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Hitoshi might have switched over to the hero class and he might even have made friends but he never quite managed to shake the habit of creeping through the hallways, drawing as little attention to himself as possible.
He's had extensive talks with Aizawa about it, who admits that it's going to be a good habit when he goes into underground work but who sees it as a problem at school and even though Hitoshi knows he's just concerned, it's a hard habit to shake.
No one has attacked him since he switched classes but quirk discrimination is as rampant at UA as it was anywhere else and Hitoshi has learned his entire life that it's better for him to keep his head down and keep out of sight as best as he can.
Out of sight, out of mind, after all and it's a motto that has served him well.
But still, the fear is so deeply ingrained in him that when he hears the unmistakable sounds of someone being beat up, he freezes and presses himself closer to the wall before he also crouches; it's always his best bet to not be noticeable after all.
It takes Hitoshi a moment to understand that it's not him being roughed up, not this time, and when he peeks around the corner he sees that three upperclassman are ganging up on a first year.
The first year is already on the ground, only barely holding up his arms in a defensive position and yet the other three don't look as if they are going to slow down any time soon.
Hitoshi knows that they won't; it's his first run in with these particular three but he knows their kind.
They are going to keep going until either the boy passes out or until someone is brave enough to step in.
And experience has taught Hitoshi that it's never going to be the latter.
The boy on the ground cries out in pain and Hitoshi spots a flash of something white and sharp. For a moment he fears that it's a knife but when one of the bullies moves a step back to get better manoeuvrability with the thing Hitoshi realises that it isn't.
It's white all the way through and—it seems more like bone than anything else and who knows. Maybe it is.
You never know with quirks these days.
Hitoshi hesitates for a second longer, past experiences screaming at him to stay down and out of the way and let this play out and maybe help after but—he's in the hero course now.
He's going to be a hero.
And back when he was the victim in situations like this he always prayed for someone to help him, so he knows exactly what the other kid is currently going through.
It's exactly the reason his feet carry him forward instead of further away.
"Hey!" he calls out, his voice echoing in the hallway, but the other three don't even seem to hear him.
None of them show any kind of reaction to him and that's just no good.
Hitoshi knows better than to get too close, to step between the three and their victim because he might be getting better at hand to hand these days, but he's not good enough to fight off three apparently crazed attackers on his own.
But since stepping in the way is not an option and calling out doesn't seem to be enough there's only one other option—Hitoshi needs to use his quirk.
It's unlikely that he's going to get a response from any of them, but he recently learned a new trick. He throws his quirk out and basically brushes it against their minds.
It's not taking control, not at all, but Hitoshi has been told that it is an incredibly indescribable eery feeling and he's counting on that throwing these three off enough to stop their attack.
All three of them stop at the same time, two of them even visibly shivering and Hitoshi takes that chance.
"Hey, assholes," he calls out and he doesn't like the way his stomach clenches in fear when three heads whip around to him.
"Who the fuck are you?" the tallest bully asks and Hitoshi opens his mouth, fully intending to use his quirk now that he has their attention and can probably get them to talk, but the one with the bone-knife elbows the other one.
"It's the brainwasher. The one who thinks can be a hero," he loudly whispers and immediately, all three of them clamp their mouths shut.
Well, there goes that plan, Hitoshi drily thinks, and for a second he doesn't know what to do. Sure, he has their attention, but no way to actually deal with them now, other than get into a fight with them himself, and that doesn't seem like a good idea at all.
"Get him," the leader says and bone guy holds out a hand towards Hitoshi.
It's only because Aizawa has him practicing dodges lately that Hitoshi manages to throw himself to the side when a sharp projectile comes flying his way and great. Apparently bone guy can just produce bones whenever and use them however, too.
That fucking sucks.
"You really should stop that," Hitoshi says, still not completely hopeless that he's going to get them to respond but no one even so much as makes a peep.
"Well, I'm going to tell Eraserhead, so—don't move," Hitoshi decides after a moment, waving cheekily at the three and then turning around, his heart beating heavily in his chest.
He has just turned the corner when one of them calls out "You're dead!" and then there are the sounds of people running filling the hallway and Hitoshi books it.
There is no doubt about what is going to happen should they catch him and he's not stupid enough to fight them.
