"Hitoshi!"
He paused, turning to see Zashi walking down the corridor. Hitoshi smiled.
"Fancy seeing you here."
The voice hero produced a smile of his own before pulling something from his pocket.
"Here."
It was his previously self-confiscated phone.
"With the hero work studies you're gonna' need this in case any agencies contact you about placements."
"I never even thought about it."
Hitoshi turned the phone on, as the main screen loaded up the device began to vibrate a few times with a bunch of notifications.
One in particular though caught his attention.
'From the Office of Sir. Nighteye'
Hitoshi's eyes widened.
'Dear Master. Shinsou, it has come to my attention that you were able to successfully pin one of my placement students without the use of your quirk; this development has intrigued me and so I would like to meet at your earliest convenience. Please call the number attached below to confirm an appointment, my receptionist knows you will be calling so just state your name to her and she will provide you with more information. I look forward to meeting you. Yours, Sir. Nighteye.'
"What is it?" Zashi asked curiously.
He held out the phone.
"Do you know who this is?"
The voice hero took the device and began to read the message; his expression quickly welled up with pride.
"Sir. Nighteye's agency is where Togata is working part-time. Did you really manage to pin him?"
Hitoshi nodded.
"It's a good thing I gave you your phone back. You need to text back thanking him for the opportunity and then get onto that receptionist." Zashi smiled. "This is amazing, Tosh, you should go and tell Shou once you're done."
"I will!" He grinned.
The bell rang.
"Well I need to go teach my class but I'm real proud of ya'." The voice hero pulled him into a quick hug before kissing him on the crown of his head. "See you later."
"Bye."
To say he was nervous as he walked inside the large glass building would be an understatement. Death gripping the strap of his backpack he pushed open the door to the reception and took a deep breath.
The woman behind the desk got to her feet offering a beaming smile as he approached.
"Hitoshi Shinsou?"
"It's uhh."
"I'll just let Sir. Nighteye know that you're here. If you wanna' just head down the hall, it's the last door on the left, you'll know which."
Not really getting a word in edgeways, he nodded.
"Okay, thank you."
Following the instructions given he walked down the long corridor eventually going to a green painted door surrounded by even more glass.
This place must get real hot in the summer.
He hesitantly knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
Invited inside Hitoshi's eyes tracked around the large space, one side of the room clearly divided off as a study with a desk and numerous bookshelves of endless folders, while the other was made up of couches and house plants.
"Ahh, Master Shinsou."
"Uhh, it's umm, it's Aizawa."
Sir. Nighteye was silent for a few seconds before he nodded.
"Of course, apologies."
Something seemed off.
"I must say when Mirio told me about the UA first year who'd managed to pin him without a quirk I dare say I didn't believe him. After that my curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to find out more."
The agency owner walked over to the seating area side of the room and sat down.
"Please."
Hitoshi nodded, sitting opposite.
"So."
Sir. Nighteye picked up a large folder from the coffee table; it carried the logo of his agency as well as 'Hitoshi Shinsou' handwritten on the front. He opened it to the first page and began flicking through the contents.
"So, little is known about your early life but you were born to Hajime and Mihoko Shinsou, before you reached your second birthday you went missing having been kidnapped while out with your parents. Despite an extensive nationwide initiative there were no leads and the case went cold. During that time a transfer took place between those who had been the ones to snatch you and an anonymous buyer who we now know to have been All for One. He placed you in the facility of the yet to be formed League of Villains. From your own account you met Touya, the son of the number two hero Endeavour, during this time. The police and pros are still searching for the missing Todoroki but there have been no developments as of yet."
Hitoshi sat their awkwardly as the pro recounted parts of his life to him, especially details that he hadn't even known himself.
"Your quirk is Brainwashing which was registered by your Mother back when you were a year-old as it is a genetically alternate version of her own. Activated through question and answer, the control can be broken through a knock to the person under it. Until very recently you wore a mandatory enforcement bracelet to be allowed to attend UA and to be fostered by pros Eraserhead and Present Mic; this action was as a result of your involvement in the USJ attack on school grounds." He placed the file down. "So explain to me why I would consider having someone like you at my agency?"
Taken aback by the question the first thought that came to Hitoshi's head was a remark about how he hadn't asked to be considered, Sir. Nighteye was the one to contact him, until Zashi had informed him he hadn't even known who the guy was.
"If you don't want me than that's fine, I'll find another agency or just stay at UA, but I won't just sit here while you talk about me like I'm not worth your time just because of a past that doesn't concern you."
