, as she climbed up two more branches before flinging her legs around a branch and leaning back against the trunk. 

The girl peered down at him and cocked an eyebrow. “What?” she huffed, sounding amused at his reaction. He must have looked more shocked than he’d thought. “Are you going to just stand there waiting to get busted?”

Hitoshi startled and glanced behind him. She had a point, he might as well hide since he was here. Dropping his bag next to Akari’s behind the tree, he jumped up to grab the lowest branch. His fingers scraped the side of the branch and he landed heavily on his feet. There was a snicker from higher up and he glared up at the girl in the tree. She just shot him a thumbs up in return.

He flushed, heat rising in his chest. He couldn’t even remember the last time he climbed a tree. He jumped again, only to miss and fall back down. Damn it! How hard was it to reach the lowest branch !

“Maybe try taking off your blazer.” Akari called down. Hitoshi glanced up and saw her practically lying on her branch, one arm dangling like a cat. He fiddled with the buttons of his school blazer, setting it on his bag before crouching slightly, only to pause again. He glanced around, spotting an exposed root near the tree's base. Using the root as a stepstool, Hitoshi sprung at the branch, fingers finally catching on the branch. Kicking his legs, Hitoshi heaved himself up and over, wrapping both legs around the branch and locking his ankles around each other.

Hitoshi threw both hands up in the air, closing his eyes and falling back against the trunk. Finally! Take that you stupid lump of wood!  

From above, Akari giggled. “Nice job Shinsou!”

Dropping his arms, he stared up at the girl. She had turned away and was now gazing out towards the front of the school, eyes tracking something he didn’t see. “You made it up just in time too. Watch,”

Hitoshi looked back in the direction of the gate, watching through a gap in the leaves as someone in a blue uniform walked down the pavement. Hitoshi stiffened and pulled his legs, both hands gripping the branch to steady himself.

“Relax, they can’t see you. These leaves hide things pretty well.” Akari said quietly. Regardless of what the girl said, he didn’t relax until the staff member had pushed the gate open and retreated back into the confines of the building.

“The gates open at 7:15 every day, if you want to leave later than I do.” Akari sat up on her branch, dragging one leg up to her chest. “I leave earlier so I can avoid the others. And the mornings are peaceful in the yard.”

Hitoshi didn’t know how to respond. Akari didn’t say anything after that, just stared out into the yard as more and more people started to file in, clumping around benches or heading into the main building. When the first bell rang, Akari swung down to gently land in front of Hitoshi before lowering herself to the ground. Hitoshi waited a few moments before following, grabbing his blazer and carefully doing up the buttons before glancing around. Few kids were around the side of the building, and Akari seemed intent on ignoring them.

“You’ll be in my class, 4-C,” She said, shouldering her bag and looking back at him. Hitoshi stared back before nodding, and Akari faced forward, walking across the lawn toward the groups of students clustered in front of the school. She weaved through the crowds, sticking close to the wall of the school. Soon enough they were walking up the steps and ducking away from the sun and into the school. 

The halls were loud, filled with shrieking first graders and fifth graders snapping at anyone who bumped into them. Hitoshi winced at the noise, gripping his backpack harder. Why did everyone have to be so damn obnoxious in the morning? He found himself missing the peace of the tree already. 

Akari turned down a corridor and led him to a set of stairs farther away from the main hall, climbing up to the third floor. It was thankfully quieter up here, the halls emptier than the lower floors.

“This is the fourth and fifth grade wing,” Akari murmured. “Most of the older kids grab breakfast before school in the cafeteria, so it’s pretty quiet in the morning up here.”

She marched over to one of the doors – room 413 – and slid it back, peeking in before entering. Hitoshi hesitated, glancing down the near empty halls before following, sliding the door closed behind him.

The classroom wasn’t anything special; Podium at the front of the room, a large desk off to the side with a nameplate that read ‘Ito-Sensei’ and a chalkboard stationed at the front of the room, with twenty-or-so well-worn desks arranged in neat rows. Besides himself and Akari, there wasn’t anyone else in the room.

Hitoshi stood off to the side awkwardly as Akari marched up to the teachers desk and took out a kleenex wipe from a tub on its surface. A bubble of confusion rose in him as he watched Akari make her way towards the back of the room, towards a desk with a marred surface.

Oh.

The desk – which he assumed was hers – was covered with pencil marks. He couldn’t make out the words, but he had a guess as to what they said, if his own desks were anything to go by. Hitoshi looked away, fidgeting with his straps as he stood awkwardly next to the podium. Should he offer to help her clean up?

No, she wouldn’t want a villain’s help. And he doubted she wanted him to read what was scratched into her desk. 

The door slid open, and Hitoshi turned as an older man walked into the classroom. He merely grunted at the two students and walked right past Hitoshi. Setting down his papers on his desk, the man flopped into the chair, beckoning Hitoshi over without even glancing up.

“You’re the new student then?” The man asked, and Hitoshi nodded. The man hummed something non-committal before jabbing a finger towards the back of the classroom.

“You’ll sit in the back row, far left.” Ito-sensei said, finally looking up to glare at Hitoshi. “I know what you’re capable of. Don’t think I won’t send you straight to the principal's office if you try anything.” Hitoshi nodded frantically, and the teacher simply waved him off in clear dismissal. He bowed quickly before making his way over to the aforementioned desk.

The classroom filled up after that. He and Akari had been sitting at their desks for a solid 5 minutes, Akari working on some papers quietly and Hitoshi trying to take a nap, when the first gaggle of students burst into the room. None of them acknowledged Hitoshi, too intent on whatever they were talking about to notice.

Most students were in their seats by the time the five-minute bell rang. Hitoshi almost laughed at the last couple students scrambling into class right as the bell rang. Ito-sensei muttered something about ‘Lazy fourth graders never being on time’ before getting up and starting class for the day.

“Class, we have a new student.” Ito-sensei intoned. “His quirk is called ‘Brainwashing’. Shinsou, care to say a few words?”

And wasn’t that just the biggest trap in the world. May as well put up a huge Neon sign that said ‘ Danger! ’. Hitoshi shook his head fervently, making the older man give a smile that was all teeth.

“Good! Now, today we will start with –”

First, second and third period passed horribly slow. Hitoshi took notes, marking down areas he’d need to look up online later, and generally trying to ignore the whispers and the glances – and sometimes outright glares – thrown his way. Who knew villains weren’t appreciated in public school.

By the time the lunch bell rang, Hitoshi was about ready to bolt for the hills. Despite sitting in the back of the room, Hitoshi had felt eyes on his back since he’d sat down. He’d even turned around to check that no one was hiding behind him, but he was alone.

Hitoshi grabbed his bag and stood, trying to escape the classroom before anyone noticed. Unfortunately, the universe had other ideas.

“So, your quirk’s brainwashing?” The words came from a girl with long black nails who slid over to Hitoshi’s desk, drumming her fingers on the desk’s surface. “Watcha done with that? Steal a candy bar from the store? Make the teacher give you the answers to the tests?”

Another kid, a taller boy without a discernible quirk, laughed. “My mom says everyone with a mental quirk runs from the police. They're no good, she says.”

The kids around the boy seemed to drink in his words, asking what else his mom said. So he’s probably the popular one… Hitoshi gripped his bag straps tighter. Great, just great.

The boy hopped off the desk he was sitting on and strutted forward, standing right in Hitoshi’s face, who took a step back in response. 

“He doesn't look all that tough. I could totally take him in a fight!” The kid laughed again. That was seriously going to get on Hitoshi’s nerves.

“I bet you could Suzuki!” Another kid piped up from the crowd. The rest joined in the chorus as Suzuki went on a speech about how cool his quirk was. Suzuki lifted his arm, revealing the surface covered in a layer of wood.

Now, if you asked Hitoshi, being able to cover your arm in a centimeter of wood wasn’t especially cool. But Hitoshi didn’t want to find out how hard Suzuki could hit with a wooden fist, so he kept that observation tucked quietly away and nodded along with the others.

Hitoshi tuned out most of what Suzuki said, nodding at odd intervals to keep the kid at bay until someone pointed out the time. The kids scrambled out of the classroom after that, squawking about missing lunch. Hitoshi wrapped his arms around his waist, hugging himself and trying to even out his breathing. 

That could have gone so much worse.

Checking both ways before walking out into the hall, Hitoshi headed for the stairwell Akari had taken up earlier. He hadn’t seen her in the crowd of kids, she must have snuck out at some point. Digging out his new math homework, Hitoshi got started on his long division while eating a slightly-crushed PB&J.

The bell rang again all too soon, and Hitoshi found himself strolling through the door to the classroom not 2 minutes later. To his surprise, Akari was already sitting at her desk, hands fidgeting in front of her. She looked up as he entered and gave him a short wave before looking back down at her hands.

Hitoshi settled back into his own desk as the room filled back up. Suzuki smirked at him from where he sat in the middle of the classroom, and Hitoshi felt his stomach sink. Uh-oh.

The rest of the school day passed without incident. Science and Japanese literature were the only classes left, and Hitoshi was already packing up his supplies when the bell rang to end the school day. He shot up from his desk, skirting the outside of the class in an attempt to get away from whatever Suzuki had planned. Unfortunately, someone stuck their leg out, and Hitoshi’s hand shot out to catch himself on the wall.

That was more than enough of an opening for Suzuki and 3 other kids to grab his backpack while he was off balance and shake out his supplies, kicking the notebooks and pencils as they went. All Hitoshi could do was stand there, head bowed, tuning out their words as they pushed him towards the wall. It was the same ol’ spiel about how he was a villain, how they’d be the ones to stop him when he did something wrong, and so on. Hitoshi couldn’t bring himself to listen to it all again.

A small crowd had formed around the group. Most of the students had already left, but the few who remained were watching the spectacle with morbid interest. His gaze flickered over the students before coming to a screeching halt on Akari. He hadn't expected her to stay, but maybe she was just as eager to watch him get beaten up and pushed around.

Or, as it turned out, she was waiting for the opportunity to steal his stuff. He watched distantly as she bent down and picked up one of his notebooks, slipping it under her blazer before reaching for something else, keeping to the edge of the crown as they listened to Suzuki’s pompous decorations of strength.

Eventually, after getting wacked upside the head by a quirk-enhanced arm, Hitoshi was left all alone in the classroom. After a moment of complete silence, he slid to the floor, burying his head in his knees. As far as first days go, that definitely wasn’t the worst. Far from it, actually.

It still hurts, though.

Once he felt like he wouldn’t pass out the second he stood up, Hitoshi got to his feet and collected his things scattered around the classroom. Most of his stuff was still there, he could only hope he wasn’t missing anything too important.

Checking the clock on the wall, he grimaced. He’d wasted so much time, the next train home was leaving in twenty minutes, and the train station was fifteen minutes away.  Damn it! Hitoshi all but sprinted from the classroom, practically jumping down the stairs and taking the first exit he saw.

He didn’t slow down until he was outside the gate, pulling up short and gasping a lung full of air. Down the street, turn left, then take a right at the coffee sho–

“I was wondering where you were! You didn’t get into any trouble, did you?” Hitoshi jumped a foot in the air, whirling around to find Akari sitting with her back to the school wall with a pile of notebooks on her lap.

His notebooks.

Hitoshi took a step back as he watched her climb to her feet, brushing off her pants before striding over towards him. Extending the books with both her hands, she gave a small bow.

“Sorry I took these without permission. I didn’t want the others to damage them any more than they had.” The girl didn't stand back up until Hitoshi reached out and gently took the books from her. He didn’t understand why she bowed to him, he certainly didn’t deserve any respect. He was at the bottom of the metaphorical food chain, so to speak.

Tucking the books under his arm, Hitoshi signed ‘ Thank you. I really appreciate it.’

“No problem!” The girl smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. ‘ Next time they do that, kick them where the sun don’t shine.’ Akari signed.

Hitoshi winced. That would just land him in the principals office. Probably shouldn’t do that.

But, he had to admit, it was a nice thought.

He ended up following Akari to the train station, the two of them boarding the train moments before the doors closed and Akari laughing as it started up before the two found their seats. Hitoshi’s gut twisted when Akari sat down right next to him, feeling himself tense. He’s horribly aware of every movement the girl makes, watching her out of the corner of his eye as she takes out her phone and starts scrolling something or another. 

Neither kid said anything as the train slowed at their stop, and they stood with the crowd of school kids and pedestrians exiting the train. They didn’t say anything as they walked down bustling streets, dodging pet owners walking their dogs and businessmen hurrying to catch their trains.

It wasn’t until they turned onto the last street before they arrived home that Hitoshi reached out and tapped Akari on her shoulder. She stopped, turning around to look at him with a questioning look. Raising his hands, Hitoshi signed, ‘Why did you help me? Why have you been helping me?’

Akari really paused then, looking up at the cloudy sky and leaning against a street light. Hitoshi fidgets awkwardly with his backpack straps. Was it a good thing she was taking so long to answer? His question probably upset her. He shouldn’t have asked her anything at all really. He knew he wouldn’t like the answer, but he had to know when the other shoe would drop, and he’d rather it not happen when he wasn’t prepared for it.

Akari didn’t look at him as she lifted her hands, tapping her foot against the pole to get his attention before she started signing.

‘I thought I told you the other day, but I don’t think it’s strange to want to help people who need it.’ The girl paused, both arms jerking closer to her chest. Hitoshi flinched, but before anything else happened, the girl continued.

‘You looked like you needed help, and I hate it when I need help and I'm ignored by everyone. That would make me just as bad as the people who hurt me. Besides, I have no friends anyway, what with being quirkless and all.’ Akari finally looked back at him, meeting his eyes and giving a small shrug. Hitoshi just looked away. That… hadn’t been what he was expecting at all.

After a long moment, Akari turned and started walking again. Right, gotta get home and get the chores done. You’ve been wasting time on pointless chit-chat you idiot!

Still, as Hitoshi followed Akari towards the Akiko’s house, he couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t the worst first day in the world.

Chapter Text

To Hitoshi's great surprise, he was left mostly alone for the next few days. Sure, there were paper balls thrown his way, and Suzuki's constant comments on how much better he was than Hitoshi were getting on his nerves, but it was fine.

He left the house with Akari each morning, early enough that the others were just getting up as the two kids were walking out the door. It was nice, he didn’t see much of Yamazaki or Makoto throughout the day, getting home well before either boy and being able to hide in his room after he finished up his chores.

With all of that said, Hitoshi was dreading the weekend. With everyone home all day, Hitoshi just knew he’d find out what their quirks were.

Saturday morning found him dragging himself out of bed at six am, fresh off of 5 hours of sleep and already hating life. He did not want to be up this early on the weekend, but he wanted to get in trouble for being lazy even less. He seemed to be the first person up, so Hitoshi got a quick breakfast of bread slathered with butter and peanut butter when the sound of the front door opening and someone muttering to themselves echoed through the quiet hallway.

Walking quietly towards the doorway, he spied Akari kicking off her shoes messily before bending over to straighten them. He couldn’t make out what she was saying, but the girl looked up and froze when their eyes met. She looked… guilty? Scared? But the brief flash of unease in his gut was pushed aside when she smiled and stuck out her tongue at him before walking past him into the kitchen.

How someone could be so happy at 6am on a weekend was beyond Hitoshi, especially for someone in their positions. Hitoshi couldn’t remember the last time he genuinely smiled, but here was Akari, someone who undoubtedly had it worse than Hitoshi himself, smiling so brightly so often.

If she can be so happy, why can’t I? It’s not like I have anything to complain about. It was true. Hitoshi had a roof over his head, food in the fridge and clothes on his back, he didn’t have any right to be sad or angry. The Akiko’s didn’t even ask all that much of him!

Speaking of, Hitoshi turned and walked over to the chore chart, noticing that Akari was glowering at the list. He winced as he noticed the clearly biased division of labour in the household. The wince turned into a shocked cough as Akari pitched forward and slammed her forehead into the fridge with a dramatic sigh. 

“Im going to go bash my head into my math text book until everyone else is awake.” The girl muttered with another dramatic sigh and a smirk sent Hitoshi’s way as she dragged her feet out the door. Hitoshi wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to ask if she was okay. 

After tidying up the mess he’d made in the kitchen, Hitoshi made his way back to his room. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quick enough to avoid the hand grabbing the back of his shirt, or the other hand grabbing his shoulder in a vice-like grip. 

“Woah! Lookie what I caught!” Yamazaki laughed cruelly, lifting the younger boy up off the ground and pulling him away from the stairwell. “I caught me my first villain!”

Hitoshi felt his stomach sink far below his feet. Yup, he was definitely about to find out what their quirks were. He staggered when the teen shoved him roughly from behind, falling to one knee as a foot came down hard on the back of his knee. It took all of his will not to let out a cry as Yamazaki leaned his full weight on the soft tissues.

There was another laugh from the teen above him, and he could hear some sort of monologue, but it only registered as a muffled whisper in his mind. Hitoshi could feel himself pulling away, not caring about the world around him. The fog that blanketed him promised a cold sort of safety.

That safety was shattered by what felt like lightning raced through his shoulder, the muscles locking up in an awkward, twisted position. He wasn’t able to keep back the scream that tore itself from his throat an instant before a hand curled around his mouth, clamping it shut.

“Oh come on kiddo! None of that now.” The teen almost cooed, “We don’t want anyone to know you tried to use your quirk on me, alright?”

Hitoshi didn’t even get the chance to respond before the same electrical feeling ran through his jaw. His teeth clacked together audibly as the muscles spasamed, constricting painfully as Hitoshi chocked on a pained cry. 

Tears bloomed in Hitoshi’s vision as his head was forcefully thrown towards the ground. A pair of feet entered his vision, and he brought his arms up to protect his face. Well, he tried to. The arm that Yamazaki had used – what Hitoshi could only assume was his quirk – on didn’t move more than an inch, but his other arm moved just fine, covering his mouth and nose.

Unfortunately, the foot had a different target as it connected harshly with Hitoshi’s abdomen. The purple haired boy choked on the breath forcefully exhaled from his nose due to his locked jaw, and didn’t get a chance to draw in any air before another kick connected.