He needs other people, witnesses and people who are going to help, so he mentally maps out the school to find the quickest way towards the break areas.
Hitoshi ducks his head when he hears that uncanny whistling sound of bone flying through the air again, but it's quickly followed by two others and one of them definitely hits him in the shoulder, because the pain is blinding.
It's basically a projectile and it gets lodged in his skin and every step jostles it, but Hitoshi clenches his jaw and keeps running.
The other three are taunting him, calling him every name under the sun and promising him pain, but whenever Hitoshi gets an answer out they fall quiet, and somehow they must have figured out how his quirk exactly works because they wait just long enough until his quirk fizzles out with nothing to connect to.
Which is not good at all.
Still, Hitoshi keeps running and he even keeps running when he makes his way outside, but he doesn't make it further than a few dozen steps before someone tackles him to the ground.
He rolls over, lodging that bone projectile deeper into his shoulder and then they are on him, kicking and hitting him wherever they can reach and for a moment, Hitoshi thinks he can do this.
It's not different from any other beating he took before, so it's fine, he'll survive like he always does but then the leader sits down on him, driving the shard even deeper, while the other two keep his hands down and suddenly, there's a sharp bone in the leader's hands.
Which is immediately pressed to Hitoshi's throat, and Hitoshi freezes.
"Should do the world a favour and rid you of your quirk," the leader mutters and presses down on Hitoshi's skin.
The bone must be sharper than any knife Hitoshi knows because he can feel it part his first few layers of skin and cold terror runs down Hitoshi's spine.
"Stop," he manages to get out and the blade cuts another layer, but the leader only laughs right in his face.
Suddenly, there's a big explosion, closely followed by a "Oi, fuckface, what the fuck do you think you're doing," and all three bullies whip their heads around to what must be Bakugo.
"Get the fuck away from him," Bakugo yells, his explosions getting closer and the bullies scramble away from Hitoshi.
Sadly, they do so without any regard for the sharp weapon in their hands, and so when the leader tries to push himself off Hitoshi and away from Bakugo's probably rapidly approaching form, he puts too much pressure on the bone.
And it slices right through Hitoshi's throat.
The pain is unimaginable and it takes only a second for Hitoshi to realise that breathing has become almost impossible.
He still notices Bakugo flying over him, crashing straight into the three probably-murderers and then there are more explosions and more screams.
It's not enough to take Hitoshi's mind off his pain or the way his breath goes in and comes out all wrong and he reaches up to scratch at his throat because surely there has to be something he can do.
"Don't touch it, don't touch it," Denki suddenly mutters and catches Hitoshi's hands, while Sero wraps his around Hitoshi's throat and squeezes.
It makes breathing harder, it makes the blood seeping out visible for Hitoshi all of the sudden and he turns big, panicked eyes on Sero.
He tries to say something, but even that comes out garbled and wrong and he trashes in his friend's holds.
"I called Recovery Girl and the police," Mina's voice suddenly joins in and Hitoshi's eyes snap to her. "You hear that, Hitoshi, you're going to be just fine."
Her voice is wobbly, just as her smile and Hitoshi still can't breathe.
"It's not going to help," Denki mutters and then looks up and around. "We need help. A healing quirk! Anything!"
There's a beat of silence, one where only Hitoshi's gurgling breaths fill the air and then a new voice chimes in.
"I have a low-level healing quirk but it's not enough to heal the entire wound. I can do a few layers, not more."
"Get over here. It's his trachea, can you heal that?" Sero says, his hands just as unrelenting around Hitoshi's throat as before and the guy must nod because Sero removes his hands to be replaced by someone else’s.
For a moment there's nothing and then there's heat, so intense that Hitoshi is thankful when he passes out.
He does not expect to wake up again.
~*~*~
Hitoshi wakes up to the annoying beeping of a heart monitor.
For a moment he doesn't know what's going on, can't remember anything that could have landed him in the hospital but then it all comes rushing back to him and his eyes flie open just as his hands fly up to touch his throat.
"Easy," Aizawa says from the side, carefully catching Hitoshi's hands before they can even make contact with his skin. "Don't talk yet, Hitoshi, don't talk. You're fine, you're okay, but don't talk."
Well, that doesn't seem very fine to him, if he can't talk, but Hitoshi forces himself to blink a few times so he can get everything to focus before he concentrates on Aizawa.
