The following Saturday, Katsuki's phone buzzes in his pocket, vibrating against the plastic seats on the train. He pulls it out, smirking at Kanami's name on his screen.
Good luck on your work study! I hope everything goes well and nothing TOO dangerous comes up. Text me when you get back if you're not too tired!
Katsuki's smirk grows to a smile as he texts her back, promising to let her know the second he's back on campus. He gets off on his stop and hurries to Best Jeanist's agency. The second he makes it inside, he is confronted with the pro-hero himself.
"You were almost late," he warns the student. Katsuki rolls his eyes, walking around him.
"Good thing I wasn't then," he throws over his shoulder, heading to the changing rooms.
"Get dressed and meet me out here, we're going out!" Best Jeanist yells. Katsuki raises a hand, waving off the older man's instructions.
"Way ahead of ya." Out of his uniform, Katsuki meets his mentor at the front entrance and quickly follows him outside.
"We're going to be meeting up with a few of your classmates and their mentors today. This isn't a day for your attitude, so get it all out of your system now," Best Jeanist advises as they get on the train heading for downtown. Katsuki's eyebrows draw together, puzzled at the seriousness of his mentor's tone.
"What's going on?" He asks, keeping his voice low so as not to alarm the other passengers. Best Jeanist leans over, still keeping a casual air about him, and begins to fill his student in on the situation.
"There have been a series of attacks around the city with a quirk we haven't seen before. Someone seems to be controlling people with music." Katsuki's eyes widen marginally in surprise, But that sounds like Kanami's quirk.
"You think there's another enchantress user out there?" He asks, knowing how Kanami would take the news of a villain with her quirk.
"No, not exactly," Best Jeanist replies, glancing around the cabin area. "We haven't heard anything about anyone singing to the victims in the area, they're the ones singing." Katsuki's eyebrows lower once more. "We don't know how it works, but he managed to make one of our students attack several people last week, his girlfriend included." Katsuki remembers hearing something about the incident but hasn't had the time to really look into it yet. "The student was severely injured in his attempt to escape, but Recovery Girl was able to patch him up. The villain seems to strike within the same areas, so we're going out in larger groups to cover more ground. We'll be meeting Centipeder, Fatgum, and Gang Orca." Katsuki nods, sitting the rest of the ride in silence. That means they'll likely be meeting up with Deku, Eijiro, and that brainwasher. He scowls unconsciously. Something about that purple haired kid had never sat right with him, just rubbed him the wrong way in a completely different way from Deku.
Upon meeting up, Katsuki's suspicions are proved correct and everyone is given communicators and told to be on high alert, as it is likely there will be an attack of some sort. About a half hour into their patrol, Deku and Centipeder hear screams coming from the square.
"Hey guys, I think we've found something," Centipeder informs the others. "Southwest by the square, lot of screaming."
"Do you smell smoke?" Izuku asks, looking concerned. Centipeder's expression turns grave as he nods his head once.
"Come quick." The other teams reply in an affirmative and begin making their way to the square. Upon arrival, they find utter chaos, seemingly caused by the three people standing in the center of the square. One clearly has a fire quirk as he sets to destroying anything within his range, from trash cans to buildings. Another seems to be made of some kind of rock material, fighting two other large men, trying to keep him from reaching a group of running children. The third brandishes two large swords, looking around for his turn to do something. The heroes can see their mouths moving but can't make out the words over the sounds around them.
"Stop!" Gang Orca yells over the chaos. Several civilians notice the heroes and looks of relief take hold of their features as they continue to evacuate the area. "Shinzo, call for rescue, now." Hitoshi nods his head, taking a couple of steps away to make the call from the phone Gang Orca had given him for such emergencies.
"Cease all villainous activity and come quietly while you have the chance," Fatgum calls out to the trio. They continue on as though they hadn't heard either hero, but they definitely noticed their appearance. The three share a look and quickly change their tune. With the majority of the area emptied of civilians, it is now much easier to hear them.
"A warning to the people, the good and the evil, this is war," the three sing together, eerily matched in voice. Rather than sounding like three separate people, it is more like one voice coming from three speaker systems. "To the soldier, the civilian, the martyr, the victim, this is war." The three begin to march towards the group of heroes, and heroes in training, flaunting their quirks in an attempt to scare the group. "It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie and the moment to live and the moment to die. The moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to fight!" They take off at a run, only to collide head on with Fatgum and Gang Orca. The two who collided with Fat are immediately ricocheted back several yards while Gang wrestles with the one made of stone.
"Do what you can to subdue and capture them," Centipeder calls out taking off after the one with the swords. Eijiro takes off to help Gang Orca, Izuku joins Best Jeanist in helping Centipeder, evading several fireballs on their way, while Katsuki sends a large explosion at the man on fire, effectively drawing his attention away from Deku and his mentor. Hitoshi gathers his capture weapon, sneaking his way over towards Eijiro and Orca, looking for the best angle to trap the rock man.
"To the right, to the left, we will fight to the death! To the edge of the earth, it's a brave new world from the last to the first. To the right, to the left, we will fight to the death! To the edge of the earth, it's a brave new world, it's a brave new world!" With each emphasised word, their quirks hit harder, an almost crazed look in their eye. The biggest concern, clearly, is the line "fight to the death"; it has already been shown that whoever is controlling these people is capable of making people hurt themselves, whether they would go to such extreme lengths as death has yet to be demonstrated. The heroes hope to keep it that way. Centipeder attempts to restrain the man with the swords only to have his left arm stabbed and sliced up the middle. He recoils in pain, retracting the injured appendage.