Black dots swam throughout his vision, and the familiar pain of the beating lulled the calming fog back over his limbs, numbing the pain. It numbed… everything. Even the tingling in his fingers faded. It felt like he was floating. No, not floating. Hitoshi was sinking.

Hitoshi didn’t know how long it took for him to break the surface again, but when he did, he found himself staring aimlessly at a wall. He groaned, working his jaw back and forth to try and alleviate some of the soreness. How long had the muzzle been on this time? He couldn’t remember them putting the muzzle on, let alone taking it off.

A creaking chair had him sitting bolt upright, trying to get to his feet from where he’d been lying on the floor when a pair of hands entered his field of vision. He flinched back, falling back onto the floor and staring up at –

Light blue eyes stared back, hands raised in a placating gesture as the older girl backed a few steps away. When Hitoshi finally blinked, bringing his hands down from where they’d jerked up to protect his face, Ogawa took that as her cue to sit, folding her legs up neatly under herself.

“How are you feeling?” Ogawa asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper. Hitoshi took a moment, looking around the room, which he now realizes is the room Ogawa shares with Akari, before shrugging in response and looking down. His ribs and stomach ached whenever he took a breath, and his hands had apparently been bandaged while he was… away. When had his hands gotten hurt?

“Yamazaki and Makoto did a number on you…” Ogawa murmured. She looked away guilty. “I’m sorry, I’ve never seen them go so far before. They only stopped when I threatened to get the Akikos.” The blue haired girl winced then. “They don’t care what those two do so long as they’re left out of it.”

Hitoshi just shrugged again. At least he hadn’t actually been muzzled. He remembered the pain blooming throughout his jaw now, how the muscles had locked up tight. His shoulder still felt sore, but rolling it a few times confirmed that it was still in its socket, which is good.

“Can I see your hands?” Ogawa reached slowly under the bed next to her, and Hitoshi watched as she carefully dragged out a small white box, cracking the lid on it as she did so. Hitoshi hesitated for a moment, not completely sure what the teen was going to do. 

Deciding that whatever happens, it can’t be too much worse than the incessant stinging in his palms, Hitoshi does as he was asked. Ogawa leaned forward and gently started unwrapping his hands as she spoke.

“You’ve been out of it for a few hours. We couldn’t just leave you in the common area where Yamazaki and Makoto could go at you again, so we brought you to our room.” The teen said in a soothing voice as she finished taking off the bandages. Hitoshi stared at the numerous cuts scarring the surface of his hand, all about the size and length of a nasty papercut.

“This is going to sting,” Ogawa warned as she sprayed his hands with something that smelled like antiseptic. Hitoshi couldn’t help the whine that escaped him as he flinched back and away from the girl. He heard Ogawa’s hushed apology, murmured over and over again as Hitoshi willed his arms to uncoil from his chest. If he didn’t do as she asked, it would just make things worse.

When he was finally able to extend his arms again, Ogawa took them in her own. Her fingers barely grazing Hitoshi's own as she turned them over and began to gently rewrap them. Hitoshi found himself relaxing into the gentle, soothing motion of the wrapping, and had to shake his head to clear it.

There wasn’t any point in getting relaxed here, not now. Not when this could all just be a trap; a trick to let his guard down.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

As soon as Ogawa released Hitoshi’s hands from her grip, he pushed himself to his feet, throwing himself into a deep bow.

“Oh, please there really isn’t any need for that.” Ogawa huffed a laugh, leaning back against her bed post. “I’m just sorry we didn’t stop that faster.”

For the first time, the ‘we’ part of that statement registered, and Hitoshi looked around the room, not finding anyone else. Ogawa gave another breathy laugh. 

“Akari is out at the moment. Probably doing Yamazaki’s chores again.” The teen reached up and started separating the strands of her light blue hair. “That girl is always the one getting in trouble, even though it’s never once been her fault.”

Hitoshi turned to fully face the teen, tilting his head to the side. He knows he's intruding on her space and should be leaving to get his own work finished, but he has to admit he’s curious.

And this is the second person in years who's been willing to talk to him.

“Yamazaki hardly ever does any work unless the Akikos are standing right there. He just won’t do them, and Akari takes the brunt of it.” Ogawa’s hands glide through her hair as she speaks, pulling it into some kind of braid as Hitoshi listens. “The Akikos don’t really care whose chores aren’t finished, I don’t think they expect us to finish all the chores daily, to be honest. Some of what they have us do is outrageous to ask of kids. Especially ones as young as you and Akari.”

“If you ask me, they are setting us up to fail, and they use Akari as their outlet. Mr. Akiko’s quirk is ‘Whip’. It lets him turn his arms into whips,” Hitoshi winces at the knowledge. He’d been whipped a handful of times before, but a quirk enhanced whip sounded so much worse. “With a temperament like his, us kids make an outlet for him. And nobody cares what happens to a quirkless child.”

Hitoshi bowed his head, thinking. He’s grateful Ogawa told him what their foster father’s quirk is, he won't be caught by surprise by it now, but he didn’t understand why she was bothering to tell him this. Or why she had treated his injured hands. Speaking of…

He lifted his hands, palms out and cocked his head at Ogawa. The girl stared back for a second, eyes flicking back and forth between his face and his hands. “Um…?”

Trying again, Hitoshi lifted his hands and carefully signed, ‘ What happened to my hands?’ Understanding lit up Ogawa’s eyes, and Hitoshi thought for a second she would answer, but instead the teen got to her feet and grabbed something off the desk pushed against the wall of the room. Turning, she handed Hitoshi a paper and pencil.

“I don’t understand sign, sorry about that.” Ogawa sat back down while Hitoshi scribbled out his question. Reading the offered paper, Ogawa looks back up at him with a searching look.

“You didn’t notice Makoto standing next to Yamazaki?” Ogawa reached up to continue fiddling with her hair as Hitoshi shook his head. “Makoto’s quirk is called ‘Incision’. He can create small cuts on any living thing he touches. I guess you were too out of it to notice.”

Hitoshi turned that information over in his head before nodding and giving another quick bow before inching his way towards the door. He didn’t want to stay much longer, selfishly not wanting this kindness to be taken away. Staying any longer felt like waiting for the other shoe to drop. There was a quiet ‘bye’ from Ogawa as Hitoshi closed the door.

Looking both ways, Hitoshi darted down the hall and towards his own room, sitting down on the bed and checking the time on his phone. It was just a little bit after 1PM, he really had been out of it. He felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. There really hadn’t been a need to draw so far away, it was just a stupid beating. It hadn’t even been that bad, right? 

Whatever. It really didn’t matter. Hitoshi had work to get done. Taking all of his confusing, conflicted emotions and locking them up tight in his chest, Hitoshi climbed back to his feet. It was just another day. 

Just another day.

Sanguine:  u make it home ok?

Sanguine:  hey

Sanguine:  are u all cute again? 

Spooky: Hi, yep, I made it home. Train broke down so I ended up running the whole way.

Sanguine:  on the roof?

Spooky:  ;D

Sanguine:  so you are all cute again!

Spooky:  Only a little cute, but that wasn't because of the roof.

Sanguine:  Who made you a lil cute this time?

Spooky: Foster brother. he got to the new kid first though...

Sanguine: Yknow, I could make him extra cute on monday

Spooky:  No thanks. Stop getting in trouble.

Sanguine: Booo, you're no fun.

Sanguine: So when can I meet the new kid? You said he was cool, right?

Spooky:  Don't try anything. Sis says you'll overwhelm him. I think she might be right bout that.

Sanguine: both of you are part poopers :C

Spooky: ;D See you Monday.

 

 

Chapter Text

The weekend passed by quickly after that. 

When Hitoshi saw Akari later that day, she had a small cut scoring her cheek, looking like a longer version of the ones marking Hitoshi’s own hands, already scabbed over and healing quietly. He didn’t want to think about how she’d gotten it, or the slight limp in her step that hadn’t been there that morning. He hoped she hadn’t gotten it because of him.

It didn’t surprise Hitoshi that Akari was glowering at both boys during dinner, and she seemed to barely hold back retorts each time Yamazaki commented on something. What was surprising was the fact that Ogawa was also treating the older teens coldly. During the week he’d been at the Akiko’s, he hadn’t seen more than quiet exasperation from the blue-haired teen. Now she was doing an almost-glare whenever they entered the room.

From the way the two teens were acting, it seemed to be more common than Hitoshi thought. Neither looked put off by Ogawa’s silent reprimands, though Hitoshi couldn’t fathom why she was upset. Neither boy had hurt her, at least not that Hitoshi could tell. It made even less sense that Ogawa had helped him out and talked to him earlier.

He was a villain. You weren't supposed to help villains.

And what was worse, Hitoshi had been taking advantage of their kindness. He knew he didn’t deserve Akari walking with him to school, chatting about anything she seemed to think of when it was just the two of them alone on the streets. He didn’t earn Ogawa helping him when he was… gone like he had been. He had deserved what Yamazaki, and apparently Makoto, had done to him.

Right?

He had managed to get through Sunday by avoiding Yamazaki and Makoto until his chores were done, then practically sprinting out of the house and down the street. He’d spent the next several hours wandering wealthy streets surrounding his new foster home. There were a couple of cafes in the area, a small supermarket, and what looked like a park nestled on the outskirts of the nearby forest.

He decided to spend some time poking around the park, walking around the large playground and pulling himself on top of the monkey bars. It gave a nice view of the setting sun over the trees. The cool evening breeze managed to calm Hitoshi’s racing thoughts and thudding heart. 

Hitoshi didn’t go home until late that night.

The next few weeks passed by roughly the same as the first one had. Each day Hitoshi would wake up early, get dressed, pack a sack lunch at the bottom of his bag, and work on chores until it was time for himself and Akari to leave for school. The only other person who was up as early was Ogawa, and she seemed to be about as much of a morning person as Hitoshi was himself.

School didn’t change much either, a series of patterns and routines Hitoshi could lean back on. Hitoshi would hang out in the large tree with Akari until the first bell rang, then headed inside to make it to class early. Most days, the pair managed to avoid Suzuki and the other kids who liked to harass the duo on their way through the school. Of course, the few times that they were cornered resulted in bruises and scrapes. Hitoshi wasn’t surprised when teachers turned around when they spotted the crowd in the halls.

They’re probably happy they don’t have to handle the villain themselves. Hitoshi thought sullenly one day while he nursed his shoulder during his lunch break. One of the bullies kids had landed a solid kick in on the joint before he could escape the classroom when the lunch bell rang. Well, he’d been grabbed by the shirt by some girl with a telekinesis quirk and pulled to the ground first, but that’s besides the point.

He knew he deserved it. The kids were just defending themselves. It didn’t matter that Hitoshi never spoke or used his quirk. Just having such a power put others in danger, didn’t it? Shaking his head, Hitoshi dug around in his bag for his english homework, not feeling much like eating right then.

By the end of the second week, Hitoshi had needed to start wiping his own desk each day due to the words etched onto the surface. 

‘Villain’

‘Scum’

‘Worthless’

He wished idly that they would at least be creative. 

Akari seemed to have a similar opinion, as he often heard her grumbling, making sarcastic, mocking comments about the markings on her own desk. Some of the insults were… interesting. Hitoshi didn’t want piss off the person who taught her those insults.

But even as he was shoved into lockers and chased around the school grounds, he knew it could be worse. This school didn't strap a muzzle to his face. These teachers had yet to whip him or do anything more than ignore his presence. 

Hitoshi only saw Akari a few times during their lunch breaks during these past few weeks. The girl had a talent for slipping out of the classroom before anyone could catch her. Hitoshi wished he was as lucky, the kids almost always managed to catch him by the door. He did manage to catch sight of her a few times from the window in the stairwell. Twice he caught sight of her running from some older kids, possibly fifth graders but it was impossible to tell from this distance.

Once, he saw her sitting in the highest branches of the big tree. Hitoshi thought he saw someone else in the tree too, but he couldn’t be too sure. 

All in all, as May turned to June and summer break fast approached, Hitoshi found it easier and easier to get into the rhythm of his new school/home life. There were still many incidents of Yamazaki, and sometimes Makoto, attacking Hitoshi, but they hadn’t gone as far as they had that first time. 

Hitoshi found himself going out more and more to that park and just sitting on top of the equipment, staring up at the stars. He’d looked up constellations on his phone a couple of times, and he’d managed to pinpoint Cygnus and Lyra in the sky a couple of times. He’d even imagine himself up there, running around free. Did kids like him, destined to become villains, have a place up in the stars?

There were a couple of nights where Hitoshi's brain wouldn't shut up, no matter how many of the ‘grounding exercises’ the web told him to use he did. On those nights, he couldn’t stop thinking about hurting those around him, about using his quirk on others, about foster parents and siblings alike hitting and hitting and hitting –

Understandably, Hitoshi needed to get out of his own head, and pushing his body until he wanted to just fall over was the only way to get that reprieve. Admittedly, Hitoshi did feel guilty about going out past the law mandated curfew when he left the residence the first few times. But kids went out past curfew all the time, right? In his past foster homes, especially the group ones, older kids were sneaking out every which way. If it didn’t make them criminals or villains, then Hitoshi could go out once or twice, right?

Well, the difference was that those other kids weren’t villains in the making. 

The streets were quiet as Hitoshi ran through them, sticking to back alleys when he could so as to avoid any patrolling cops or heros. It wasn’t like he ran for too long anyway, his stamina was, quite frankly, shit. The burning of his lungs and the fog in his legs and arms as he ran pushed away all his thoughts save one, the need to breathe. Hitoshi relished in the feeling, the burning pain and aches reaching their ways up Hitoshi’s body, every single part clambering for attention and Hitoshi indulged them, pushing all his long-term problems away and locking them up, dealing with the immediate need to breathe. 

Tonight found Hitoshi slumped in an alleyway just off a main street, heaving for breath and sweat dripping down his back from the summer heat. It was difficult to tell if it was because of the cardio or the panic that had caused him to start running, but he hoped it was the former. He didn’t want to stumble his way back into the Akiko’s house sweaty, exhausted and jumpy on nerves. 

He tilted his head up, peering at the sky. It was a lighter shade of gray here then in his neighborhood, probably due to the light pollution in the area. Only the brightest of stars made their appearances, shining faintly. 

Suddenly, there was a scuttling to his left and Hitoshi leapt to his feet, whirling around to face the dumpster he’d been sitting beside. There was a clatter, then a strange noise. Backing up a few paces, Hitoshi crouched and lowered his head until it nearly touched the floor of the alley. He couldn’t see anything through the gloom of the alleyway, so he sat up before falling back on his haunches and fishing in his pocket for his phone. Leaning over once again, Hitoshi turned on his phone's flashlight and shined it under the dumpster.

Hitoshi stiffened when he caught sight of a small, hunched form of a kitten curled up. Its fur was a little patchy in places, marring the otherwise beautiful Ginger and white coat. He stared, blinking as the cat gazed back with its own reflective green eyes. Slowly, Hitoshi slid his hand, palm up, towards the edge of the dumpster. The cat bristled slightly, its back arching subtly, and Hitoshi turned the flashlight away from the kitty’s face. He didn’t like it when people shined lights in his face either. 

Now, with the flashlight illuminating the ground just to the side of the kitten, it seemed to relax. Hitoshi could only see its vague outline, but that was more than enough. There Hitoshi sat, watching the form of the cat bob up and down as it breathed, letting out a quiet meow every so often. 

After a while, Hitoshi’s legs began to cramp from the awkward positioning, so he shifted so his back was to the dumpster, hand still laying palm up beside him, watching the only entrances to the alley carefully. 

This was stupid. He had no idea why he was sitting here, keeping a stray cat company. He’d only seen cats once or twice in his life. Most of his foster homes didn’t have pets, and the ones that did normally had small dogs that Hitoshi was expected to take care of almost exclusively. He remembered scrubbing pet stains out off carpets and tiles until the apartments started to smell like cleaning chemicals instead of cigarettes. Needless to say, Hitoshi didn’t have good experiences with pets.

But watching the huddled form of the kitten crouching under the dumpster made something warm bloom in his chest, and Hitoshi found himself content to just sit and listen to its quiet breathing. Closing his eyes, Hitoshi slowed his own breathing, finding the animal's company soothing knowing he wasn’t alone. He couldn’t hurt a cat, not even with his quirk. Hitoshi let his head gently rest against the metal behind him. This was… nice.

There was a shuffling sound from where the kitty had been crouching, and Hitoshi held his breath, suddenly hyper-aware of his every movement. It wasn’t just his breath he held, he kept himself as still as possible, not wanting to frighten it away with a sudden movement. He felt a wet nose gently nudge one of his fingers, then the furry head pushed its way into the palm of his hand. Hitoshi took that as his cue to start giving it gentle scratches under the chin. The little kitten practically melted into the affection, breaking out into purrs and incessant headbuts. 

It wasn’t long until the kitten had climbed up Hitoshi’s legs and was rubbing itself all over his stomach and lap. He couldn’t help the giggles escaping him as the cat started rolling over and over on his legs, ginger and white fur sticking to the black fabric as Hitoshi scratched its flank with one hand and rubbed its head with the other.

For the first time in a long, long time, Hitoshi felt light. He felt like a weight had been lifted off of his chest, and he could just… breathe. The Kitten in his lap seemed to take all of his worries, his fear and anger, and melt them into a puddle of water. Sure, that water would freeze over again soon enough, but Hitoshi found himself content to just sit and pet the kitten.

So Hitoshi chose to stay in the comfortable company of a cat, who didn't care if he had a quirk that was dangerous to everyone around him, that didn't care if he was dangerous. At some point, Hitoshi checked it for tags or a collar, anything to identify the kitten or where it belonged, but no dice.

You’re too cute to be all alone. Hitoshi wished he could take the cat home with him, but he knew that would be a horrible idea. And the thing didn’t look too bad, besides the shabby fur it looked well enough. 

Before Hitoshi could even think of taking it to some animal shelter or vet, or wherever you take a stray cat, a loud rumble sounded, causing the cat to jump up with a ‘hiss’ and shoot back under the dumpster. Hitoshi looked towards the street as a truck roared past, glowering at it for ruining his moments of peace with the kitty. Looking back under the dumpster, at the wide, frightened eyes of the kitten, Hitoshi knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere with it today.