Sir. Nighteye quipped an eyebrow.
"There are many people who would consider you a villain for even being in the same facility as the League, while others question exactly how much involvement you actually had with their activities."
Hitoshi tried to not feel hurt by the assumptions being made about his character as he squared up his shoulders and stood tall.
"If you were just going to call me a villain than why go through all this trouble? You wanted nothing more than the thrill of getting to paw through my file and throw it all back in my face. We both know you wouldn't ever be interested in someone like me so let's just get this over with so we can both get on with our lives."
"Mirio seemed quite fond of you when he explained what had happened at UA the other day."
Oh that was right; this was Mirio's pro placement. Shit.
"I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I sometimes get a little carried away without thinking first. The last thing I would ever want is for you to think badly of Mirio, I'll just go."
Hitoshi went to stand up.
"Wait." Sir. Nighteye's hand came to gently take hold of his wrist. "Please, I believe your transgressions were well within your rights, in fact, I was very much hoping you would challenge me."
He furrowed an eyebrow, slowly sitting back down.
"Why would you?-"
"You see, Master Aizawa, it's all very well and good for a hero to be the strongest, or the smartest, but if that is all they have to them well… I doubt their true intentions. I must say in all my years of providing UA students with placements I have never had a case quite like yours. Everything I could possibly wish to know is sat right here transcribed for me, your entire life, sans of course the finer details of what took place in that facility, but still a wide variety. On paper you should be burning down cities with Shigaraki using that brainwashing of yours to wreak havoc, but my dear boy, have you ever heard of an unreliable narrator?"
Hitoshi shook his head.
"The person or people who wrote these reports, the police, the commission, etc, they have their own agendas and apply them however they see fit to match their own opinions and desires. No one would look at a kid who'd been a part of an event such as the USJ attack having been taken there by the League and think that he is anything more than just a criminal who needs to be imprisoned for what he's done, not in those sectors anyway. There's no grey area in those professions and that is entirely the problem. To them you are either a hero or a villain and the criteria for each is set in stone so someone like you comes along, ticks a few boxes on that villain list and they're set in their mindset for life. So going back to my initial point, if someone has followed the same formula for their entire career, do you think they would impartially write about you in reports like this?"
"No."
"No." Sir. Nighteye agreed with a nod. "They will paint you to be however they want you to be seen which is why they were able to bully Eraserhead, Present Mic, and Nezu into conforming to their demands requiring you to wear the enforcement bracelet."
Pain flared up in his wrists from even being reminded of those torturous devices.
"I will be honest with you Master Aizawa, Mirio's accounts from the other day were not the first time I have heard of you. Before I ran my own agency I admit that I had another role in the pro hero industry; I was the sidekick of All Might."
Hitoshi's breath caught in his throat as his eyes widened.
"You are the one from the photo at Kamino Ward are you not?"
He didn't know what to say. He knew; he knew he'd destroyed All Might.
"I fear that my friend would not be with us today if you had not rallied him on that battlefield so I must first offer my deepest thanks to you." Sir. Nighteye smiled. "To act so selflessly in a life threatening scenario, of which you had already lost an eye to a member of the League shows great resolve and strength of character, you should be proud of your actions that night; you no doubt saved the lives of both your fellow student and All Might."
"We wouldn't have been in Kamino in the first place if it hadn't have been for me. The League only took Kacchan and I because they wanted me back, All Might had to save us and ended up losing his power because of it. Japan lost its Symbol of Peace, its Number One hero because of me; I fail to see how my life could ever be considered more valuable than his. They should have just left me there, he should have saved himself."
"What kind of hero would he have been if he had done that? If I know anything about my friend it is that he would never give up on someone in need, especially a child, he would have died for you if the situation had worsened and although you fail to see the values of such actions, he certainly didn't. You are part of our next generation of heroes; to lose you so young would be a major blow and a waste of talent and potential. There was always going to be a day where All Might would retire, it just so happened that the day came a little sooner than most would have liked and none of it was your own doing. It was his time and he knew what he needed to do."
Sir. Nighteye paused, as if considering something, before a smile came to his face.
"I would like for you to intern with me at my agency."
Hitoshi's expression was that of disbelief as he was rendered speechless.
"Do you accept?"
He quickly nodded.
"Yes. I mean, yes, Sir., I would be honoured."
"Good, then first thing tomorrow bring your cousin, Izuku Midoriya with you. I'll see you then."
