"No matter how progressive a half-blind hero sounds on paper, two eyes are always going to be better than one."
After being poached by the Nighteye Agency to intern with them Hitoshi hadn't really expected to be savagely torn apart by Sir himself on the first official day. Clearly he meant every word, as Sir didn't seem to be the type to mince what he said just to please others and so here he was being told that his lack of sight in one eye was probably going to get him killed someday.
"You're at a disadvantage because of this, but considering your tutor I believe you have a lot more under your sleeve than just that quirk of yours. So, what did your father teach you?"
"How to listen, and how to fight like he does."
"Which entails?"
"He blindfolds me and then we spar."
Zuku's jaw was hanging open at the revelation.
A smile came to Sir. Nighteye's face.
"Excellent."
Sir walked over and placed a hand on his cheek, tilting his head back slightly to inspect the blinded eye.
"There is something I have been meaning to address since we first met. This eye of yours, its milky appearance will only alert your enemies right away of your missing sight so we need to get rid of it."
Hitoshi backed away, eyes widening.
"That's a bit extreme don't you think?!"
Sir exhaled in annoyance which could only mean he'd misunderstand something.
"As I said, the 'milky appearance' is the problem, and I know a solution to said problem. Have you by any chance not been in contact with Recovery Girl since this injury back at Kamino?"
Hitoshi shrugged.
"Not that I remember."
"Well then I can almost guarantee that this will be a laughably quick fix for her compared to what she's used to, I doubt it would take more than one kiss. The next time you're at school get her to heal it back to its original state."
"She could do that?!" Hitoshi exclaimed.
"I wouldn't see why not."
This means when Touya wakes up he won't have to know what happened to my sight after he was forced to leave Kamino, it's perfect.
"There's not much else to cover for today and I want to train you up before sending you out on patrols with Mirio so for now you're dismissed, I'll see you both at the same time tomorrow."
"Thank you, Sir."
"Shit!"
Half-drenched in sweat, struggling to breathe, and still half a mile away from Sir. Nighteye's agency was when Hitoshi came to the conclusion that maybe turning his nose up at Shouta's suggestion of running a short distance every day to build up stamina and endurance wasn't such a bad idea. His legs felt like they were gonna' give out as they shook with overexertion.
He'd been at the hospital with the Todoroki's, as he did every day, when he'd seen the time. Sir. Nighteye's and the hospital weren't exactly close but like hell was he going to accept a lift from Fuyumi when they would have to go so far out the way of their house to do it. And so they'd settled on dropping him at the train station where he had waited for an annoyingly long and wasteful time for the next train to show up. And so here he was, getting worried glances from passers-by as the fear of getting chewed out by Sir. spurred him to keep going; that man was terrifying enough without even getting on his bad side, and Hitoshi really didn't want to find out what that looked like anytime soon, but he had a feeling he was going to as soon as he walked through the door.
It was then that his shaking legs finally sent him tripping up, skidding across the ground with a thump.
"Owwww…" He groaned quietly.
Trying to get himself back to his feet proved vastly more difficult than he would be comfortable admitting but he got their eventually, looking up at the tall buildings and skyscrapers of the agency district he took a minute to get his breath back.
They look real similar to the buildings Dad swings between using his capture weapon. He hasn't taught me much about how to do this yet but I already know all the fundamentals so it can't be that hard, right? Right?
"There's a first time for everything I suppose."
Unzipping his backpack he pulled out the capture weapon and readied it in his hands, wrapping a small clump around his neck before securing the rest tight in his palms. He took a breath before releasing a length, wrapping it around the lamppost before taking a running start and…
Hitoshi's eyes were wide in wonderment as he took flight, the swinging momentum carrying him through the air as he swung from lamppost to lamppost, building to building. The half a mile of distance left to cover was defeated in sheer minutes while also giving his poor legs a chance to recover a little without the strain of running.
Nothing was going to fix the fact that he was still very late though.