Standing up, he slowly padded away from the dumpster and back towards the street. His breathing had long since evened out from resting with the cat, so the trip home shouldn’t be too difficult. Stretching his arms and legs, Hitoshi turned to look at the dumpster, noting the reflective orbs peering out from underneath. I’ll come back. He silently promised the cat. Just don’t do anything stupid.  

The cat blinked at him, and Hitoshi hoped the little thing would still be here if – when – Hitoshi could come back. With that, he started running back down the street, keeping to the farthest side of the sidewalk from the road. Exhaustion from months of sleepless nights seemed to finally be taking its toll by the time he reached his neighborhood, dragging down both his thoughts and limbs as he silently made his way through the house and into the shower for a quick rinse.

So, if Hitoshi was out like a light the second his head hit his pillow for the first time in what seemed like years, who’s to blame him?

Chapter Text

Summer break was just around the corner. Quite literally only a few hours away. Yet somehow it seemed like it would take an eternity to reach.

Not that Hitoshi was excited for the break. School, as horrible as the kids and teachers were, was endlessly better than being stuck at that house. The Akiko’s had been getting worse. It turned out that Hitoshi’s grace period had run out at about the five week mark. Mrs. Akiko had started jabbing at Hitoshi with her fork whenever he was caught with his elbows resting on the table at dinner, yelling something about his manners. Mr. Akiko had been getting a little stricter on the chores around the house, and had started nitpicking things here and there.

“It’s all streaked!” Mr. Akiko yelled, pointing to the stovetop one evening. “Does this look acceptable?”

Hitoshi had shaken his head, throwing himself into a bow before the angry adult. He hadn’t meant to leave the stove streaked, he hadn’t even been the one who cleaned it. But it was his fault, as he’d left the kitchen before the job was done. He should have known better, done better. He should have checked everything again before he –

There was a swish , and pain lanced across Hitoshi’s shoulder blades. He let out a startled yelp, stumbling backwards a few paces and staring wide eyed up at the man. He was staring down at Hitoshi with a cold, impassable gaze. Mr. Akiko’s arm was still raised, a long black whip extending from his elbow and hovering in the air between them.

“You won’t leave this kitchen until it’s cleaned to my standards, not your own low-life standards.” The man spat the words as if they were poison in his mouth. “Am I understood?”

The boy nodded frantically, taking another few steps back when the man's arm snapped towards him. A barely suppressed cry ripped from his throat as he felt the whip crack around his side. He trips on his own feet, clutching his hands to the stinging flesh through the fresh hole in his shirt. Hitoshi’s eyes slammed shut, recoiling into the chair behind him, as the older man stomped past and left the kitchen in silence.

It had taken Hitoshi several minutes to pick himself up from the floor, a few more for his breathing to even out, before he headed over to the sink to wash the crimson off his hands.

Hitoshi gritted his teeth, digging his fingernails into his forearm. He did not want to think about that, didn’t want to think about how it had been his fault .

Maybe if you weren’t such a useless, screw up of a villain, you wouldn’t be a giant burden on everyone around you! The voice in the back of his head reminded him. Hitoshi just closed his eyes, digging his fingernails in harder and harder until the voice receded some. Hitoshi really didn’t need the reminder of his failures right now, no matter how true they were.

Needless to say, Hitoshi wasn’t prepared for his summer vacation. But right now, he needs to worry about his upcoming end of term tests. They weren’t especially hard, not in the way Yamazaki and Makoto had been complaining about for the last week, but they weren’t easy either. Hitoshi had struggled through his Math test especially, numbers were decidedly not his strong suit, but the other tests had gone relatively smoothly. All that was left now was English after his lunch period ended.

He had to swallow past the lump in his throat. While Hitoshi was decent in the language, he knew the teacher would have absolutely zero leniency when grading his work. His writing would have to be spot-on or he risked failing the subject for the term. Hitoshi really, really didn’t want to find out what the Akiko’s would do if he failed a subject.

If I'm lucky, they’ll just send me back to the group homes.

If he wasn't lucky… well he didn't want to think about that.

Taking an angry bite of his sandwich, he started flicking through his notes for English. Hitoshi just wanted it to be over. He knew he wouldn't get top marks, but he had to try his hardest. 

This is such a stupid language. Why are there three separate ‘ There's’ !

He was honestly considering the merits of slamming his head through the window in the stairwell. Probably not a smart move. 

Then again, it might be better than taking the English test.

Glancing at the clock on his phone, he realized he only had about 15 minutes left of lunch. Stuffing the remainder of his lunch into his backpack, Hitoshi got to his feet and brushed off his pants. He might as well go loiter in the empty classroom. Better than getting caught alone by anyone in a bad mood. He'd been hunted down a few times by upperclassmen who were looking for some ‘stress relief’ . 

Apparently Hitoshi was ‘ perfect’ for the job.

Shaking his head, he trudged down the stairs to the fourth grade wing. The other week, Hitoshi had learned a new word, as one often did when going through school. This one, however, struck a cord within him. This particular word he learned from a book he'd rented from the school library under the hateful glare of the room's caretaker. He'd ended up googling the word when he'd found it, reading:

Hypocrisy: the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform

Hitoshi didn’t understand why it stuck. There was just something about it that rang true in him. He could think of a couple of examples in his past, like how some of his old homes said family was all about teamwork, but then made Hitoshi shoulder most of the work himself. Or maybe how some kids claimed to want to be heroes, but acted like villains to the other kids in the home.

Now that he thought about it, Hitoshi was a hypocrite too, wasn’t he? 

A long, long time ago, he had wanted to be a hero too. He remembered watching TV with a faceless woman that he only knew by ’mommy’ , back before his quirk came in, and marvelling at the heroes on the screen. Sure, there were heroes like All Might and Endeavor, but there were other heroes too. Newer ones like Present Mic and Wash, who were popular with kids all over. 

He even saw some Twilight heroes on the TV a couple of times. The High-Speed Hero: O’clock and the R-rated Hero: Midnight were the only two Twilight heroes he remembered seeing on live Television, and he’d only caught sight of the latter for a moment before his mother changed the channel with a huff.

Back when Hitoshi was still dreaming about his own quirk, brainstorming all the different things it could possibly have been, he’d wanted to be a hero too. He’d wanted to be someone who saved people, who made everything better by showing up and stopping the villains from hurting anyone.

And, for a while after his own quirk manifested, he still hoped to be a hero. He still believed in them, in how they saved everyone who was in danger. But all of that was before he learned that some villains weren't out on the streets, robbing banks and shooting guns. 

Some villains were hidden within the four walls of your home, and you never realise who they are until it’s too late.

There was a time when he believed heroes would help him. That a hero would swoop into the orphanage, cut the muzzle from his face, and take him away. That a hero would stop all the kids from beating him with their quirks, and make the adults give him dinner. That a hero would save him from the living hell he found himself in during every waking hour. But, after waiting, and waiting, and waiting, Hitoshi realized that the heroes would never come.

Hitoshi finally realized that heroes wouldn’t save a villain like him. He realized that he was the villain in every home.

And for a kid like him, someone who is so inherently evil, who has done nothing but hurt everyone around him and be a drain, a burden, on society, to want to be a hero? Wasn’t that hypocritical too? 

In the end, Hitoshi was no better than everyone who hurt him. That’s what it all came down to.

Pushing open the door to the landing of the fourth grade wing, Hitoshi stepped inside and gently slid the door closed behind him with a soft click . No point in letting it slam and have everyone in the hall know he was there. He was about to turn around and head to class when he froze.

For a moment, a sense of vertigo slammed into Hitoshi like a wall. Something felt… wrong . Very wrong. Like there was someone – something – that wasn't supposed to exist standing right behind him.  It made every hair on his arms stand up and his insides clench. He imagined this is what it must feel like to be a mouse as a hawk spiraled lazily overhead. 

Hitoshi felt a bead of sweat dripping down his back. His body was both burning hot and freezing cold, somehow mixing in his chest until it felt like a brick weighed it down. His breaths came in too short, like he was trying to breathe through a piece of cloth. Hitoshi’s head started to pound in time with his heart, carving itself onto the inside of his skull until he thought it might burst. He was so, so close to bursting through the door in front of him, back into the stair well, and away from whatever was –

As suddenly as the feeling came, it vanished. Hitoshi let out a quiet gasp, feeling almost… empty now that the pressure was gone. What was that?

Hitoshi had felt fear before. He'd been afraid, terrified, convinced he wouldn't see another day. This felt different than normal fear though. This felt like the world had been tipped off its axis for a moment, like everything was the same but different too. Unnervingly so.

Hitoshi didn't know how to feel about that. Was it someone's quirk? Hitoshi is mildly surprised that they hadn't used it on him before. Dimly, he realized that he’d been slumped against the doorframe for almost a minute, and he certainly didn't want a teacher or whoever made that happen to spot him.

Turning around, Hitoshi found the hallway completely devoid of life, adding fuel to the raging storm of emotions inside him. If no one was here, what caused that? Hitoshi went to shake his head to clear it, but winced at the sharp, stabbing pain that flared behind his eyes. He let out a low hiss, grinding the palms of his hands into his eyes, hoping the pressure would alleviate some of the pain.

This has been happening more and more lately. Random, blistering headaches that started behind his eyes and spread like a spiderweb through his head, reaching down his spine, and infecting his arms and legs in a full body ache. Whatever had just happened in the hall had caused another migraine to bloom.

Why? Now, of all times? Just… why… Hitoshi would never admit just how broken that internal plea sounded, even to himself.

Staggering down the hall, Hitoshi pushed the door to his final class open, determined to make it to his desk before he collapsed out of exhaustion and pain, maybe take a nap before his final test.

Unfortunately, the world had other ideas.

Inside the classroom stood two girls. One was a fourth year with light brown hair and even lighter blue eyes, who was currently wearing a very guilty expression as she stood by the open window. The other was an older girl wearing a cream blazer, blonde hair hanging loosely around her shoulders, and amber, cat-like eyes that seemed to light up when they met Hitoshi’s own lilac ones.

Wait, a creme blazer?

The school he and Akari went to had blue blazers, and it didn’t differentiate between genders. He knew he wasn’t misremembering the girl’s blazers because Akari was standing right in front of him while a girl in another school's uniform sat straddling the open windowsill.

The older girl was still watching him with those bright amber eyes, her hands pressed into fists over her mouth as she squealed. The sound pierced through Hitoshi’s head like a spike, causing him to wince and take a step back.

“Rei-chan! You forgot to mention just how adorable your new friend is~” The blondie cooed, swinging her legs back inside the classroom and hopping down from the ledge. Hitoshi was afraid she’d rush him, taking another step backwards into the doorway when Akari latched her arms around the blondie’s torso.

“Himi-chan, we talked about this!” Akari whined . “You can’t just run up to him! Please don’t do this today.”

The blondie stopped struggling and turned to look back at Akari. The younger girl took this as her sign to continue, speaking in a voice so low that Hitoshi couldn’t make out the words. Whatever she said seemed to disappoint the cat-eyed teen, because she looked like she was a teen, and she turned back towards the window.

“Okay fine. You are zero fun,” the stranger pouted, sticking her tongue out at Akari. The girl rolled her eyes.

“Yeah yeah, you say that every time.” Akari’s voice held a hint of amusement in the otherwise bland tone. “Go, before you get caught.”

The blondie ruffled Akari’s light brown hair, much to the girl's annoyance, before turning back to Hitoshi one final time. 

“Do me a favour and don’t tell anyone I was here, m’kay? Thanks, cutie!” And with that, much to Hitoshi’s shock, the teen practically flew out the window. The huge tree that Akari and Hitoshi sat in before school was just outside this class's window, and Hitoshi watched in horror as the stranger swung through the branches like a monkey, grabbing one of the thicker branches and swinging herself towards the trunk.

There was a groan, and Hitoshi turned from watching the girl disappear down the tree to Akari, who had slid down the wall to the floor with a thud.

“I can’t believe this!” Akari buried her face in her hands, twisting her bangs in between her fingers as she did so. “Im so sorry you saw that.”

Hitoshi shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t completely sure what he’d just seen. Tapping his foot against the metal leg of a desk to get the girl to look up, Hitoshi signed:

‘Who was that?’

The girl on the floor gave what must have been a laugh. “My only friend. Please, please don’t tell on us. She graduated from this school last year, now she goes to the junior high up the road.” 

Hitoshi nodded his head fervently, ignoring the way it made the room swim before his eyes. Of course he wouldn’t tell, that’s how he got jumped in an alley after school. And it’s not like anyone would believe a villain like him anyway. 

Akari looked like she was about to say something, but just then the warning bell rang. Hitoshi winced again, covering his ears with a grunt. He saw the girl shoot him a concerned look before her gaze slid past him towards the open doorway. After a few seconds, Hitoshi glanced behind himself towards the same spot Akari was staring at, but he couldn’t see anything.

Probably zoning out then. Hitoshi sure wasn’t one to judge that, he did it basically every class period, intentionally or not. Looking back at the girl, who hadn’t so much as blinked, Hitoshi shrugged and walked towards the back of the classroom. So wish I could have had that nap .

As he settled into his seat, he watched Akari scramble to her feet, quickly closing and latching the window before sprinting down the aisle towards her desk. Hitoshi almost raised his hands to ask her why she was hurrying, but then Ito-sensei rounded the corner and stalked into the room, quickly followed by a gaggle of students.

The students all slowly made their way to their seats, more filing into the classroom as time ticked closer to the tardy bell. There was a sudden crash and several giggles that made Hitoshi return to nursing his headache. He didn’t have to look to know that one of the girls on the other side of the classroom had tipped over Akari’s desk, Ito-sensei made it perfectly clear with his yelling. Hitoshi was fairly certain that it was the girl with the telekinesis quirk who had done it, but then again he wasn’t sure it mattered.

Not long after the tardy bell rang, tests were being passed out, pencils were being picked up and silence echoed throughout the classroom. Hitoshi did his best to stay focused on the test as the hour ticked slowly down, but the fuzzy words on the page made his head pound worse. 

At some point, Hitoshi must have slumped forward, because he found himself staring at his desk from between his own folded arms. Closing his eyes, he decided he was done with today, even if it was only two in the afternoon.

The screeching of the final bell had Hitoshi jerking upright in his seat. It felt like a spike was being driven through his skull, and the ceiling full of floodlights was not helping . He was dimly aware of the other students passing their tests forward and Hitoshi moved to follow, giving his half-finished test to the girl who sat in front of him. He heard her scoff and send him a glare as sharp as ice, but he didn’t have the brain capacity to care. 

He felt eyes on him, and he turned to meet the unreadable eyes of Akari. The girl's hands were twitching in her lap, and he watched as she raised them slightly to quietly sign ‘Are you okay?’ 

He blinked a few times, not quite comprehending what she’d said as their classmates started filing out of the classroom one or two at a time. Why would she care if he was okay? If she were in his shoes, he would want to distance himself from the villain who knew his secrets, right?

Hitoshi was the last of the class to stagger to their feet, closing his eyes as he did so as not to be blinded by the overpowering lights coming from all sides. I’m going to be sick . 

There was a gentle tap on his shoulder, and Hitoshi flinched back, stumbling into the wall beside his desk. He tried to open his eyes, but hissed at the pain lancing through them at the motion.

“No! Wait – Hold on, I'm sorry!” That was Akari. Her voice was quieter than normal, but he still had to suppress a wince. “Oh, um, ahh sugar cookies…” 

Hitoshi did his best to focus on his breathing, on the sound of rustling papers from in front of him and the steady rise and fall of his chest. Akari hadn’t hurt him yet, so he was fine, right?

He felt the ghost of fingers on his wrist, and he did his best not to flinch away from the contact as they guided his hand towards what felt like a backpack. His backpack. Oh.

Had Akari just packed up his bag for him?

“Are you okay? Wait, no that’s a stupid question, you are clearly not ok…” The girl muttered. “Okay, let’s take this nice and slow.”

Distantly, Hitoshi realized that he was letting this girl, a virtual stranger, lead him through the emptying school. A girl, who had no reason to help him, no reason to care. If it had been anyone else who had seen Hitoshi’s condition, they probably would have pushed him down a flight of stairs, or worse. On one hand, it made something warm coil in his chest, the barest slither of something that made him want to smile despite the dagger twisting in his skull.

On the other hand, that warmth always had a catch. Some kind of drawback, a second shoe always ready to drop the second Hitoshi stopped being useful. The moment Hitoshi had fulfilled whatever purpose the individual in question had pegged him for. That thought made him stomp out the spark of warmth in his heart. He didn’t want it, nor what strings it undoubtedly came with. 

Hitoshi strained his eyes, opening them only a sliver and yanked his arm out of Akari’s tentative hold. The two were approaching the gate by this point, and Hitoshi didn’t want the girl to lead him into some back alley where no one would find him for a long time. He might be a villain, but he wasn’t stupid enough to fall for something like that. Not again

Taking a few steps away, he did his best to ignore the strange look on Akari’s face, forcing himself to keep walking towards the station, only to pause when he heard the girl call after him.

“Shinsou,” She started, “Could you wait for a few minutes? I left something in the classroom.”

Hitoshi turned to glance at her. Was it a trap? Did she want him to wait here for someone to jump him, or for a hero to yell at him again? Wait here for someone to take care of her villainous foster sibling?

Making his decision, Hitoshi gave her a short nod, moving off to the side of the path as the girl turned and sprinted back towards the front of the school. He watched Akari disappear into the school, waiting just a few moments more to make sure she wasn’t about to turn around for some sort of ‘gotcha! ’ moment, before turning and moving as quickly as he could, down the gravel path, and off the school's campus. 

He stumbled to the train station in a daze, the world blurring around him with each step. After what felt like an eternity, he boarded his train and collapsed into an aisle seat so no one sat next to him. He hated when people would sit next to you on a nearly empty train car, and he didn’t have the mental fortitude to be around anyone right now. He didn’t even have the mental space to think about how he had completely failed his final test.