He squeezes his hands to signal that he understood and Aizawa immediately lets go so that Hitoshi can sign.
How bad?
"It's going to heal. You have been here for a day, and it's all going to heal right up, don't worry."
It's not an answers, not really, but Hitoshi thinks it at least addresses the most pressing concern.
Still, he wants to know.
How bad? he repeats again and Aizawa sighs but before he can answer, the door slams open and Bakugo comes in.
"You're awake?" he asks, clearly taken off guard, as if Hitoshi should have been out for much longer and Hitoshi turns accusing eyes on Aizawa, who pinches the bridge of his nose.
"He just woke up," he tells Bakugo and steadfastly ignores Hitoshi for a moment, who claps his hands to get the attention back to him.
How bad? he signs again, makes the signs as big and loud as he possible can and Aizawa sighs.
"They injured your vocal cord, amongst other things. The doctors healed it all up but they still want you to rest your voice for at least another three days, just to be sure that everything heals just fine."
"They didn't just injure his vocal cords," Bakugo grumbles and crosses his arms in front of his chest. "They cut his fucking throat."
"That, too," Aizawa tiredly admits and gives Hitoshi a reassuring smile. "They sliced right through your trachea, but Sero's quick thinking prevented anything worse. They beat you up real good as well and there was something lodged in your shoulder that got caught in your bone. It'll all heal up, you'll regain full movement and the doctors are confident that your voice will be just fine as well. You got lucky."
At that, Bakugo scoffs and Hitoshi has to agree with him.
Not lucky. Bakugo, Hitoshi signs at Aizawa and Bakugo shrugs his shoulders before he stuffs his hands into his pants.
"I was late," he grumbles and Hitoshi really takes him in for a moment.
Bakugo is not in his school uniform and new worry creeps in.
You in trouble? Hitoshi signs out and Bakugo avoids his eyes.
"Not really," he mutters and Aizawa makes a disagreeing sound.
How bad?
Hitoshi feels like a broken record at this point but Bakugo shouldn't be in trouble, not for helping him.
"Your attackers are two floors up," Aizawa finally says, "with mostly second degree burns."
Mostly?
"There are some third degree burns in there as well," Aizawa admits after a moment and Bakugo stares at the wall as if it's the most interesting thing he had ever seen. "Their parents want to press charges against Bakugo, but given the state you were in, and the fact that their other victim still hasn't woken up, I'd say they are fresh out of luck and are probably going to have to go on trial for attempted murder in two cases.”
"The detective in charge of this already told me it's fine, since I didn't even try to kill them," Bakugo mutters. "I just pushed them away from you and then kept them occupied until someone could arrest them. Not my fault explosions are hard to control."
"If that's your defence in court, you're fucked," Aizawa mercilessly says. "At least try to sound remorseful."
"They tried to kill my friend, I'm not going to fucking lie like that. They deserved what they got."
Bakugo crosses his arms in front of his chest and stares Aizawa down for a moment and it gives Hitoshi times to blink the tears away.
This—this is new.
He's used to getting beat up, getting hurt enough that he ends up in the hospital but normally there is no one there when he wakes up. There's no one there to tell him just how bad it is and there certainly hasn't ever been anyone who helped him or called him their friend.
It's all new and scary and it makes Hitoshi so damn happy he hides himself away under his blanket.
"Hitoshi?" Aizawa unsurely asks and even Bakugo chimes in with a confused "What's up now, troll doll?" but Hitoshi waves them off until he feels as if he isn't going to burst into tears when he looks at them.
Fine, he signs at them and while Bakugo scowls at them, an understanding look passes over Aizawa's face.
"I'll leave you to it, I have to update Hizashi that you're up anyway," he says and pushes himself to his feet. "Have fun."
"Hey!" Bakugo calls after him, but Aizawa leaves the room without a look back and after a moment Bakugo sits down in the empty chair. "You really doing okay?" he wants to know and Hitoshi nods.
Thank you, he signs out and hopes his gratefulness comes across in full but when Bakugo goes bright red in the face, he thinks it might have.
"Oh, shut up, you'd have done the same," Bakugo grumbles and, well, yeah.
Yes, Hitoshi would have done the same for his friends.
It's just really good to know that for once, it also goes the other way around.