Slowing to a stop proved a little more difficult than he'd initially anticipated but he got there eventually, if not for a few embarrassing seconds of dangling from his capture weapon before he was able to work out the best way to ease himself down. Entering the agency the receptionist looked instantly concerned at the sight of him which confirmed his own guess about how much of state he must look.
"The usual room?"
She nodded.
Arriving at the meeting space Hitoshi swiped a hand across his brow to remove the sweat before taking a breath and knocking on the door, giving it a second or two before opening it.
A very sheepish looking Zuku was stood next to Mirio.
Sir turned to him with his usual neutral expression.
"This meeting is for people who were on time."
"Sir. Nighteye, I can-."
"Go."
Trying not to say something stupid, Hitoshi gave a nod before closing the door.
"Dammit!" He cursed under his breath as he made his way back down the corridor, angrily pulling the goggles from his head before unravelling his capture weapon.
Storming into the chill out room, as the receptionist had referred to it on her tour of the agency; he threw his kit down before slumping on one of the couches.
The anger soon began to drain into its true form; insecurity and sadness.
Letting out a deep exhale he scrubbed a hand down his face as he tried not to cry.
"Rough day?"
Hitoshi jumped, turning to the source of the voice.
A brown-haired guy walked out from behind a row of screen dividers holding a mug of coffee, he offered a smile before taking a seat down on the couch across from him.
"More annoying than rough."
"You get wrong off the boss?"
He nodded.
"Yeah he can be a little strict sometimes."
Hitoshi shrugged.
"I was late, that's on me; you can't exactly expect pros out there on the streets to be able to trust you if you're not gonna' be there when people need you most. I should have planned better."
"Woke up late or something?"
"Had to visit someone first then get here from there."
"Where's there?"
"Kamino Ward."
The guy spluttered on his coffee a little.
"But that's hours away?!"
"It's not my first time doing it I just fucked up today; I won't fuck up the next time."
"So you're still gonna' be travelling that distance before these meetings?"
"I have to go to school after this too." Hitoshi smirked, despite wanting nothing more than to roll over and die from exhaustion. The idea of having to stand up and walk to UA and then attend lessons and training for the rest of the day left him feeling hollow.
"You're gonna' burn yourself out if you're not careful."
"I'll be fine."
"Kid..."
He was interrupted as Sir walked through the door.
Hitoshi stood up to greet him but was simply ignored as his mentor passed him, instead leaning over the guy he had been talking to and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"So where are we going for lunch?"
The guy seemed a little uncomfortable at the obvious tactic Sir was using to pretend he wasn't there, returning the kiss before looking between the two of them.
"I was thinking the new sushi joint down the street, but Rai." He motioned with his eyes towards Hitoshi.
Sir turned to him.
"You can go."
"But we didn't do any-."
"Like I stated before that meeting was for those who arrive on time, you did not and so your admittance was not permitted. If you think you can drag yourself to arrive promptly then you also will receive the same briefings, but for now I have nothing more to say so you can go. Midoriya said you have a test today so I would suggest getting a move on if you don't want to be late for that too."
The back of his throat hurt but not in its usual way with the muteness. It felt heavy meaning he couldn't produce the words he wanted to say without a small sob replacing them. A tear trickled down from his eye that he quickly lowered his head to hide from view of his mentor as he nodded.
"Sorry, Sir." His voice shook as he was finally able to navigate through the hiccuping sobs he knew he would be overcome by the second he was clear of the agency building. "Thank you and I'm sorry for..." Hitoshi paused. "If you decide I'm not worth the time then just tell UA and I won't bother you again." His lip was almost trembling as he stayed strong. "I'm really sorry."
He was quick to his feet as he walked out the room at a steady pace, keeping it up until he was outside. His legs carried him a few streets over before he couldn't hold it back any longer, finding himself sliding down the wall as he cried.
Turns out he didn't have enough money for the second train ride.
The walk from the Nighteye Agency to UA took him just over an hour with Hitoshi being thankful that he'd packed his Hawks hoodie in his backpack that morning after the temperature seemed to drop suddenly along the way.