He wanted to let his head rest on the chair in front of him, but he knew if he did he would pass out instantly. Instead, he cradled his head in his hands, trying to tune out the world until his stop came. Hitoshi didn’t even realize it when he stumbled off the train and down the street to the Akiko’s house until he was standing outside the front door. He had no idea how he made it inside the door, or to his bedroom, but despite the pain spreading throughout his entire body, Hitoshi collapsed onto his bed and instantly fell asleep.

Sanguine : OMG ur friend is SO ADORABLE!

Sanguine : Ur descriptions don’t do him justice

Sanguine : Hey, you alive?

Sanguine : I didn’t mean to get us caught but he won’t tell, right?!?!

Sanguine : ?

Spooky : Hey! Sorry I was busy doing smthin.

Sanguine : Doing what?

Spooky : Switching a few names on some papers.

Sanguine : AWWWW! That is SO ADORABLE!!!!

Spooky : I was hoping Shinsou would wait for me to come back, but he left before I could get back.

Sanguine : He left? Did he go back to ur house?

Spooky : Not my house, but I Sis said he’s at the station rn, so I think he’s going home. 

Spooky : Since he went home alone, do you want to hang out?

Sanguine : OMG YESSSSSS ＼（＾○＾）人（＾○＾）／ ! Go to Purrfect Kaffee!

Spooky : I only have enough for an hour…

Sanguine : Don’t worry, the woman is paying ;D

Spooky : ;D I’ll meet you outside ur school

Sanguine : And I’ll kick your brothers

Spooky : *Foster brothers

Sanguine : happy summer Vacay!!!!!!!!

Chapter Text

Two days later, Hitoshi found himself sitting in the park near the Akiko’s home with the kitten from the alley. He’d gone back to spend some time with it – her – on more than one night. Some nights it took a lot of patience and coaxing for the wayward kitty to come out of hiding, other times the kitten barreled into Hitoshi the moment he walked into the alley.

One particularly cool night around the beginning of June, Hitoshi had taken the kitten out of the alley for a walk around empty streets of the city surrounding his neighborhood. She had let the lilac-haired boy pick her up and cradle her in his arms as they walked, and Hitoshi held the kitten close to his chest, offering gentle scratches under her chin in return. 

They had stopped outside of a small, family run convenience store that stayed open 24/7, and Hitoshi had set the kitten down on a small bench out front as he hurried inside. He hoped the small kitty wouldn’t run off while he was grabbing a snack. She had every right to, and Hitoshi certainly wouldn’t blame the kitty for abandoning him, but it would definitely suck. 

He tried to ignore the pang in his chest at the thought of the kitten ditching him as he grabbed a pre-wrapped sandwich and a bottle of water, bringing it up to the counter to purchase. Rummaging through his pockets for his last couple hundred yen, Hitoshi had nearly bolted out the store's door, ignoring the shout of “WALK!” from the store owner. He'd sagged in relief when he saw the cat curled up in a neat ball, blinking lazily at him and cracking a yawn with its tiny jaws. 

It was almost pathetic really, how attached Hitoshi was to a small kitty he’d found all alone in an alleyway under a dumpster. Even so, he couldn’t help the puff of laughter that escaped him as the cat claimed its spot on his lap as he sat on the bench beside her. 

Setting the water bottle to the side, he had cracked open the plastic seal on the sandwich and gently pulled apart the bread. Hitoshi carefully removed the thin slices of chicken from the sandwich and tore them up into smaller sizes before offering them to the cat in his lap. He could feel the vibrations of the cats purring as it scarfed down the meal, butting its head into Hitoshi’s hands in a silent demand for more.

Instead, Hitoshi had scratched it behind its ears. He wondered how it got food for itself. It didn’t look like it was starving, so maybe it hunted for food during the day and slept in that alley at night? Or it could possibly have a quirk that allowed it to survive off of very little food? Hitoshi had heard of animals developing quirks before, but he had no idea of what that might look like.

Now, as the two sat at the top of one of the slides, Hitoshi absentmindedly scratching the cat's head, he realized that he'd never given the cat a name. That thought sent a pang of guilt through him. This cat had been keeping him company for over a month, and he hadn't even had the decency to give her a name.

Looking down at the kitty, he mused over what to call her. His fingers glided through her mottled white and ginger coat, the sunlight shining through the tree leaves casting shadows on her pelt. From this angle, her fur looked like the shore of a stream he used to sit by at one of his homes a few years ago. Hold on a moment…

‘I know just what to call you!’ Hitoshi thought, a hint of excitement blooming in his chest. He lifted the kitten from his lap to eye level, squinting at its face as though it could read his mind as he thought, ‘ I’m gonna call you Pebbles!’

Unsurprisingly, the cat did not have a mind reading quirk, so it just blinked at him. ‘ And now Pebbles thinks I'm crazy, great.’ Hitoshi cracks a small smile anyway, resituating the cat on his lap, much to her delight. Now that he thought about it, the cat likely would never know what her name even was. But now her name was Pebbles, and Hitoshi thought it fit.

After a while of just sitting on top of the shaded slide, both Hitoshi and Pebbles were starting to get restless. Picking up the kitten once again, Hitoshi slowly slid down the slide and looked around. It was only a little after three, so everyone would be home if he went back, and he really didn’t want to deal with real people now – or ever – so he wasn't going back to the house just yet. He'd already finished his chores for the day anyway.

So instead, Hitoshi turned the other way and padded off in the direction of the woods. The cat in his arms gave a mrrow of interest as they approached the low metal fence separating the park and the forest beyond.

He stood there for a few moments, looking through the trunks of the trees and listening to the wind rustle the leaves. The breeze smelled fresh and cool, a nice break from the oppressive heat that seemed to beat down on you whenever you so much as looked at a patch of sunlight. Hitoshi was sure that, in a few weeks, it'd get too hot to wear a hoodie anymore. 

Eventually, after determining that walking a few meters into the woods shouldn't hurt anyone, Hitoshi gently set Pebbles down on the ground in front of the fence. The cat glances up and watches as Hitoshi gently lifts himself up and over the fence, dropping down with a thump on the other side. After a moment, the cat slipped through the bars, and Hitoshi leaned down and scooped Pebbles up into his arms again. 

He was starting to sense a pattern. Not that he was complaining. 

The first few steps Hitoshi took into the woods were hesitant. He knew he probably shouldn't be in the woods, but wasn't that rule meant for kids who had families to go home to? Families who would miss them when they were missing? Hitoshi didn't have that, so did he really need to stay out of the woods?

The two of them walked just within the forest's edge for a while, shaded from the summer sun and the breeze streaming through the trees rustling Pebbles’ fur. This was the most at ease that Hitoshi could remember feeling, with a tiny fur ball curled into his chest and his lungs filling with fresh air. 

He eventually found a nice place to sit just beside a small creek, his back to a tree and his feet out in front of him, munching on a granola bar he'd smuggled out of the house. He was doing his best to enjoy the peace and quiet of the forest with his the cat while he could. The news that he’d failed his english assessment would be out soon, and Hitoshi knew he would be grounded at the very least. ‘ And not moving very much at worst.’ It wouldn’t be too surprising if the Akiko’s sent him back after this stupid failure. Because he was a stupid failure, a waste of space who’d no doubt die as some D-rank villain.

Hitoshi took a deep breath, forcing away those thoughts for right now. He may not deserve this peace and quiet, but he was determined to take advantage of it while he could. So he sat, occasionally tugging the hem of his shirt out of Pebbles’ mouth and giving her scratches wherever she demanded. It was nice, the kitty being so at ease in his presence made Hitoshi smirk slightly. Who needed friends when you had a cat?

With a start, Hitoshi realized that it was his Birthday in two weeks. To kids in the foster system, birthdays tended to be little more than a mark on a digital calendar. A day to remember only so you know when you age out of the system. In some homes or orphanages, Hitoshi had seen kids get the day off, maybe even a tiny cake or muffin, depending on how much brown nosing the kid did. Of course, Hitoshi never got any of those privileges, no matter how well he thought he behaved.

Normally, on Hitoshi’s birthday, he would do his best to stay out of the way, to fly under the radar so he could leave the home as fast as possible. Hitoshi had no desire to spend the one day a year that was meant to be his with people who hurt him, even if he deserved it. Hitoshi would typically go and sit in a park or just wander around the streets. Now that he thought about it, it was a miracle that he’d never been kidnapped or brought to the police station for having been out and about without his parents.

Just another instance of no one wanting a villain, he supposed.

Whatever the case, Hitoshi would do his best to leave this home for the day too. It was unlikely that anyone at the Akiko’s knew when his birthday was, so he hoped they wouldn’t  be like some of his past homes that forced him to work harder on that day. 

Looking down at his lone friend, Hitoshi scratched the underside of the cat's chin. Maybe he’d take Pebbles on a walk around the city streets on his birthday. He always liked looking through the windows of stores and just browsing aisles. Hitoshi loved being just another face in the crowd, another unmemorable face without a name, that was the best a person like him could ask for. 

Eventually, the sun started to tip below the horizon, and Hitoshi picked up the she-cat and stood. ‘ Time to get you home.’ He jogged his way back towards the park, his eyes scanning the peaceful trees as the sounds of trains and cars got louder. He hadn’t realized just how loud the city was, even at night, until he’d been away from it almost completely.

Clambering up and over the fence, Hitoshi walked out of the park's main entrance, then turned and padded down the street towards the alley where Pebbles lived. The cat had twisted in his arms at some point, and instead of being held, she clambered up his shirt and draped her tiny frame over his shoulder, rubbing her head along the side of Hitoshi’s face as her claws dug almost painfully into his back. 

It was almost completely dark by the time Hitoshi reached Pebbles’ alley. Crouching by a stack of cardboard, Hitoshi gently extracted the cat from his clothes and placed her on the boxes. She mewed and jammed her head into Hitoshi's outstretched hand. He chuckled quietly as the cat tried to climb back up his shirt.

‘You can't come, Pebbles.’ He gave the kitty one last stroke from head to tail before standing and stretching. He spared the kitty one last look and a small wave before walking back out of the alley. It was almost ten at night now, he’d forgotten how long it took the sun to go down this time of the year. He’d made the right call in finishing all of his chores before leaving. 

Suddenly, there was a loud thump from across the street. Hitoshi froze, glancing towards the alleyway the noise had come from. Part of Hitoshi knew that whatever was going on over there wasn’t anything good, that he should just turn and walk away. But some other, much deeper part of him wanted to see what was happening, see if, just maybe, someone needed help.

His help.

And maybe it was stupid, but there was still that part of him that wanted to be a hero. A seed was still buried in his chest. And if someone needed help, well he could always just call the cops, right?

Darting towards the nearest crosswalk, Hitoshi looked both ways before crossing the road and doubling back towards the alley. Pulling the hood of his sweater up to cover his wild hair, he padded silently towards the noise, keeping his steps as light and controlled as possible. 

Reaching the lip of the alley, he hugged the corner and peaked around. He’d done this many, many times in so many different homes, keeping as small as possible so he didn’t draw any attention. What he saw made his stomach turn.

Three men were crowded around a couple of younger folks in business suits. One of the men had what looked like a spike or bone quirk, based on the rather sharp knuckles he was holding to one of the business men’s neck. The other two didn’t have visible quirks, but that didn’t mean they weren’t any less dangerous.

“You think you’re better than us? That you can just get away with doing whatever you please?” The pure rage in the spike-quirked man’s voice made Hitoshi jerk back around the corner. Taking in a deep breath, he began to slowly back away from the alley and pulled out his phone. 

Hitoshi leaned against a wall in a dark patch of shadow between streetlights as he dialed the number for emergency services. This is what he was supposed to do, right? Calling the cop’s, the heroes, was what you did when you saw villain’s, right? But… What if the heroes came and they arrested him too? He’d deserve it, what with his quirk and all. Hitoshi hesitated, his thumb hovering over the call button.

What would he even say? What could he say? What if the heroes already knew about this mugging and were already on their way? What if the cops already had it handled? If that’s the case, what if Hitoshi calling them distracted the emergency workers from more important things? What if…

A scream from the alley made the decision for him. Hitoshi jammed his thumb on the call button and brought the phone up to his ear, praying that someone would answer.

The phone rang once. ‘ This is a terrible idea, what if the villain’s hear and come after me next? ’

The phone rang a second time. ‘ What if the hero’s don’t believe me? What if they think it’s all a trick? ’

The phone rang a third time, and Hitoshi’s heart skipped a beat when the line connected, a tired female voice on the other end asking him what the emergency was. He opened his mouth, wanting to say where he was, that there were three guys ganging up on two other guys in an alley right next to him. But when he tried to speak, his voice jammed in his throat, and the most he could manage was a weak cough. 

Damn. He hadn’t thought about this. He’d been so caught up in what would happen if the heroes arrived that he didn’t stop to think about how he’d tell them where to go. He certainly couldn’t say anything, then the cops would be really mad. He knew better than to speak to anyone, and he didn’t want to get in trouble with the authorities for using his quirk. The lady on the other end of the line didn’t deserve to become the next victim of a villainous quirk.

Wait, his quirk didn’t work over the phone, right? It had been so long since he’d seen that quirk doctor, back when the faceless people who had been his first parents had taken him in to figure out what power he had, that he hadn’t really thought about what the doctor had said. Hadn’t she said that only his real voice would carry the effects of his quirk? Only his real voice made him dangerous, made him a threat?

“Hello? What’s the matter?”  The lady on the other end of the line sounded more alert now, and Hitoshi wondered if she could hear the scuffle going on in the alley from where he was. 

Hitoshi gave another dry, cracking cough before trying to speak again, but all that came out was a useless croak from his unused throat. The pathetic sound made Hitoshi want to cry. The one time, the only time in his entire life that his voice might be able to help someone, and it wouldn’t come to him. Words built up in his mind that he wanted to say but his throat closed around the words, letting them die before they ever escaped.

“Okay sweetie, it’s okay,” The woman's voice came again, softer this time. “We have your location. Someone’s on their way. Stay on the line with me until they get there, alright?”

Now Hitoshi really did start crying. The lady kept talking in a low, soothing voice about menial things, clearly trying to keep him calm while the fight in the alley started getting louder. The shouts got angrier, and Hitoshi heard the confused grunts of pain as what sounded like another person joined the fight. Hitoshi crept closer to the alley as the sounds started to die down. He’d been watching the entrance while the lady talked to him, and he hadn’t seen a single person enter or leave the alley.

“Alright kiddo, help’s arrived and I’ve been told that the situation has been handled.” The soothing voice came after a few more moments. Hitoshi peaked into the alley as she continued to speak. “You did good calling in the incident, okay? If you're hurt, go and talk to the hero, yeah?” He nodded, even though the woman couldn’t see and pulled the phone away, hanging up silently.

The alley was littered with kicked garbage and the limp forms of the three villains. The two men in business suits were engaged in an animated conversation with a third person. He was tall, with what looked like shaggy black hair and a long, long scarf that sat on his shoulders. He must have been the hero the lady sent to help, even though he didn’t look much like other hero’s Hitoshi had ever seen before. 

The suited guy that the spiked villain had held now sported a long cut on his arm, ripping straight through the pristine suit. As he watched, the hero pulled out a large cloth and guided the man to hold it to his arm. Hitoshi heard sirens start to echo in the distance, and he decided that now would probably be a good time to leave. He was a distraction at best now. 

As he turned and started to pad away, he failed to notice the hero watching him out of the corner of his yellow googles, quiet and assessing.

The rest of his walk home was uneventful. It was approaching midnight by the time Hitoshi walked through the front door of the Akiko’s home. He slipped off his shoes as quietly as he could before making his way to the kitchen. Grabbing a glass and filling it with water, he almost dropped in when he turned around to see Akari sitting at the dining room table. The girl was slumped forward, head on her arms as her chest rose and fell deeply. 

‘Why the heck is she sleeping here ?!’ Hitoshi thought past the hammering of his heart. He edged closer to the girl, intending to wake her up so she could go sleep in her own bed, when he caught a better glimpse of her face. The skin around her eyes was red and puffy, and tear tracks stained her cheeks. A flicker of unease shot through Hitoshi’s gut at the sight. 

Hitoshi had seen that look in the mirror many times. He could practically feel the swollen eyes his past self wore so often even now. He was no stranger to midnight crying sessions, and he felt like he would have one the second he collapsed onto his bed, but he couldn’t understand why she would choose to come down here and cry instead of staying in her room.

‘Oh…’ Right. Akari shared a room with Ogawa. He’d never had to share a room with foster siblings before, normally Hitoshi got the smallest available space and that was that. Hitoshi wondered if maybe the young girl had had a nightmare and left her room so she didn’t wake Ogawa. 

Glancing around quickly, Hitoshi moved to the living room and grabbed one of the throw blankets from the back of the couch, dragging it back into the kitchen and throwing it over Akari’s shoulders. The girl stirred slightly, but otherwise didn’t move. Hitoshi hoped that this made up for some of what the girl had been doing for him since he moved in.

Turning, Hitoshi made his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs, making his way into his room and closing the door before diving under the covers of his bed and curling up. And, for once, sleep came easily to his exhausted limbs.

Chapter Text

Hitoshi lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling of his room. He wanted to enjoy the peace of the day for just a little while longer. He knew what today would bring, he was ready for it. He was ready for the pain and the bruises and the hateful, venomous words that would lace every interaction he had with the Akiko’s today.

Hitoshi was intimately familiar with this song and dance. For someone like himself, it was an all too common occurrence. Throughout every home he’d lived in since he turned 6, he’d tried to make himself as small as possible, taking up as little space as he could in both the minds of his caretakers, and the place they called home. Oftentimes, unless he screwed up on the housework or got underfoot, he was left alone. After all, it was safer for everyone involved if no one spoke to him.

He was a fixture of most homes, not meant to be seen nor heard. He only existed to be a paycheck in someone else's wallet. Hitoshi knew it was no easy feat, raising a kid like himself. He was difficult to manage because of his quirk posing a danger to everyone around him. Hitoshi understood that simple fact of life. But, for some reason, it still hurts every time.

