As asked by Sir. Nighteye Hitoshi had returned the following day along with Zuku. It had been much of the same affair with Sir quizzing his cousin about his ambitions for life as a pro hero and so on which eventually led them to this.

"If you can take this stamp from me then I will take you as an intern."

Zuku looked hyped and ready to go as he nodded enthusiastically. It was amazing how his cousin was ready for anything, even weird bullshit like this. If Sir hadn't have been nice enough to go out of his way to take him on he probably would have told him where he could shove his stamp.

Kacchan definitely would.

Probably after sending a fireball to this face.

What followed was… an interesting set of events with his cousin bouncing all over the place around the walls and through the air meaning Hitoshi had spent half the time just trying to dodge attacks clearly meant for Sir. Nighteye. Having retreated to the side of the room he could help but wince at the amount of important documents were being scattered from the desk and folders onto the floor.

His cousin didn't end up managing to get the stamp but in a strange turn of events the two of them ended up fangirling over previous All Might villain fights? Hitoshi wasn't any the wiser about anything they were discussing but pretended to at least have some form of interest as he ran a hand through his hair to tidy it up a bit after the Zuku tornado that had just swept through the place.

Apparently him not wrecking one specific poster showed Sir that he had control over his abilities, or something like that, Hitoshi would be lying if he said he was really listening.

"Hitoshi."

Shit.

"Yes, Sir."

"Now I know I've already said that I would take you on but I thought it might be interesting to see you attempt the same, with your quirk of course."

He nodded.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I can do that."

Even though he'd said he wouldn't use his control anymore he was slowly finding that that wasn't going to be possible. Encounters like this proved that, people wanted him to use it but their reasoning wasn't the same as the League's, they were showing him how it could be used to help people or deescalate situations before other heroes or the police even stepped in meaning no one got hurt.

He and his therapist had talked at length about his quirk and honestly, he was starting to hate it a little less.

"So I just need to take the stamp from you, right?"

"Yes."

Okay then.

"Give me the stamp please."

Sir. Nighteye handed it over.

He dropped the control.

"Here."

And handed back the stamp.

Sir smiled before walking forward.

"May I?"

Despite the nervousness coursing through him about the hero being so close and what he planned to do, Hitoshi nodded.

A hand came towards his face, causing him to wince, flinching backwards slightly before Sir's gaze turned reassuring. The hand came to softly rest on his cheek, tilting his head to the side a little to look at his milky eye and scarred cheek.

"That'll be it." Sir regarded before retreating back to his original spot. "Despite touching you, my quirk couldn't activate due to your eye, I presume you are blind in your left after it was injured during the Kamino battle, correct?"

Hitoshi nodded.

"This alone must break the circuit for my quirk in the same way that it doesn't work on your Father, interesting."

"If you want me to do it again properly I can."

"Properly?" Sir titled his head.

"You know, without using my quirk."

Without cheating.

"Young Shinsou, how many people have found money and fame in this life through being good at something, whether it be art, or cinema, or being a hero, they rose through the crowds and got where they are now through gifts they were given. Your quirk is no different and using it isn't lazy, or unfair, or cheating, it's just an ability you can use for good. Rather than jumping straight in to fight me like your cousin you recognised that there was no need for confrontation and simply solved the problem in a remarkably short time, you both succeeded in passing my challenge in your own unique way and that is something I admire about you both, so no, I won't make you try again." A smile came to Sir's face. "The two of you start next week."

Their eyes widened in disbelief at the news before they quickly bowed their heads.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Mirio!"

The door opened revealing the permeation hero who walked into the room.

"So?"

"They passed."

Mirio-senpai grabbed the two of them, pulling them close into a dual-squishing side hug against him.

"Alright! Awesome work guys, I knew you could do it."

Hitoshi smiled.


Walking into the house that night, Shouta was sat on the coach in the living room. He dumped his backpack down before heading over.

"So did you go and see Sir. Nighteye, I know Zuku was pretty excited about the whole thing?"

"Yeah, I did. I didn't want to tell you just in case he changed his mind after today, but back when I first went to see Sir, he took me on then and there."

A tear trickled down his cheek before he broke out into the biggest smile he'd probably ever smiled.

Shouta stood up, his hand coming to rest on his cheek before a smile came to his face.

"Toshi that's amazing! We're very proud."

Hitoshi's lip wobbled as he fought back the much heavier wave of tears ready to spill out at any second. He replied simply with a nod.

Shouta's hug was tight and loving as he returned in, finding the warmth of being against his father's chest so familiar and safe.

He couldn't help but feel like something was off though. The air in the house was almost tense and it hadn't gone unnoticed to him that Zashi was missing, his reduced schedule at the radio station wouldn't see him at work tonight, unless he was still at UA, he hadn't seen his name on the dorm parent for the night.

"So, where's Zashi?"

It was then that his father's nervousness slipped from its mask even if only for a second.

"The police got a tip off from an anonymous source of a twenty-something with red hair matching Touya's description. The ranked pros were called together a few hours ago ready for an immediate infiltration of the League's facility." He explained.

Hitoshi's eyes widened.

"They found it…"

Shouta nodded.

"I was too scared to watch the news so I'm just waiting to hear from him."

Toshi understood that.

"Zashi will be back, he's amazing! Nothing would ever bring him down he's too awesome, right, Dad?"

His father smiled, holding him a little tighter.

"Come on, you must be hungry."

As if called his stomach rumbled.

Shouta chuckled.

"Apparently so."

Hitoshi laughed.

"Ramen sounds good."

"Ramen it is."

Even if he couldn't be out there with Zashi he could still help his Papa by looking after Shouta. That would be his job and he was proud of it.

"Kacchan taught me this takedown move yesterday it's pretty good."

"Really? You'll have to show me in training sometime."

"I will, I look forward to flattening you, old man."

"Cheeky shit."

Toshi giggled.

Please be safe, Papa.