As he walked up the hill towards UA the time stated on his phone was only making him feel worse. Not only had he missed homeroom and first bell but he was late for the test period too, Shouta was going to kill him.
"Hitoshi!"
Glancing up it was Hizashi, and his stomach only felt worse. He didn't think he could take being lectured again, and especially not from his Dads.
Zashi had closed the distance between them with a look of concern on his face.
Hitoshi's face scrunched up as he felt the tears coming yet again, fearful of the anger that surely was coming.
"Toshi?"
Hizashi's hand rose towards him.
Hitoshi jerked away from it.
The voice hero's eyes widened a little but mostly the expression of disgust was what caught his eye.
"Toshi..." He began soft yet firmly. "I wasn't... I would never hit you."
And he knew that, he did, but surely he'd warranted it. Having gotten himself potentially kicked out of one of the best hero agencies in the country and skipping an exam was surely grounds for some kind of punishment. A strong punishment.
"But I deserve it." His incredibly small voice replied.
Zashi looked horrified as he took a step forward, Hitoshi stepping back with a small cry of fear as he did so, his arm rising defensively in front of his face as he made himself as small as possible.
"'M sorry... 'm sorry..." He whimpered, his apologies progressively getting louder before the last was cut off as his Papa's arms came to wrap around him pulling him close against his chest.
"I would never hit you, ever. I don't care what you think you've done to deserve it, that is not something we do, it's not something anyone is allowed to do to you."
Tears were slowly trickling down Hitoshi's cheeks as he rested his head against his Papa's shoulder, hands snaking around him in a tight, desperate embrace as his body shook from the sobs.
"Toshi where have you been, we've been trying to get hold of you all morning, and Sir. Nighteye's even been on the phone."
And with those words Hitoshi just felt empty.
"Did he tell you he's done with me?"
Hizashi's expression seemed saddened.
"No, Toshi, of course he didn't." The voice hero began softly. "He and his husband were really concerned about you; apparently you were just as upset when you left the agency. He explained what had happened and called to apologise."
Hitoshi looked down.
"Toshi, why didn't you tell us you were visiting Touya? Is that the reason why you've been so adamant about staying at the dorms this past week or so, so you could sneak out over to Kamino without us knowing?"
This time the clawing at his throat felt a lot more familiar.
Hello muteness my old friend.
So he said nothing.
"We could have given you the money for the train rides, or I could even have taken you myself. You can trust us and rely on us, you don't have to do everything on your own anymore, you know that, right?"
He nodded despite still not fully understanding why they would be willing to just give him money like that or waste their time transporting him around when they had so much that was vastly more important to do.
Hizashi let out a soft exhale before offering him a smile.
"Well they won't let you into the test now but don't worry, I'll work it out with Shouta to get you a new time to sit it. Why don't you go and have a walk around the ground while you wait for your next class to start, it might help you calm down a little, you've had a busy day?"
"Okay." The forced word sounded alien but it still served its purpose as he headed off towards the side of the main school building where the small garden was located. Entering inside through the gate he smiled at the waves of flowers planted by various classes, taking in the peaceful tranquillity of the school when everyone was occupied. UA was never usually this quiet, ever, but he guessed that came with the territory when everyone has quirks.
Passing under an ivy arch he reached a small pond with a stone bench beside it, he took a seat, slipping the backpack from his shoulder and resting it down.
A flash of red caught his eye before he noticed someone stood reading a plaque placed at the base of one of the trees. The figure turned around a few seconds later which was when Hitoshi's eyes widened.
"Oh, hey."
A signature grin followed.
Hawks.
The pro seemed to chuckle as he looked Hitoshi over, which immediately made him feel self-conscious until… he remembered what had caught the hero's attention.
His hoodie… it was part of Hawks' merch range.
Oh goddddddddd…
Hitoshi turned red in embarrassment.
"Hey, no need for that it's all good, it's nice to see I've got fans even somewhere like UA. That probably makes me sound like an asshole but whatever." Hawks smirked before he walked over and motioned to the bench. "Mind if I join you?"