He didn’t mean it hurt on the outside, of course he would hurt physically. Physical punishment wasn’t just expected, it was earned, deserved even. Hitoshi knew that a villainous kid like him needed that punishment more than most kids. What always surprised him is how much it hurt inside .

Every time he was punished, it felt like something in his chest died. That was something he couldn’t understand. Why did he feel so hurt when he knew he deserved it? Why did he feel a deep rooted sense of sadness, of aching betrayal . He didn’t have a right to feel this way. He made everyone’s lives so much harder, so who was he to feel sorry for himself. 

‘Stop being selfish! You earned what’s coming to you.’ The little voice in the back of his head seemed to seethe. And, really, the voice was right. He had earned it. Had he been better, smarter, he would have been able to pass that stupid english test and not fail the whole class for the semester.

Reaching for his pillow, Hitoshi squeezed it to his chest in an attempt to comfort himself. It didn’t help. 

Instead, he leaned over and pulled his phone off of the charger, swinging it around so he could stare at the screen. It was almost 10AM, meaning the news would probably be out soon. Silently, Hitoshi slid out of bed, his socked feet gliding across the floor as he made his way over to his school bag. Better he be prepared for what was coming. At the very least, he could make sure he had something to do after the Akiko’s undoubtedly took away all his belongings as punishment.

Grabbing his backpack, he pulled out his personal notebook. He wouldn’t call it a journal, he’d learned his lesson when it came to writing anything so personal down on paper, but it would be capable of keeping him entertained in the face of whatever punishment was lying in wait. When all of your worldly could fit into a grocery bag, you learned to be entertained with very little. With a notebook, you could draw, write, study, even do origami. And the fact that notebooks were often small and overlooked meant they were easier to hide.

Standing up, Hitoshi walked over to his closet. He was just tall enough to reach the very top of the closet where all the extra bedding for the household was kept. Gently, Hitoshi took the notebook, and a couple of pens and pencils, and slipped them inside the folds of a spare comforter, rearranging the fabric so it didn’t look tampered with before moving his bag from its spot in the closet to right by his desk. If the closet looked as untouched as possible, hopefully the Akiko’s wouldn’t search through it too hard for any contraband. 

Satisfied with his work, Hitoshi did another sweep of his room, making his bed and tidying up the corners in an attempt to thwart any further punishments. Returning to his bed, he pulled his legs to his chest and rested his head on his knees. He felt his heart start beating faster in tandem with his shortening breath. He had hoped he’d be able to stay here for a while longer. It wasn’t the worst home he’d ever been in, not by a long shot. And while Yamazaki and Makoto were some of the worst foster siblings he’d ever lived with – Most tended to ignore his presence whenever possible, and Hitoshi honestly preferred it to the older boy’s quirk training – Akari and Ogawa weren’t… the worst.

Ogawa seemed to care for all the foster kids in the home, even Yamazaki and Makoto. Hitoshi thought she might be what some referred to as motherly , but he wasn’t sure. And Akari hadn’t done anything to hurt him, yet. Well, he technically was an accomplice to helping someone sneak onto private property during school hours because of Akari and her friend, but that wasn’t Akari’s fault. It was his fault for walking in on them, so he couldn’t blame her for that. 

After some time, Hitoshi’s thoughts kind of faded out. The whole world kind of faded out actually, his vision going fuzzy around the edges. His tingling fingers lost their perch in his sweater and slipped down to loosely wrap around his shins, not that he really felt it. 

Nothing really mattered, nothing even felt real to him right now. Maybe it was better that way. If he couldn’t feel anything, maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much this time. Maybe he could escape it, just this once.

His head started to feel floaty, and Hitoshi distantly realized that his breaths had gotten shallower. His chest started to ache, but he couldn’t be bothered to care. Not anymore. 

He doesn't know how long he drifted for, unable to properly move or think, but dimly he becomes aware of a commotion outside of his room. He starts trying to sink deeper into the numbness that permeates his limbs, the quiet buzz that fills every corner of his being, almost like a calm shelter compared to the oppressive storm that he knew awaited him. 

So he waited, and waited, and waited for whatever storm was brewing on the other side of his door to come in, sweep him up, and swallow him whole. But when Hitoshi finally decided to stop waiting, it wasn’t because someone came into his room, all angry words and violent hands. Instead, he came to because of a muffled thump and a distant scream.

‘That… That’s not what’s supposed to happen,’ Hitoshi attempted to uncurl from his spot on the bed. It was a struggle, his body felt fuzzy, like someone had shifted his soul just slightly off center. His arms and legs felt like they were in the wrong spots, but somehow Hitoshi managed to stand, shaking his head to dispel the dizziness that flooded it. That made the dizziness worse, and Hitoshi grabbed the edge of the bed to keep himself from falling over as darkness completely overtook his vision and his mind buzzed.

It took longer than he’d like to be able to hear properly again, and longer to even be able to see his feet. By the time he could confidently move without falling flat on his face, the sounds had gotten louder, and angry shouts had erupted in the hallway.

“Do you think this is a joke ?” Was that Mr. Akiko? It didn’t sound like he was talking to Hitoshi, but who else could he be screaming at like that on a day like this. “Look at me, you under-evolved weakling!”

Opening the door a crack, Hitoshi felt a rock drop into his stomach. Mr. Akiko was standing outside of the girl’s room, one quirked-arm was transformed into a whip, the other was bracing a squirming Akari to the wall, her feet dangling several inches off the ground. The girl’s eyes were blown wide and Hitoshi couldn’t tell if the girl was actually breathing with how fast her chest was moving under the man’s arm. 

Beyond the pair directly in the hallway, Makoto was leaning against the hall’s entrance, watching the scene with interest. The boy’s eyes met Hitoshi’s, and Hitoshi quickly looked back at his guardian. He could still feel the teen watching him, and it made his already floating hair stand even farther on end.

“We have been so gracious as to provide everything someone like you could need,” The man seethed, leaning in closer to Akari. A vein pulsed on their guardians forehead, and his breathing sounded off, laboured slightly in his anger. “And you repay us by pulling a stunt like this? ”

The end of the man’s sentence was accompanied by a knee to the girl’s stomach. Hitoshi flinched back as Akari gave a choked cry. The cry was followed by a bout of coughing, and Mr. Akiko dropped the girl unceremoniously to the floor with another kick.. Akari curled into a ball on the floor as the man wiped the bare skin of his forearm on his shirt with a disgusted face. 

“I thought even an underdeveloped piece of shit like you could manage to pass basic school tests . But apparently you're too pathetic for even that. Clearly the bar was set too high for the quirkless runt!” The man’s voice turned mocking at the end, and the higher pitch reverberated throughout the hall. 

Hitoshi stood frozen behind his door. Akari had failed her own test too? But that didn’t make any sense. Akari was always studying for school, reading books and completing homework on time, so how had she failed? Hitoshi failing made sense, he was a idiotic, villainous kid who couldn’t work past a single headache, but Akari? Hitoshi had watched her studying for these tests, reviewing old notes and lessons in a rumpled, beaten up notebook; he'd even heard her practicing English when she was alone, so her failing made no sense .

The older man snarled something Hitoshi didn’t quite catch before raising his whip-like arm into the air above his head and striking downwards. Hitoshi flinched back as the CRACK of the whip reverberated through the hallway, followed by a shriek from the girl still curled up on the floor. Hitoshi could swear he felt the air drop several degrees as the man raised his whip and brought it down again, eliciting another scream from the girl.

“If you’re determined to make us look like fools, then maybe we should return you.” He hissed, bringing his whip down again. “The only reason you’re still here is because, despite your quirklessness , you do have some uses.” Hitoshi winced as the declaration was followed with another CRACK . Mr. Akiko sounded like he was talking to an object , not another person .

With a final crack of his whip, the man kneeled down and grabbed Akari by the front of her shirt. Their guardian pulled her in so close that Hitoshi could see Akari’s bangs move with the man’s enraged breaths. “If you pull another stunt like this, you’ll be out of this house before you can blink. Am I understood?” 

Akari gave a hesitant nod, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Mr. Akiko dropped Akari one last time and stood up to his full height. “Good. Don’t bother coming down for dinner, you won’t have a spot until you earn it.” 

The man took that moment to glance down the hallway, catching Hitoshi’s eyes with a glare, and Hitoshi felt his heart stop beating as every muscle in his body tensed. This was it. Hitoshi could already feel the man’s whip on his skin, the thwip of the air moments before impact, and the stinging marks that would mar his skin after. He stared back at the man who called himself Hitoshi’s guardian, and he couldn’t hide the shaking in his limbs. He couldn’t hide the fear that permeated his entire body.

Hitoshi didn’t know whether to shut the door to his room and try to hide or to walk forward and accept his fate. He’d be seen as a coward and running away from responsibility if he did turn around, but if he walked forwards, wouldn’t that be considered rude or impudent? 

The air around him seemed to get even colder as he watched the older man walk towards him. Hitoshi flinched back as the man raised his arm, squeezing his eyes shut and bracing for the lash of the man’s quirk. He hated himself for flinching, for being so weak that he couldn’t even take the punishment’s he deserved , for crying out loud. ‘God, I really am just a pathetic, worthless villain.’

But instead of a lash, Hitoshi heard the man hiss, “Look at me.”

Hitoshi cracked one eye open to see the older man standing in the doorway, his arm now transformed back into its normal form and pointing back towards Akari, who was now attempting to sit up against the wall and holding her sleeve to her mouth.

“That is what happens when you treat the opportunities we give you as a joke.” Mr. Akiko growled. “We have been generous enough to let you stay here, have we not?”

Hitoshi had no idea what was happening. Why wasn’t the man dragging him out of his room and thrashing him, just like he did with Akari? Why wasn’t he storming into Hitoshi’s room and taking anything and everything that could hold even the slightest bit of value to the boy. Hitoshi had spent the entire morning preparing for this. Why was the world throwing such a curve in what should have been a straight path? Hitoshi screwed up, and should be punished accordingly. That’s how things had always been, so why was it changing now? It didn’t make sense!  

Wait, Hitoshi had been asked a question just then. Was that a question he was supposed to answer?

Silently, because he knew better than to respond verbally, Hitoshi gave a quick, jerky nod. Mr. Akiko was so close to his face that Hitoshi could count the individual creases adorning the man’s brow, so close that he could feel the man’s breath hot with anger bearing down on him through the cold air of the house. 

“Yes, we have,” The man agreed, though if he was agreeing with his own words, or Hitoshi’s agreement, it’s impossible to say. Mr. Akiko reached up, grabbing Hitoshi by the hair and pulling his head backwards so he was forced to look the man in the eyes. His words turned colder , threatening in a whole other way. “Then let that be a lesson to you. Don’t make us look like fools for taking you in. Am I understood?” 

Hitoshi gave another frantic nod, wincing when the motion tugged at his gravity-defying hair. The man scoffed before releasing Hitoshi, throwing him backwards slightly in the process. His guardian stalked back down the hall and disappeared past Akari and into the room she shared with Ogawa.

Akari hadn’t moved from her spot on the floor, half propped up on the wall. She was just staring off into space now, gazing blankly at the wall across from her. Hitoshi could see red peaking through the places in her shirt that had been shredded by the man’s whip, but the girl either didn’t notice or didn’t care that her shirt was slowly darkening. The only sign that she was even awake were her half-lidded eyes that seemed to radiate as much exhaustion as Hitoshi’s own, as well as the constant fidgeting of her hands.

Hitoshi also realized that Makoto was still standing at the other end of the hall, watching the whole spectacle with a smirk on his face. The teen’s gaze flitted between the two younger kids before finally settling on Hitoshi. 

“It’s a shame, really,” The teen drawled, a slow, sardonic grin spreading across his face. “In my opinion, you both should have been thrashed until you couldn’t move.” 

In Hitoshi’s unprofessional opinion, it didn’t look like Akari would be moving much. There was a bruise forming along her face that looked like it had come from a particularly hard slap Hitoshi hadn’t borne witness to, and Hitoshi knew that the lashes underneath her clothing weren’t the only injuries the cloth was hiding. 

But Makoto only shrugged, pushing himself up off the wall as he did so. “Maybe I could help with that.”

If it was at all possible, Hitoshi stiffened more at that. He’d long since figured out that Makoto’s quirk allowed him to create cuts on any living being he came into physical contact with. Now, the cuts weren’t always the longest, nor particularly deep, but they still hurt in large quantities. Hitoshi repressed a flinch at the memory of his hands all cut up and bloodied. None of the injuries had actually scarred, but they still stung for the few days it took for them to heal.

As the boy started prowling down the hallway, cold eyes locked on Hitoshi, a quiet voice came from the floor.

“I guess it’s a good thing nobody cares about your opinion then, Makoto.”

The boy froze midstep, before turning to look at the girl still slumped against the wall. Her eyes had finally moved from where they’d been staring off into space, flickering up to look at the teenager who was only a few feet away. 

‘ What are you doing you idiot!’ Hitoshi felt frustration well up inside him. Sure, Hitoshi didn’t want to receive corporal punishment, he doubted any kid wanted that, but it was expected. He deserved it, it was a simple fact of his life. It served as a reminder that Hitoshi meant nothing, was nothing.

So why was the world so hell bent on making him watch as someone who wasn’t completely horrible to him was punished instead. Especially for things she’d never done.

Hitoshi wasn’t built for this kind of emotional whiplash. He’d spent the whole morning mentally preparing to be beaten black and blue that he wasn’t ready to watch someone suffer that fate instead.

Makoto’s grin underwent the subtle switch from sardonic to sadistic as he changed course, crouching down in front of Akari and grabbing her wrist. 

“And you don’t have an opinion, you quirkless freak.” Makoto hissed. Akari just returned his gaze impassively, the unshed tears in the corners of her eyes the only emotion on her face. Hitoshi stood, transfixed, as a small cut opened up on her wrist, blood dripping down under her shirt and another drop of blood emerged from a sudden split lip. 

And something in Hitoshi broke then. His body finally moved forward, stepping out of the shelter of the doorframe to his room and making quick work of the distance between himself and the two people crouched on the floor. He ignored the rummaging sounds of Mr. Akiko in the girls room as he all but grabbed for Makoto’s wrist, pulling at the teens arm in an attempt to get him to let go of Akari.

The action succeeded, and Hitoshi stumbled back a step at the lack of resistance in the other boy’s arm. Makoto looked up at him with renewed interest as Hitoshi took a careful step backward.

“Playing hero now?” Makoto laughed, the loudest sound Hitoshi had ever heard from the boy. “Now, of all times, a villain wants to defend the quirkless? Fine then.” 

Quick as a snake, Makoto wrapped his hand around Hitoshi’s left wrist, and Hitoshi let out a hiss of pain as he felt a pulling sensation on the palms of his hand. 

Maybe he should have tried to yank his arm back, away from the pain, but for some reason he almost leaned into it. The pain that bloomed across his palm seemed to calm something inside him. The buzzing that had been permeating his body receded some, and everything came into complete focus for the first time since he’d woken up that morning. He felt, for lack of a better word, calm. Like a missing puzzle piece had finally been put into its proper place.

And, of course, it was at that moment that Mr. Akiko emerged from the room, carrying Akari’s backpack. Hitoshi knew that basically everything Akari owned was stuffed into the bag. As soon as the man’s eyes brushed over the group on the floor, all three immediately disengaged. Apparently even Makoto wasn’t willing to test Mr. Akiko at that moment. The man in question glowered at the three of them, or maybe just Akari, before turning and stomping off down the hall, disappearing down the stairs with anger still emanating from his frame. 

The three kids waited until a door slammed below before moving. Hitoshi shoved Makoto in the shoulders, and the teenager responded by sweeping both of Hitoshi’s legs out and pinning him to the floor with a thump . 

“If this is all you can do I'm amazed you haven’t landed in a ditch somewhere by now.” Makoto said, his tone bored in a way that didn’t quite match the look in his eyes. But before the boy could reach Hitoshi’s bare skin, Akari kicked the teen in his side, causing him to rock sideways ever so slightly.

Makoto whipped around, his face emotionless as he slammed his fist into Akari’s stomach. Akari let out a low shriek before doubling over in a coughing fit, blood from her burst lip spilling over her arms.

“Don’t touch me.” Was all Makoto said as he pulled back his fist once again.

“STOP!”

Hitoshi startled at the shout, sitting up from where he was still sprawled out on the floor to look at Ogawa. The blue haired teen was standing in the entrance to the hallway, hands on her hips and backpack abandoned behind her.

“Stop it Makoto. Leave them alone.” The girl's voice shook at the end, but she stood firm. ‘ That’s not going to be enough to…’

To Hitoshi’s absolute shock and amazement, Makoto immediately backed off, standing up with a shrug and dusting off his pant legs with a distinctly uninterested look. Then, he simply turned and walked away, brushing past Ogawa and down the stairs behind her. Hitoshi could only stare in disbelief from the ground. ‘ How did that work?!’ Yamazaki would never have let up just because someone asked nicely. Hitoshi supposed he should be glad he was out with some friends today.

Ogawa hurried down the hall, crouching in front of Rei and Hitoshi. “Jesus fucking christ.” 

Hitoshi let out a chocked, surprised cough that was almost a laugh. He’d never heard Ogawa swear before. She always made it a point to be more civil than the others. But watching Ogawa her, wrapping her arms around Akari’s tiny frame and carrying her into their shared room, Hitoshi wondered if maybe it was all a facade.

He felt like he would understand her better if it was just a mask. As it was, Hitoshi couldn’t fathom how she cared so much for two pre-teens; one of which was a villain and the other was quirkless.

“Shinsou, come here,” Ogawa’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He hesitated for only a moment before getting his feet under him and pushing himself up. He fought through his bout of dizziness as he marched himself into the girl’s room and shut the door behind him. 

Ogawa had procured a towel from somewhere and had it firmly pressed against Akari’s back. The younger girl was laying on the floor, shirt pulled up to expose the lashes lacing her back and head buried in a pillow. 

The blue harried teen gestured Hitoshi forward. “Here, hold this towel for me.” Hitoshi shifted from where he was standing without further prompting, taking Ogawa’s spot as the teenager shuffled under her bed for what Hitoshi was certain was her first aid kit. 

After a few moments, Ogawa returned and pulled out a tube of antiseptic. Motioning for Hitoshi to remove the towel from her wounds, she began to gently apply the creme to the gashes. All in all, the wounds weren’t as bad as Hitoshi had thought. Only one of the lashes was bleeding profusely, the others were already scabbed over. There were several patches of visibly darkening skin, the beginnings of nasty bruises that had Hitoshi cringing in sympathy, but he only looked away when Ogawa helped Akari into a sitting position so she could bandage her back properly. 

Hitoshi pulled the first aid kit closer to himself and adjusted his position so his back was to Akari in order to spare her some privacy, handing Ogawa whatever she asked for instead. It took a while of the trio working in silence before Ogawa proclaimed their task finished and set about packing up the medical supplies.

“Have you done all of your chores yet?” Ogawa asked Akari softly. The younger girl blinked her eyes open and lifted her head from where it had dropped.

“...no…”

Ogawa nodded and stood, grabbing the bloody towel from the ground beside her. “Alright, I’ll handle anything you haven’t finished.”

The teen leaned forward and gently ruffled Akari’s hair before nodding to Hitoshi. “Do me a favor and don’t let her leave unless it's an emergency.” 

Hitoshi blinked several times before nodding hesitantly. He was at a loss as he watched Ogawa retreat from the room, sliding the door shut behind herself.

The two sat in silence for a while. Akari had leaned back against her bed, her breaths so slow and deep that Hitoshi thought she was asleep until she murmured.

“I’m sorry…”

Hitoshi frowned, raising his gaze to meet Akari’s half lidded ones. The girl’s blue eyes blinked lazily at him as Hitoshi lifted his hands to sign.

‘ What are you sorry for?’

“I swapped our tests.”

That made Hitoshi choke on his next inhale. ‘She what?!’ It took a few moments of Hitoshi repeating what she’d said in his mind before he understood what she meant.

Akari had swapped their english tests? She’d known about his failing grade? Why the hell did she swap them? If she knew about his failing grade, and if she swapped their tests , then she knew exactly what the Akiko’s would do when they found out. And she did it anyway. 

This beating, this punishment, it was meant to be his. But she had taken it. If anything, what Mr. Akiko did was worse for her than what he would have done to Hitoshi. He couldn’t fathom anyone in their right mind taking any sort of fall for him. He didn’t deserve any help, any pity; he didn’t deserve anything at all.

‘Why would you do that? You knew you’d get hurt!’ Hitoshi’s hands shook with how fast they were moving, a few drops of blood flying off his hands from Makoto’s quirk. ‘You broke the rules, got in trouble, for no reason! Why would yo-’

He froze mid sentence at the breathy laugh that escaped the younger girl, followed by a coughing fit that had her doubling over. When she recovered, her voice was strained. 

“I think… I think that’s the most you’ve ever said to me.” She chuckled again, her eyes now fully open and shining with pain and something else Hitoshi couldn’t quite place.

Hitoshi was about to start signing again, but Akari spoke first. “I was never going to pass that test, Shinsou. I don’t know if you noticed, but that teacher has it out for me.”

The girl took a deep breath, several more coughs shook her and Akari grimaced before continuing. “Do you know… how many times my homes have been called due to me ‘ cheating on assignments’ ? How many times I’ve been told someone as ‘ under-developed ’ as myself couldn’t possibly understand the material?” The girl’s voice turned sour at the end, resentment clouding her gaze as she turned to stare at the ceiling instead of Hitoshi.

“Every assignment I had turned in for that teacher was marked down. He once hit my hands with a ruler in front of everyone until I confessed to cheating off my neighbor.” Hitoshi shuddered, the memory of something very similar happening to himself years ago shooting through his mind. ”And you were distracted because of me. Because I let me and Himiko get caught.”

Akari fiddled with the hem of her shirt, not even looking at Hitoshi when he tried to get her attention. ‘ It wasn’t your fault! I wasn’t distracted because of you. I was pathetic. ’ Hitoshi thought desperately. 

But Akari wouldn’t look at him so he could tell her that. Her eyes were closed, voice soft as she murmured, “So, I’m sorry. I… When I went back into school that day, I swapped the names on our papers.” She twisted her shirt harder, coughing again before adding, “It was my fault you were going to fail, and I thought it would be better–” another cough “ – if only one of us failed. So…”

Akari fell silent after that. Hitoshi sat, frozen in his spot as he mulled over what she said. She was right, it would have been so, so much worse had both of them failed. But there had to have been ways other than helping a villain, right?

After some time had passed, Akari opened her eyes and looked at him. “Us outcasts… We gotta stick together out there, yeah?”

Hitoshi had no idea what to say to that. Akari waited a while, switching between watching him and gazing at the door behind him, but she eventually shifted to laying stomach first on the floor again. Her shirt had been pulled back down, the slashes in the fabric revealing the white gauze binding her wounds as her breaths evened out. 

Sighing, Hitoshi reached over to the first aid kit, still out and open on the floor where Ogawa left it. He hesitated for a moment, then gently picked up the antiseptic and gauze. Hitoshi really, really hoped the teen didn’t mind him borrowing some supplies. It took him longer than he’d admit to fully, if messily, wrap both of his hands so they stopped dripping blood all over the floors.

Finally, Hitoshi leaned back against the wall. He had not been ready for today, he really couldn’t stress that enough. He felt the fuzz that so often filled his mind start to creep up his spine. The world started to feel almost like a dream, his vision fading just slightly. It was almost… pleasant, in a way.

He spent several minutes (Hours? Time was weird…) just sitting. He knew he blinked when his vision would turn off completely, but nothing else registered. He didn’t even notice when Ogawa entered the room and called his name.

When he stopped drifting through the void of his own mind, he found the room had darkened almost completely. The only sign of light being the desk lamp in his room. Wait, no it wasn’t his room. This was Ogawa’s room.

Shaking his head, he looked around. He was startled to see that the sky was clouded and dark, with stars shining beyond the curtains. Ogawa was sitting on her bed, scrolling through her phone, whereas Akari had, at some point, been moved to her own bed. She was still asleep, though what Hitoshi could see of her face was set in a tense grimace. Somewhere in his chest, Hitoshi felt that bed of guilt grow deeper. He didn’t know what to do about that.

He didn’t know a lot of things, it seemed.

As Hitoshi went to stand, Ogawa noticed him and called out.

“Hey, Shinsou?”

Hitoshi glanced sideways, giving the teen his full attention as she cast aside her phone and sat up straighter.

“I just wanted to say thanks, for stepping in against Makoto.” the blue haired girl ‘s face twisted into a mournful smile. “You shouldn’t have to, and I wish you didn’t have to at all. I’m sorry to say that that's just the way things are.” She hung her head then. “You deserve better than this.”

And then, even quieter, “You both do…” 

Hitoshi nodded once and turned to leave again when Ogawa spoke one last time. The contents of what was said made Hitoshi question if it was ever spoken at all. It was so absurd, so outlandish and against everything Hitoshi knew to be true that even years in the future, Hitoshi still didn’t believe it when she murmured,

“I don’t think you're a villain, kid.”

He didn’t know what to say, what to do. That has been happening a lot today. So Hitoshi did the only thing he could think of. He fled, slipping out of the girls room and down the hall into his own, shutting the door as hard as he dared.

Throwing himself onto his bed, he slammed his face into his pillow and screamed. He screamed so he didn’t have to think. He screamed to drown all the thoughts and emotions that ran through his brain. He screamed until what little of his voice broke and left him silent.

When his lungs finally gave out and the tears he hadn’t realized had started flowing stopped, he reached over to grab his phone where he’d left it on his bed hours ago. Tapping the screen, he looked at the time only to pull up short.

00:14, July 1

It was his birthday.

Chapter Text

‘Huh.’

That was the only thing shooting through Hitoshi’s exhausted mind as he registered the time and date on his phone’s screen. He didn’t have the energy to feel anything else. Any normal kid would be ecstatic for their twelfth birthday, running down the stairs with big smiles and open arms. Normal kids would spend the day laughing, going on trips with their families and spending the day with friends.

Well, Hitoshi didn’t have a normal family. Or normal friends, or even normal birthdays. It was rare that he even acknowledged his birthday anymore, hoping others would forget it as well. If anyone did remember his birthday, he was met with ridicule, chores and vicious hands.

So celebrating his birthday wasn’t just not worth it, but he tried to forget. But, for whatever reason, it had been on his mind lately. It wasn’t even a memorable birthday, he was only turning twelve. If he was turning thirteen or sixteen, it would make more sense for it to be on his mind so much. But no, it was boring, unimportant twelve. 

His phone screen was swimming in front of his eyes, and he wasn’t sure if it was tears from the events of earlier that day – or technically yesterday – , or his sheer, mind numbing exhaustion that was causing it. Regardless, he felt his eyes growing heavier and his hand stilled from where it was thumbing across his phone's screen. It felt like his body was being weighed down, pressing into the cold mattress below him.

Hitoshi forced himself to blink, bringing one arm up to rub at his eyes. The bandages around his palm were rough and scratchy on his sensitive eyelids. What was wrong with him? He had barely done anything today, he hadn’t even gotten punished like he thought he would. A couple of cuts on his palms were nothing in comparison to previous homes' methods of ‘correction’.

At some point, his arm had stopped rubbing at his eyes and was now laying on top of them instead. It felt too heavy to move anymore, and he felt his eyelids close completely under the fabric of his hoodie. Maybe he could rest for just a few minutes…

Light filtering over his sensitive eyes drew a soft groan from Hitoshi. He hated sunlight first thing in the morning. It always gave him a headache for the rest of the–

Wait, sunlight?

He sat bolt upright in bed, head whipping around to stare at the window, where sunlight was indeed pouring in. 

‘Damn, I didn't think I'd actually be able to sleep…’ It really was a surprise. Normally sleep evaded Hitoshi like the plague on days like he'd had yesterday. Well, sleep normally treated Hitoshi like a particularly bad ex-boyfriend, but it was always much worse on those days. Hitoshi supposed he should just add that to the small yet ever growing pile of mysteries that had been happening as of late.

Lifting his phone from where it had been laying next to him, the clock read 8:36. He’d even managed to get a full 8 hours. No wonder he didn’t feel like he’d been hit with a bus. That good night of sleep was probably the best birthday present he could have asked for.

Not that he ever asked for gifts.

As he sat upright in bed, rubbing the last dregs of sleep from his eyes, the contents of just what transpired the day before came up behind him and smacked him right upside the head. Guilt coiled in his gut as he shot out of his bed and down the hall, barely catching himself from just barging into the girl’s room in his haste. 

Reaching out, he quietly knocked on the door, praying that someone was awake, and that he wasn’t waking either of the girls too early for their liking. He knew that Akari was an early morning person, but Ogawa always seemed to want to sleep in and he knew that it was her summer break too but he couldn’t help the feeling coiling in his gut and why was he disturbing the girls neither would probably want to see him and– 

The door opened a crack before swinging fully open to reveal the slouched form of Ogawa, her hair standing up not unlike Hitoshi’s own. Heat rose to his cheeks as Hitoshi realized that yup, he had indeed woken up the girl. This was a terrible idea. He was never going to listen to his stupid head ever again.

As he was about to turn tail and run back down the hall to his room to die of embarrassment, another face popped up behind Ogawa, this one much brighter than the half-asleep teenager.

“Morning Shinsou!” Akari said in a voice far too bright, not only for the time of morning, but the tone didn’t match the expression lining her face. The smile the girl had plastered on was stretched a bit too wide, thinning at the edges and not reaching her eyes. She was wearing a shirt that was probably Ogawa’s, given how it swamped her smaller frame like a dress, and all of her wait was on her right leg as she leaned on the door frame. 

Even so, for kids like them, what had happened last night was… tame, to say the least. Akari hadn’t been thrown down a flight of stairs, or had a knife thrown at her, or even been kicked out of the house. Hitoshi had seen, if not experienced, all of these.

He was so, so happy he didn’t have to see Akari go through that. He’d hated watching as she got whipped for his mistakes, and it had hurt so much worse then if he’d been whipped himself. He honestly didn’t know what he would have done if it had gotten worse. 

‘You wouldn’t have done anything’ sneered the voice in his head. ‘A pathetic villain like you could only make it worse. You already have.’ Hitoshi swallowed past the lump in his throat as he met Akari’s gray-blue eyes. The bags underneath her eyes rivaled Hitoshi’s own, and he wasn’t surprised. Raising his hands, he carefully signed.

‘I’m really sorry, Akari,’ he started ‘I’m sorry you had to–’

“I didn’t have to do anything.”

Hitoshi pulled up short, blinking owlishly at the girl. Ogawa looked slightly more awake, glancing down at the shorter girl next to her with a curious expression.

“I thought I told you last night, I was never passing that test.” Akari took a deep breath before glancing off to the side, running her fingers through her hair. “Why should both of us have to suffer, when only one of us was going to fail. Plus, it was my fault you failed anyway… So it’s whatever!”

The girl switched from running her fingers through her hair to fiddling with the hem of her shirt. She looked almost embarrassed as she quietly mumbled “A… acquaintance of mine would say it’s ‘only logical’, I think.”

To say Hitoshi was left speechless was a bit of an understatement. He had no idea how to respond to that. It… maybe it was logical if she was talking about a normal kid, but he was a villain kid, and that was a clear difference.

Then again, wasn’t Akari like him in some ways? Outcast due to her lack of a quirk, Hitoshi for his being a villainous one? Maybe her logic had more sense to it then he’d thought.

In the end, Hitoshi could only nod, even though he wasn’t fully on board with her reasoning. He’d done what he was supposed to do, right? Apologize for his mistakes?

“Good, glad you two had a heart to heart.” Ogawa muttered sleepily, cracking a yawn and stretching her arms over her head. “Im going to go get breakfast.”

Akari laughed, and Hitoshi couldn’t tell if it was a real one or not. “I’ll come! Better get food before the others get up.”

‘The Akiko’s are up, aren’t they?’ Hitoshi questioned. 

“They should be at work now. I meant Yamazaki and his sidekick.” Akari rolled her eyes. 

“Akari!” Ogawa cried.

“What? You know Makoto just follows Yamazaki around like a lost puppy whenever he can get away with it!” The younger girl pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I was genuinely shocked when Makoto was the one to ambush me.” 

Hitoshi just looked away. It didn’t matter to him who was the aggressor, the target should have been Hitoshi anyway.

He followed the girls down to the kitchen, grabbing an apple for himself. Not much of a breakfast, but he really wanted to get his chores over with so he could leave. He wanted to hang out with Pebbles and forget the previous day.

The three of them ate in silence, each mulling over the most efficient ways to accomplish their individual tasks. It wouldn’t take too long for Hitoshi to complete his, and as soon as he was done he was running out the front door.

Four hours later, Hitoshi found himself walking down the back alleys he’d found himself in more and more as of late, making his way towards Pebbles’ shelter. Despite the, admittedly, creepy atmosphere that the alleys seemed to ooze, Hitoshi found himself able to relax just slightly as he walked their shadows. No normal person came this far back into the dirty, decrepit alleyways, and anyone who was back here didn’t make much of an effort to hide themselves like Hitoshi did, making them easy to avoid.

Unsurprisingly, the most common type of people who frequented the back streets were teens looking to break every possible rule, or straight up villains. Villains, like the women known as Firecracker, who almost burned down half of Hosu city 6 years ago. Like the ones from last week that Hitoshi had called in.

‘Like what you’re destined to be!’

He shook his head, scuffing the bottom of his boot against the hard concrete as he walked. He had started to hate that voice in his mind, no matter how right it was. He was hating things a lot more recently, if he was being honest. Hitoshi couldn’t pinpoint exactly when he’d started feeling this hot ball in his chest whenever he thought about certain things. Suzuki was a prime example, Makoto and Yamazaki weren’t too far behind either. And, after last night, Hitoshi thought he’d started hating his foster father too.

Honestly, it didn’t make sense for Hitoshi to hate them. He shouldn’t feel this way, mostly because they were right. Punishing him, keeping him in his place, those were the best ways to stop him from becoming a villain, weren’t they? Was feeling this hot, burning sensation that spread through his chest, coiling around his heart and squeezing for all it was worth, the first sign that Hitoshi was reaching his destiny? He didn’t even know why he’d suddenly started feeling like this. This was how everyone around him had acted for years! Why did it matter now?

Hitoshi was snapped out of his thoughts by a soft meow echoing through the narrow walls of the alley. He felt a small smile play across his lips as he bent down, pulling Pebbles up into his arms. Ginger-and-white fur immediately assaulted his face as the kitten threw her head under Hitoshi’s chin, purrs echoing through the tiny throat on the thing. Even as he stood there, leaning against the cold, concrete wall of the alley, he felt the knot that had formed in his chest loosen just slightly. Hitoshi chose, then and there, to push that feeling and all of his thoughts away, just for today. Just for now. Just for a little while. 

Gently, Hitoshi placed the kitten on his shoulder, feeling her claws sink into his hoodie and prick at his skin just slightly. Reaching up, he scratched at her chin as he made his way out of the alley and onto the slightly crowded street.

Here is a question for you: What do you do on your birthday with no money, no friends save for a stray cat, and the kind of quirk that causes people to give you a wide berth and an employee shadow in every store? 

Answer: Window shopping and Hiking.

Hitoshi walked through the crowded streets with Pebbles hanging lazily off his shoulder like a lopsided scarf. The lilac haired boy had to keep shifting the kitten from one shoulder to the other, but he didn’t mind as he took in the street vendors selling food and clothes as they walked past. 

Summer, despite being the season that hosted Hitoshi’s special day, was his least favorite season. It was too hot, leading to headaches from the sun and sunburnt head and neck because of his gravity-defying hair. But that just meant he and Pebbles had some creative problem solving to do. 

He started off his explorative birthday trip by padding up and down the shopping districts of Mutsutafu. The city itself was huge – due partly to the presence of the country's biggest and best high school – so there were many different shopping centers, divided up between residential neighborhoods, train stations, and Hero Agencies. The local shopping district was as average as they go, with half a dozen blocks of restaurants and convenience stores. Not exactly the most scenic place to spend his birthday.