"No, sure."
He bunked along to allow the pro room.
"So, which class are you in here?"
"1-A."
"Oh the hero course? Nice. That must mean you're pretty good."
Hitoshi shrugged.
"I didn't exactly get in because of my quirk."
"So what? You're there now so who cares?"
Hawks seemed to study him.
"You seem familiar, have we met before?"
He shook his head.
"Nevermind then, must have been someone else." The pro dropped it. "So, what's your name, kid?"
Kid? Didn't Kacchan say he was like seven-years older than us?
"Hitoshi Aizawa."
"Ohhhh, as in Eraserhead?"
He nodded.
"Nice, dude! I've worked some undercover jobs with Eraserhead, the guy's amazing and he damn well knows how to fight. He saved my ass from being shanked by some methhead back when I was just starting out."
"Really? I thought the commission were dicks about letting Dad work cases?"
"They are but who the fuck cares what they think, he's an incredible hero and them refusing to allow him to be ranked is just disgusting, they talk about how they're so fair but then the commission is rife with ableism." Hawks shook his head. "I'd work with your Dad over half the pros in the rankings any day of the week because having someone out there you know you can trust to have your back in life or death situations is everything when you're a hero."
The pro seemed to notice something, leaning back slightly on the bench before he reached out a hand to flap the red wings sewn to the back of the hoodie with a smirk.
"Sweet!"
"I thought it looked cool." Hitoshi admitted, hoping to not sound as fanboyish as he usually teased Zuku for being about All Might.
A smile came to the pro's face.
"I appreciate the compliment." He looked down at his watch before getting to his feet. "Well I need to get going but it was nice meeting you."
Hawks held out his hand.
Hitoshi followed him up before shaking his hand.
"You've probably already have a placement for the hero internships but I'd definitely be interested in you joining my own agency in the future. Here's my card, the numbers on the back so if you ever need anything just give it a call and I'll do my best to help you out."
The pro began to walk off through the garden.
"See you around, kid."
Hitoshi gave a wave before he went out of view.
After that, he just stood there taking in everything that had just happened and couldn't help the small squeee of happiness that escaped his lips.
Turning to pick up his backpack to place the business card safe inside so he wouldn't lose it, he noticed something lying on the bench.
It was Hawks' visor.
Quickly picking up the piece of the pro's costume he raced out the garden in the hope of locating the hero before he left, but he was nowhere in sight.
Guess I can call the number later after school.
The bell ringing made him jump.
After carefully placing both the visor and the business card into his backpack he headed off towards the main building.
Later That Night
'Ring ring, ring ring, ring ring'
"Hello, Hawks Agency, Ichika speaking, how may I help you?"
"Oh hi, umm, I was talking to Hawks today and he kind of forgot his visor so I thought I'd call to let you know."
"Oh thank you for calling to report that I'll be sure to get onto him about that right away, is it okay if I take your number?"
"Sure."
Hitoshi relayed his mobile number.
"Well once again thank you for calling and we'll be in contact soon, have a nice night."
"You too."
He hung up.
Kacchan, who had walked past his door during the call, furrowed a questioning eyebrow.
"What was that all about?"
Hitoshi held up the misplaced piece of costume.
"Woah, is that?!"
"Yep."
"How the fuck do you have Hawks' visor?"
"Because he left it after we talked earlier."
"You talked to Hawks?!"
Hitoshi nodded.
"It was pretty cool I'm not going to lie." He smiled.
Kacchan smiled too.
"Well I'm glad you got to meet your hero."
"It was… weird, but awesome."
His cousin headed for the door.
"I wouldn't let Zuku know you have that or Hawks will never get it back."
Hitoshi laughed.
"You're probably right."
"Night, Purple Hair."
"Night."
His phone buzzed on the mattress.
'1 New Message – Unknown Number'
He clicked it open.
'Your outfit wouldn't be complete without it, right? ;) ˣHawks'