Instead, Hitoshi walked for an hour to one of the largest shopping malls in this part of the city. It was loud and overcrowded, and on a normal day Hitoshi would have hated every second of it. He would have turned around before he walked through the turn-style glass doors at the entrance and bolted back to the quiet peace of his room, where the loudest thing was his own thoughts. 

But today was different. The fluffy weight on his shoulder, rubbing its head along the side of his neck and jaw, kept him grounded. The weight that always sat on his chest eased and the bile that always rested in his throat receded just a smidge. It was enough to keep him grounded, at least for the moment.

Hitoshi’s first destination in the mall was the Hero store. Every kid his age loved going to the Hero stores, browsing the latest merch and fawning over the newest All-Might figurines, and Hitoshi was no exception. While he knew Heroes would never look twice at a kid like him unless it was to throw him in jail, he still loved to watch them take down villains and save people from buildings.

Pushing open the door to the store, Hitoshi was greeted by a wall of posters featuring everyone from All-Might and Endeavor, to the Wild Wild Pussycats and Snipe, to Present Mic and Wash. Hoodies lined racks throughout the stores and shelves of Hero themed games spaced around where little kids could fawn over them. 

The cashier, a bored looking woman, looked up at him as he entered. He could tell that she wanted to say something about Pebbles, but eventually she closed her mouth and just went back to scrolling her phone behind the counter.

‘Huh.’ Maybe walking around with a cat on your shoulder had its perks, besides being a rather comfortable companion. With the wide variety of quirks in the world, whose to say the white and ginger cat lounging on a child's shoulder wasn’t part of his quirk. Most people would probably assume that Pebbles was part of his power and not think twice.

Was it unethical to deceive people like that? To let them believe that he wasn’t a threat and was just like every other kid? He didn’t know. 

Hitoshi moved farther into the store, doing his best to avoid the families already browsing the shelves. Reaching up with his left hand to scratch at Pebbles’ head, Hitoshi moved to sift through the hoodies and shirts. Of course, he didn’t have money to actually buy anything, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t look.

After a while of browsing – and damn did the newest Gang Orca hoodie not look epic – Hitoshi left the store and stepped back out into the mall proper. His senses were immediately assaulted by screaming children and the sound of a hundred footsteps. He felt his breathing pick up in pace and the bile rise in his throat once again. There were so many people walking around now, it seemed like it had tripled since he’d gone into the store. It was so loud and there were so many colours and smells and everything was just too much–

There was a mrrow from his right and he felt fur brush against his cheek. Hitoshi let out a quiet gasp, reaching up and pulling Pebbles off of his shoulder and bringing her close to his chest. The cat didn’t fight him on it, and Hitoshi moved them to a relatively sheltered part of the walkway, pressing himself into the wall by a pair of benches. 

He spent the next couple minutes just breathing, sinking his fingers into the pelt of his the cat as people walked by. By the time he felt like he could breathe normally again, Hitoshi had managed to pin-point the crowd where all the noise was coming from. 

On the first floor of the mall, a thick crowd had formed around three people in costumes. Hitoshi ran towards the railing to get a better look, Pebbles climbing back onto his shoulder as he did so. ‘Heroes!’

The trio being ambushed by the crowd were some lesser known heroes – sidekicks with the local agency if Hitoshi remembered right – seemed positively thrilled with the fans. One of them, a man in a red cloak with a purple hat, lifted both hands into the air. A couple of seconds later, three balls of fire were circling above the man's open palms. The kids at the front of the crowd gasped and screamed in delight as the hero started to juggle the little fireballs.

Hitoshi found himself transfixed on the flames too. The fire was a beautiful orange that slowly faded to purple at the top. The hero's control over the flame was expert, at one point he tossed all three orbs up into the air only for them to spin in lazy circles back down to his hands. It was, to put it simply, beautiful. 

The light shining from the fires reflected off of Pebble’s eyes as she watched from his shoulder, her head following the balls lazily as her whiskers twitched. It was quite possibly the most adorable thing Hitoshi had ever seen.

Hitoshi itched to get closer, to stand with the other kids at the front of the crowd and stare with the same wide eyed amazement at the heroes. But that wasn’t possible for him. Instead, he just stood at the railing, watching the hero perform increasingly complex and beautiful tricks with the fireballs until, eventually, they merged into one above the man's head and exploded into a tiny firework display, fizzling out before they reached the top of the hero's hat.

A round of applause quickly swept through the crowd, and Hitoshi followed suit. The hero removed his purple hat and gave the crowd a bow, a bright smile splitting the man's face.

As the crowd surrounding the hero began to disperse, Hitoshi pulled out his phone to glance at the time. ‘3:26. This place is going to get packed soon.’ Hitoshi grimaced at the thought. The sight and sound of so many people closing in around him was… too much. He had maybe half an hour before the mall became unbearable, which was enough time to visit one more store.

Turning away from the banister, Hitoshi made his way down the nearest flight of stairs and towards the hardware store. Pushing open the doors, he stepped inside and took a deep breath. The musty smell of wood and tools was one of his favorite scents in the world. 

He spent a little while just walking between the shelves, glancing up at the towering racks of nails and clusters of PVC pipes. Pebbles meowed and leapt off his shoulder, deciding to walk alongside him as she stretched her legs. Hitoshi just smiled down at the kitten, turning down the next aisle, this one filled with different cuts of wood. It was nice, calm, quiet and relaxing in a way most things weren't anymore. 

At some point, Pebbles had jumped onto one of the carts and stared up expectantly at Hitoshi. He chuckled as that kitten blinked slowly. ‘Alright fine.’ Grabbing the cart, Hitoshi began to push it slowly while the cat stared up at the store around them.

All too soon, the sounds of people increased to a volume that was almost too loud, even inside the store and away from the riffraff. Repressing a sigh, Hitoshi returned his cart and scooped Pebbles up into his arms again. So much for his window shopping excursion, but he had to admit that the fire display was worth the trip itself, even if it wasn’t planned.

Exiting the store led to Hitoshi smacking face first into a veritable wall of noise. He winced and covered his ears with both hands as Pebbles latched onto his shoulder again. It took Hitoshi a couple of minutes to locate the nearest exit, but when he did he beelined for it as fast as he could. ‘Crowds are the WORST!’

Escaping the mall, Hitoshi found himself back on the main road, sunlight filtering down from where the sun was slowly starting to inch its way towards the horizon. It would be hours until it finally set, but the day had long since passed its peak. Sticking to the shadows, the human and cat duo made their way back towards his neighbourhood. The summer heat was stifling, even with the cool breeze that blew through the streets every so often. Hitoshi would have to take a stop back at the house for water before heading out to the woods. 

As he approached the Akiko’s house, he realized he’d forgotten to hide his precious, stray kitten. Glancing down at the cat hanging off his shoulder, he did a one-eighty and backtracked down the road towards the train station they’d passed. Taking Pebbles off his shoulder proved a challenge as she kept hooking her claws into the fabric of his hoodie. ‘Come on girl! It’s only for a few… minutes!’ 

When he finally got the cat’s claws off of his hoodie, she practically leaped from his arms and onto the bench they’d stopped beside. Curling up, It blinked slowly at Hitoshi before shifting to look past the boy. Sighing in relief, Hitoshi turned around once again and headed up the road.

As the house came into view, Hitoshi almost felt sick. While he’d been out, he’d almost forgotten the events of the previous day. The bile creeped up his throat as he turned the doorknob as softly as he could. The adults wouldn’t be home, and Ogawa was at her part time job, but that didn’t mean the other three weren’t around. Slipping inside, he toed off his shoes in the genken and padded down the hallway towards the kitchen.

Peaking his head inside revealed that the kitchen was empty, so he bolted for the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, shoving it into the pocket of his hoodie. As he was about to bolt back down the hallway and out the front door, he paused. It had been almost 8 hours since he’d had a measly breakfast, and he was hungry. Padding over to the pantry, he eased the door open, eying the shelves carefully. There wasn’t much in the way of snacks, and Hitoshi didn’t feel like having a real lunch. Rolling his eyes, he got up on his tippy toes and grabbed two protein bars. Closing the door to the pantry, he ran down the hallway, stopping only long enough to grab his shoes before bolting outside and onto the front patio. He hopped awkwardly down the front driveway, pulling his shoes as he fled the property and raced back up the road to where he’d left the kitten.

He was unaware of the cat like amber eyes watching him flee from the branches of a tree.

The creek in the woods was running low due to the oppressive heat, but it was still deep enough for him to take his socks and shoes off and dip his feet into. Pebbles was sprawled out next to him, her paws trailing in the small current as her tail flicked back and forth. The trees surrounding them provided more than enough shade for them to relax comfortably as Hitoshi lay on his back. 

The sounds of the breeze whistling through the leaves overhead made Hitoshi’s lips twitch up slightly. This far into the woods, the sounds of the city were distantly muted, barely noticeable over the chirping of birds and the clattering of branches. It was so quiet and peaceful, and maybe it was just that that filled Hitoshi’s chest with warmth, not the heat of the summer around him. He never knew how much he longed for this kind of quiet.

Quiet wasn’t a new thing for him. He remembered many nights, so many nights, where the only sound he could hear was his own breathing as everything else lay still. But that kind of quiet always felt like a trap, as if there were live wires all around him, lying in wait to snap at his feet the second he moved.

But out here, it was almost as if the entire world was calm. There was nothing around, no expectations, no one looking at him with fear or disgust. Just him, the breathing of the wind, and the soft rise and fall of the kitten sleeping beside him. It was all of these things that made Hitoshi’s mind finally start to slow down, for what had to be the first time in years. Distantly, he felt his chest start to even out in a way he didn’t know it could, slow and deep, just like the peaceful lump of fur next to him.

Chapter Text

It took Hitoshi a long time to open his eyes. He was comfortable, if a little cold. It smelled nice out here, not at all like the scents of alcohol and cigarettes that had been a staple of his childhood homes. The air tasted… clean. Refreshing and easy to breathe. 

It wasn’t the sound of shouting, or the vibrations of footsteps echoing through the floor that woke him. It wasn’t even his phone buzzing next to him. No, what brought Hitoshi back to wakefulness was the soft light that shone through the trees and onto his face. 

Wait… Trees?

Hitoshi’s eyes snapped fully open, and he sat up with a sharp intake of breath. ‘When did I fall asleep?!’ 

A rumpled mrrow from his side drew his attention to the soft lump of fur nestled against his leg. Pebbles lay on her back, paws in the air and nose buried into Hitoshi’s shorts as she slept peacefully at his side. Smirking softly, Hitoshi reached down and scratched the area between her front paws, much to the delight of the kitten. 

Rustling through the pockets of his hoodie, Hitoshi pulled out his phone and tapped the screen to life. The time read 02:07, and Hitoshi honestly wasn’t all that surprised he’d passed out for so long. It had been… an exhausting couple of days. An exhausting summer. Hell, it’d been an exhausting life.

He shifted, switching from scratching the kitten at his side to grooming his fingers through her pelt, picking off the leaves and twigs that had gotten caught in the fur. Even her summer coat was exceptionally long, almost burying Hitoshi’s hand in its folds. Not that he was complaining, he quite liked the feeling of fur brushing the sensitive skin of his palm.

Pebbles may have been the best thing to happen to him in years. His chest twinged with sudden grief at the realization that, one day, he’d be moved far, far away and never see the kitten again. He shook his head, pushing that thought deep, deep down, instead focusing on the cat that had chosen him here and now. The rumbling purrs erupting from the cat’s chest soothed Hitoshi in some ancient way, and the lilac haired boy found himself allowing it.

Even though Hitoshi would have given an arm and a leg to stay here, in this moment of quiet bliss, he knew he should head back to the house. He had work to do tomorrow and he didn’t want to anger the Akiko’s anymore than he normally did. Hitoshi looked around the glade for a moment longer, drinking in the sites of the sleeping forest. The moonlight cascading through the canopy reflected off the glistening water of the creek was truly a sight to behold, a small form of beauty that even Hitoshi could appreciate.

With a long, world weary sigh, Hitoshi pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his legs and ignoring the disappointed cries echoing from the kitten on the forest floor. He dipped his feet, one at a time, into the creek, washing the dirt off them before slipping his socks back over the wet skin and shoving them into his trainers, lacing them up as he went. When that was finished, Hitoshi double checked the ground around him for any wrappers or plastic bottles that may have fallen out of his pockets as he slept before scooping up the still whining cat and setting off back towards civilization. 

It took longer to get back to the park than it normally would, all things considered. Hitoshi had to stop several times along the way to make sure he was actually heading in the right direction, and his process was slowed by the darkness hiding tree roots and rocks, but Hitoshi honestly didn’t mind. The calm of the forest was just what the doctor called for, it seemed. 

After a while of walking, Pebbles leapt from his arms. Shaking out her fur, the cat looked back up at Hitoshi, meowed once, then turned and kept walking. Hitoshi blinked in shock as the cat moved fluidly around the obstacles that lined the forest floor, her white coat shining in the otherwise dark patches of the forest. Smiling, Hitoshi hurried to catch up with the kitten, keeping her in his line of sight as she led him back out of the woods. ‘Definitely a quirked cat. Are they really so common that a random cat in an alleyway has one?’

It wasn’t too long after that that the lights of the park came into view through the branches. Pebbles stalks up to the fence, slipping easily through the bars as Hitoshi hauls himself up and over them in a way that seemed horribly undignified compared to the creature beside him. As soon as his feet hit the ground on the other side of the fence, Pebbles leaps up onto Hitoshi’s back, clawing her way up to her perch on Hitoshi’s shoulder and wrapping her tail around his neck. 

The smile never left Hitoshi’s face as he walked down the streets towards Pebbles’ alleyway home. He could get used to this.

He hoped he’d have the chance to.

After another two weeks, which was mostly spent avoiding everyone in the house and escaping to explore parts of the city or woods with Pebbles, school kicked back into gear. Hitoshi and Akari fell back into their routine of arriving at school early and camping out in the large tree until they absolutely had to go inside. It was good to fall back into the rhythm of comfortable silence as they watched the schoolyard fill up with kids.

The school days passed by mostly the same. Suzuki and his motley crew continued to harass the foster duo, but aside from the occasional slamming into lockers or kicks to the knees as he walked down an aisle, Hitoshi was mostly left alone. The same, however, couldn’t be said for Akari.

Their English teacher decided to loudly announce at the beginning of class their first day back that Akari had been the only student to fail the final – a fact that still made Hitoshi’s gut twist – and that if she hoped to not fail the rest of the year, she would be attending after school tutoring with him for the unforeseeable future. This was, predictably, met with a round of laughs and jeers from the class as a whole.

“I’m not surprised,” Suzuki had been the loudest voice, rising above the rest as he turned to face the girl, who was resolutely staring at her desk. “A quirkless, under-evolved freak like you couldn’t possibly understand another language. You barely understand Japanese!”

You had to be blind to miss how Akari’s shoulders had tensed at that. Hitoshi had felt a small bud of anger bloom in his own chest at those words. Akari was technically fluent in two languages, counting JSL as its own separate thing. Hitoshi seriously doubted that Suzuki could claim the same. But instead of saying this, Hitoshi just ducked his head, doing his best to blend into the background. He was a coward, after all.

Another thing that had changed with the start of the new semester was that Hitoshi started to see Akari’s friend around more and more. He’d spotted the cat-eyed girl around the school a handful of times, mostly through the windows before or after lunch. The stranger moved like fluid through the gnarled branches of the tree, weaving up to the highest branches before settling down to wait. Hitoshi would watch as Akari climbed her way up to meet the girl, her backpack abandoned on the lower branches and her lunch bag clenched in her teeth.

With the addition of Pebbles to his life, Hitoshi had taken to heading straight to the alleyway after school each day, picking up his friend and going wherever his feet decided to take him. He’d spend an hour or two just wandering aimlessly with his furry friend before heading back towards the Akiko’s house. 

Yamazaki had been almost unbearable recently, bragging about how he was going to get into UA and become a hero, ranting about how he’d be the next All Might or Endeavor. Hitoshi did his best to escape while the older boy was distracted preening, though he was rarely successful on that front. A good portion of his days ended with either a collection of cuts spanning the palms of his hands or a chunk of muscle locked up so tight he felt like crying. Sometimes, it was both.

And that didn’t even touch on the Akiko's themselves. More often than not Hitoshi would find himself curled up on his bed with fresh bruises marring his skin. If he was lucky, The Akiko’s would use their hands or even a spatula when beating him. If he was unlucky, well…

Hitoshi was extremely grateful that Ogawa was willing to share her first aid kit. It was better stocked than Hitoshi’s own.

All in all, going back to school was both a blessing and a curse for Hitoshi. But it could have been so, so much worse than it ended up being. That was, until Suzuki decided he’d had enough of beating up Akari and switched back to Hitoshi.

Go figure.

The first sign that today would be bad was when he woke up that morning. His limbs felt heavier than normal, and he was filled with a sense of foreboding, of existential dread that seemed to fog up his limbs. Almost as though his body knew what was going to happen before his mind did. Deja Vu, and all that.

The second sign came as he was following Akari through the crowded courtyard on their way into school. Hitoshi couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched as the pair made their way towards class. Looking over his shoulder found no one looking their way, so he just faced forward and sped up his pace, hunching his shoulders.

The thing that should have clued him into what was to come happened during first period. Normally, as Hitoshi entered the class, he would head to his seat at the back of the classroom – wiping off any marks left there the day before – and put his head down until the rest of the seats filled in and the final bell rang. Akari would do the same, and the two of them would be the only two in the classroom until at least the warning bell 15 minutes late.

Today, however, when the duo waltzed into class, they both noticed two things. The first was that Akari’s desk had a single, red flower atop its surface. The second was that Suzuki and his two primary lackeys that Hitoshi still didn’t know the names of. Lackey #1 was staring at Hitoshi and Akari with the same sneer that was plastered across Suzuki’s face. The second lackey was snickering as he looked between Akari and the flower on her desk.

Hitoshi glanced over his shoulder at the brunette at her steely expression. It wasn’t an expression he’d seen her wear before, even around Makoto and Yamazaki. Then again, what did he know? 

After a few heartbeats, Akari moved forward, her steps slow and controlled as she marched toward her seat and reached for the flower.

“Thank’s for the flowers guys,” Akari voice held a slight tremble as she pinched the flower between thumb and index finger, “but you boys really aren’t my type.”

The look on lackey #2’s face was priceless as Akari strode towards the trashcan and gently deposited the flower inside. Upon closer inspection, the red blossom looked to be a spider lily. Hitoshi shivered. 

There was a scraping sound, and Hitoshi turned back to see the bully leaping to his feet, his face akin to a volcano.

“What makes you think I’d ever be into a useless freak like you, you quirkless runt?!” The boy seethed as he stormed up the aisle towards the pair. Lackey #2 shoved Hitoshi roughly before grabbing akari by the front of her uniform and slamming her into the doorframe with a thump.

“I’ll make you pay for that, you waste of sp–”

By some stroke of amazing luck, Ito-Sensei appeared in the doorway, looking mildly annoyed at the commotion. He expertly ignored Hitoshi’s presence as he glanced between Akari and the bully, before rolling his eyes and stepping past the two, now silent, students.

“Get to your seats.” was all the man said. Hitoshi was mildly surprised when Suzuki’s lackey backed off immediately and headed for his seat, glowering something strong at Akari as the girl brushed off her blazer and marched to her own desk without looking at anyone in the room.

Hitoshi followed suit a moment later, skirting the edge of the classroom to stay as far from the other students as possible. His desk was devoid of any marks today, though after what he’d just witnessed, he wasn’t so sure that was a good thing.

All this to say, he shouldn’t have been surprised when, halfway through lunch, Hitoshi found himself pinned to a wall. What was a surprise, however, was that it was a group of older boys who had come in to harass Hitoshi.

Okay, it was a bit more than harassment when half of Hitoshi’s lunch was sitting at the bottom of the stairwell, and Hitoshi’s back was getting well acquainted with the wall behind him.

Either way, Hitoshi wasn’t paying much attention to whatever the bully was saying as he fought to breathe through the bile rising in his throat. His abdomen ached from where he’d taken a kick a few moments ago, and his shoulders were starting to hurt from where he’d been slammed into the wall.

So, if he didn’t immediately notice the new arrival in the stairwell, who would blame him.

“Hey! Put him down!” An all too familiar voice piped up from behind the group. 

Hitoshi startled just as much as the kids in front of him did at the sudden interruption. All four of the kids who’d cornered him turned to face the new arrival, and Hitoshi choked on his next inhale when he saw Akari standing behind the small crowd. 

What are you doing? Hitoshi wanted to scream at the girl. Hadn’t he already gotten her in enough trouble? 

The older girl who’d been holding him – some kind of strength enhancing quirk, if he had to guess – let go of his blazer and let Hitoshi slide to the ground. He coughed a couple of times as the group advanced on Akari.

“Aww! Aren’t you just adorable!” The ringleader cooed in a sickly sweet voice. “Standing up for the villain is right up your alley, you worthless runt. I shoul–”

Akari rolled her eyes and scoffed at the older girl. “Shove your opinion down your frilly white socks. You aren’t cute enough to waste my time on.”

There was a beat of silence, then a shriek of fury tore from the ringleader’s throat. “You’re gonna pay for that!” The girl screamed. 

To Hitoshi’s utter shock, Akari giggled and took off up the next flight of stairs, giving a call of “Catch me if you can~” as she fled. The pack of bullies all took off after the girl, the villainous kid slumped on the wall behind them long forgotten. 

Hitoshi just sat there, staring after the fading sounds of the bullies. It had all happened so fast, he didn’t even get the chance to process it. 

What. The. Fuck?

Suddenly, the landing door opened, and Hitoshi tensed, headwhipping towards the metal frames. Great, what now?

The lilac haired boy almost had a heart-attack for the nth-time that day when god-damn Akari strode into the stairwell again! How the hell did she even do that?

After a few moments, Akari raised an eyebrow. “Are you just gonna sit there?”

Hitoshi blinked, stunned, as the girl padded forward, hoisting his bag up and onto her shoulder in a single, fluid motion. Glancing down at the boy, Akari gave a toothy smile and beckoned him to follow before skipping out of the stairwell, back the way she came.

Scrambling to his feet, Hitoshi darted after the girl as she made her way through mostly empty halls. He had so many questions, starting with; How the hell did you get away from those fifth-years?! But the girl didn’t look back at him once as they made their way down the hall. Through the echoing corridors, Hitoshi could faintly hear the sounds of the cafeteria’s lunch rush on the floor below, but those were the only sounds to be heard. He couldn’t stop himself from glancing over his shoulder every couple of meters, but not once did he see anyone following the duo.

Akari had started humming a soft melody by the time the two reached what appeared to be a maintenance room door. The girl pulled out what appeared to her student ID, sliding it between the door and its frame and shimming it downwards. There was a quiet click, before the door popped open. Akari pulled it fully open and motioned Hitoshi inside.

With no small amount of trepidation, Hitoshi entered the maintenance room. The brunette followed quickly, sliding the door closed behind her before heading deeper into the room, Hitoshi following close behind. 

The room itself was lined with shelves, interspersed with large gray boxes and panels full of buttons and switches. The lights were low, nothing more than a soft orange glow compared to the almost blinding light of the hallway. Hitoshi definitely didn’t mind the lower level of light, feeling it soothe his ever present headache.

Towards the back of the room were a group of desks adorned with several packets of printer paper and some random office supplies. A whiteboard hung above the desks, while two backpacks sat on the chairs scattered around.

Wait, two?

Hitoshi only had a moment to ponder the odd amount of bags before Akari strode forward, dropping Hitoshi’s bag beside one of the desks and crouching to look under the wooden surface.

“Hey sweetie, you feeling better?” Akari giggled as she poked whatever – whoever – was under the desk.

Someone groaned, and Hittoshi watched as a hand reached out from the alcove to swat at the pre-teen. Akari snickered softly before poking at the person again.

“C’mon, get up! I brought you a friend!” The singsong tone of voice struck Hitoshi as odd. He’d never heard Akari speak like that before.

Now that he thought about it, he’d never heard Akari call anyone ‘sweetie’ either. Hell, he’d never heard the girl so much as laugh, let alone giggle like a little girl. Hitoshi wanted to hit himself for being so stupid.

This was obviously a set-up.

Just as Hitoshi was backing up, back towards the door and away from whatever trap this was, the person under the desk shot out like they’d been lit on fire. It was a rather familiar – impossibly familiar – face.

Yup. Sometime in the last 12 hours, Hitoshi had gone completely insane. Because, and he meant this in the nicest way possible, there was no fucking way that he was seeing two Akari’s sitting on the floor in front of him!

Hitoshi seriously hoped that insanity was a good look on him.

The second Akari was staring at him with a mix of shock and horror on her face. Belatedly, Hitoshi realized that the right side of her face was marred with an ugly purple bruise, spreading from jaw to cheek bone. Hitoshi wanted to wince at the sight, but his body was so tense that he wasn’t sure if he could move if he wanted to.

“This… umm…” The second Akari winced as she spoke, reaching up to press what looked to be an icepack to her jaw. “This looks really bad.”

The first Akari glanced down at her injured counterpart. “What does?”

Oh, I dunno, maybe the fact that Akari has an identical twin that she never once mentioned! Hitoshi couldn’t help the stab of hurt. If Akari had a stunt double this entire time, then which one had he been interacting with every day? Did one of them stay at the house and the other at school? If one of them was always in class, was the other running around the city? And why had this never once been brought up?!

It isn’t like Akari owed him anything, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

His spiraling thoughts were interrupted by an “Ohhhhh” coming from the first Akari. The girl glanced down at herself before letting out a nervous chuckle. “Oops!”

And suddenly, Akari’s face began to melt off! Hitoshi flinched so violently he almost fell over as the girls entire form started to slide off her frame in the form of gray, motionless goop, pooling on the floor at her feet. Hitoshi almost screamed until he got a good look at the face replacing his foster sibling’s.

Standing in front of him was Akari’s strange friend he’d seen skulking around their school several times before. She was missing her blazer, the only part of her clothing that had melted right off of her. The cat-eyed girl was staring at him with a cheeky expression on her sharp features, before she outright started laughing.

“Your face is the cutest right now!” she wheezed, doubling over. “I can– I totally get why Rei-chan likes you so much!”

The real Akari groaned, flopping down on her back and swinging an arm over her eyes. “Himiko… please don’t…”

But the blonde had no intention of listening to her younger companion. “It’s so awesome to finally meet you for real! My name’s Toga Himiko, and you’re Shinsou Hitoshi.” The girl danced toward Hitoshi as she rambled, and Hitoshi got his first good look at her.

The secondary-school’s uniform was very similar to the primary school, with only their blazers being any different. As such, the girl was wearing the same slacks and button up shirt that Hitoshi was. Her hair was blonde shorter than Akari’s, reaching only just past her shoulders and making her amber eyes pop out even more. The girl's wide smile revealed a pair of pointed canines poking out a bit farther than normal.

She was clearly athletic, moving as gracefully as a fish in water as she padded around him. Hitoshi felt like he was being inspected, appraised before entering a safe haven. What it didn’t feel like was being sized up for a fight. It felt… friendlier than that. Nicer.

“Well, it’s great to finally meet you, but I gotta help Rei out real fast.” Toga said, turning on her heel and bouncing back towards where Akari was still sulking on the floor. “Make yourself at home!”

Hitoshi stayed where he was for a moment more, before moving towards where Toga had dropped his bag earlier. He quickly checked the contents, making sure everything was still where he’d left it, before sitting down with his back to a shelf and pulling his bag into his lap.

Quietly, he watched as Toga pulled out an uncapped a small tube from her pocket. Squeezing some of the cream onto her fingers, the cat-eyed girl leaned forward and gently started rubbing the medicine onto Akari’s bruise. The girl recoiled at the first touch, but seemed to relax after a few moments, closing her eyes as the older girl tended to her wounds.

It was the most at ease Hitoshi could ever remember seeing the girl. It was sweet, in a way. He observed as Toga put the bruise cream away, handing Akari back her ice pack as she did. The brunette pressed the offered pack back to her face with a sigh, before glancing over at Hitoshi with tired eyes.

“You probably have some questions…” The girl murmured quietly. 

It took Hitoshi a heartbeat to recognize that she was probably inviting him to ask whatever he wanted. Hesitantly, he raised his hands and signed out a shaky ‘What happened to you?’

Akari let out a weary sigh. “Probably the same thing that happened to you. Suzuki jumped me in the hallway.” She motioned to her face with the hand that wasn’t holding the ice pack. “This is what happens when you get punched in the face by a block of wood.”

Beside her, Toga crossed her arms and stamped her foot on the floor. “I can’t believe you won't let me do anything about that bully.” 

Akari swatted her friend's knee. “You can’t just go and beat people up because they beat me up. You can’t afford any black marks on your record Himi-chan.” The brunette turned back to Hitoshi, motioning with her hands for him to continue.

The next question he asked was what this room was, to which she answered that it was a maintenance room that no one ever used. There were monthly visits by the staff to make sure nothing had broken, but those dates were always posted on the whiteboard so they knew when to avoid the room.

His third question had taken longer to get an answer for. When Hitoshi asked what Toga’s quirk was, Akari had tilted her head to look up at the older girl. 

“Himi-chan, he asked what your quirk was.”

Well, that answered one of his other questions. Toga didn’t know JSL, meaning he’d essentially been having a conversation in front of her that the blonde hadn’t been privy to. Guilt bloomed in his stomach and he looked away from the pair in front of him.

Before he spiraled any farther into that particular rabbit hole, Toga sat up straighter, grinning like a wolf.

“That's an easy one!” The older girl turned to Hitosbi and leaned forward on the palms of her hands. “My quirk is called ‘Transform’. I can take on the physical form of anyone whose blood I drink, including their clothes!” 

Balancing her weight on her knees, the blonde lifted both hands, smiling wide and pointing to her extra long canines protruding from her upper jaw. Hitoshi wondered if they were as sharp as they looked. 

Settling back on her legs, Toga crossed her arms and pouted. “It has its limits though.” She sighed. “I can't use someone's quirk, unless it's a mutant type! If a person's quirk is just an extra body part, like a tail or wings, I can totally use that! I also have a time limit proportional to the amount of blood I drink.”

With a start, Hitoshi suddenly remembered what Yamazaki had said to Akari on his first day at the Akiko's home. It's always had a thing for villains. If Yamazaki was referring to Toga, which seemed likely, then Hitoshi could see why people would be afraid of Toga's quirk. 

He could understand why she'd be called a villain. 

Toga sighed at that, rolling her eyes. “Wish I could be as cute as Rei for longer…”

Wait… if Toga's quirk works of blood, then that means…

Hitoshi jerks, looking sharply at Akari, who was rummaging through her backpack while Toga explained her power. He hesitantly stretched his leg forward, jostling her bag with his foot to get her attention. When the younger girl looked at him questioningly, Hitoshi lifted his hands to sign.

‘Her quirk requires blood. And Toga transformed into you.’

Akari blinked a couple of times, her head tilting in a manner so similar to Pebbles that it made Hitoshi pause. It took a few heartbeats for him to realize his mistake. I never asked her the damn question…

Just as he was raising his hands to actually ask where the blood came from, Akari’s eyes widened in understanding. 

“Oh… umm…” Akari pulled her arm out of her backpack, rolling the sleeve of her blazer up just past her elbow to reveal a swath of gauze winding around her forearm. “Suzuki and Yoshida caught me by some lockers.” She looked up, staring over Hitoshi’s shoulder for a moment, before returning her gaze to the lilac-headed teen. 

Pulling down the blazer, Akari sighed. “I got caught on the side of one of the lockers. Himiko patched me up because the nurse doesn't treat my kind.” Akari’s face turned sour for a moment, and Toga reached over to put an arm over the younger girl's shoulder. “Unfortunatly, the sleeve of my blazer got shredded on the locker. So Himiko took some of my blood to go get my spare.”

Turning back to her bag, Akari pulled out a second blazer, rotating it enough so that Hitoshi could see the jagged tears and slashes marring the surface, before stuffing the jacket back into her bag.

Hitoshi didn’t get an opportunity to ask anything else – not that he knew what to ask in the first place – because the sound of the lunch bell rang from the hallway. Akari’s eyes widened at the sound, and she instantly scrambled to her feet.

“Crap! Shinsou, grab your bag!” The girl zipped up her own backpack, throwing it over her uninjured arm and bolting for the door, Toga following not far behind. Hitoshi scrambled after them, not even bothering to put his bag on fully. 

He reached the door just as Akari was pulling it open just a crack, checking both ways before swinging the door fully open and bolting into the hall. Hitoshi and Toga both followed, Toga pulling the door closed behind her with a soft click. Toga caught Hitoshi’s gaze on the door and winked.

“It locks on the inside!” The taller girl stage-whispered. Hitoshi just nodded, glancing to where Akari was shimming open one of the hallway windows.

“Got it! I’ll see you at the cafe later, Himiko!” Akari frantically pushed the window open, beckoning her friend over as she did so. Toga bounced past Hitoshi, sending the boy a wave over her shoulder as she made her way to the window.

Hitoshi watched as the older girl reached out and ruffled Akari’s hair, making the younger girl squeak in annoyance, and then practically swung out the window, landing in the overarching branches of the tree and disappearing into the autumn foliage.

Akari rushed to close the window, reaching out to grab the pane. Hitoshi moved forward to help, his extra height allowing him to grab the window and slam it closed. They managed to get the window securely locked not a moment too soon, as they heard footsteps beginning to march up the stairwells, echoing through the halls.

The two children looked at each other, then bolted down the halls and into their seats. By the time they reached their respective seats, both kids were out of breath and flushed in the face.

And, if any other student noticed, no one bothered to say anything.

When the final bell rang, signifying the end of the schoolday, Hitoshi and Akari were the first kids out of the classroom, both practically sprinting for the door amidst a flurry of taunts and outstretched feet. Neither stopped running until they crossed the threshold of the front gate and were halfway down the street. 

Panting, Hitoshi leaned against the wall of the alleyway they’d stopped in. He was used to walking all over the city, but running sucked! His ribs felt like they were about to implode and crush his lungs. Hitoshi would be lying if he said he wasn’t jealous of the fact that Akari wasn’t even breathing hard. The girl had crouched next to him, hiding behind a garbage can to keep out of sight. Hitoshi eyed the younger girl as she pulled out her phone, tapping its screen with only her left hand while the right lay cradled into her chest.

“If we turn left at the back of the alley,” Akari murmured. “we might be able to avoid all the other kids…” Her statement was punctuated by the loud chatter of kids walking down the street outside of the alley. Hitoshi did his best to shrink farther into the shadows.

Peering around the dumpster, Akari watched the street for a few seconds, before adjusting her grip on her backpack and padding deeper into the alley. Glancing behind her, the girl cocked an eyebrow at Hitoshi. Despite the twisting in his gut – because why would she want him to go with her – Hitoshi followed his foster sister down the alleys. 

Over the past several weeks, Hitoshi had grown used to the dark alleys lining the city. He found a strange comfort in the way his footsteps echoed off the walls, with how the sunlight never seemed to reach certain parts of the floor. It brought a strange sense of… peace to him. And as he followed Akari through the streets, he thought she must feel the same. 

The girl seemed completely at home in the winding alleys. He hadn’t seen her glance at her phone once as she led them through the twists and turns that made up the back streets of Mutsutafu. 

After about 15 minutes, the train station came into view at the entrance of the alley. Hitoshi blinked at the sight. Maybe he wasn’t as used to the alleys as he’d thought, because he’d gotten so turned around in there he didn’t realize which direction they’d been headed. He shivered at the thought. I need to pay more attention.

Akari turned and flashed him a thumbs up and a tight grin. “I’m going to meet Himiko, I’ll see you at the house later?”

Hitoshi nodded. ‘Thank you.’ He signed. Akari nodded, murmuring something he couldn’t quite catch over the din of the train station. Turning, Hitoshi hurried out of the alley.

He had a train to catch, and a cat who was waiting for him.