"A warning to the prophet, the liar, the honest, this is war. To the leader, the pariah, the victor, the messiah, this is war! It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie and the moment to live and the moment to die." Hitoshi finds an opening and quickly throws his capture weapon while leaping into the air, quickly dropping to slide between the man's legs. Arms bound to his sides and one tug from Hitoshi's weapon yanks him off his feet, effectively binding the brute. Orca and Eijiro quickly rush to help the other's while Hitoshi waves over the rescue team that has just arrived. "The moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to fight! To the right, to the left, we will fight to the death! To the edge of the earth, it's a brave new world from the last to the first."
"We don't know if the buildings are fully evacuated, but those fires need to be put out," he informs them of the situation as he knocks out the man he had bound, now made of flesh and bones. "Take this one to the medics. Strap him down until we know the effects have worn off." The rescue team nods as Hitoshi unbinds the large man, turning to help his team.
"To the right, to the left, we will fight to the death! To the edge of the earth, it's a brave new world, it's a brave new world, it's a brave new world!" Katsuki barely dodges a fire bolt as Eijiro tackles the man, earning a few burns where he hadn't hardened his skin in an attempt to better protect the areas guaranteed to make contact. He winces in pain but grits his teeth and sends the larger man flying directly into Fatgum's stomach. When Katsuki raises his hands to send an explosion in his direction, he feels a sharp pain in his side as something scraps his ribs on exit. He drops to his knees, clutching his side, and looks up to find the man with the swords licking his blood from the blade.
"Kacchan!" Izuku yells in panic. When did he get passed me? He wonders, shocked. Best Jeanist leaps in, wrapping Katsuki's side in a thick fibre while Izuku sends the man flying backwards with his Delaware Smash Air Force move.
"That will hold until we can get you proper help. Can you stand?" Best Jeanist asks, concern filling his gaze and his voice. Katsuki takes several deep breaths, clenching his jaw as he stands up on his own.
"That fucker's gonna pay for that," he bites out.
"I do believe in the light, raise your hands up to the sky." The fire man sends out a large wall of fire across the square. Hitoshi rolls out of the way, but still manages to burn his arm in the process. He winces, quickly putting out the flames, and tries to ignore the searing pain now enveloping the appendage from his mid bicep to just above his wrist. Eijiro counters the man's sword, shattering the blade, and punches him back towards the main fight. Katsuki sees the man getting up and quickly sends an explosion his direction. It lands just to his right, sending him flying directly into Gang Orca's waiting arms. "The fight is done, the war is won, lift your hands towards the sun." The two remaining men look up at the sky, large grins on their faces, but when the heroes look there is nothing there. "Towards the sun, towards the sun."
"Shinzo," Centipeder calls out to find him quickly wrapping the fire quirk user in his capture weapon. "Can't you make them stop?" Hitoshi shakes his head, tightening the binding around the man now laying on the ground.
"They wouldn't stop long enough to answer anything I asked, and I don't know the words well enough to even get an indirect answer," he admits. The heroes look on in wonder as the two men continue their song.
"Towards the sun, the war is won. To the right, to the left, we will fight to the death!"
"Knocking them out works well enough, if that's an option," Hitoshi suggests, recalling the former rock man.
"Works for me." Katsuki walks over to the man who had stabbed him and, before Orca can react or do anything to stop him, punches him square in the chin, just to the left, effectively putting him out. "Fucking extras," he mumbles, walking away.
"The war is won! A brave new world." The fire user quiets, having finished his song, and quickly passes out.
"I think that's enough work study for today," Best Jeanist suggests. "We'll take you all to the hospital to be looked at and patched up, then you can go home and rest." None of the students argue with him.
The doctors at the hospital are by no means Recovery Girl, but they heal Hitoshi and Eijiro's burns from third and second degree, respectively, to roughly first and are able to stitch Katsuki back together, as well as ensure the blade did no damage to his ribs. Before they leave, they stop to see if the men they had fought had woken up yet, but are told they are still unconscious. The pro heroes promise to alert them when they have more information. The students all make their way back to their dorms in silence, too sore from their encounter to really discuss much. By the time they make it back, the other work study students are either still out or making dinner and don't notice the four boys slip in, going directly to their rooms. Katsuki barely remembers to text Kanami he'd made it back and promises to tell her all about it tomorrow before passing out.
Hitoshi, on the other hand, finds his thoughts drawn to a certain singer he's become acquainted with recently. His quirk was completely useless today, If it hadn't been for Aizawa's extra training… he shakes his head, clearing that particular thought away. Having a less physical quirk sets certain unavoidable limitations, Hitoshi knows that better than most, and Kanami's quirk is similar enough to give him pause for concern. But she can use hers without the same restraints, he reminds himself. Humming to himself, he opens his computer and starts going through his own music collection, not finding anything to suit his needs, before switching to Google.
By Monday, everyone had seen the news footage of their fight with the "crazed civilians" as they were being called. Nearly every student stopped them with some question or another, much to Katsuki and Hitoshi's irritation. True to his word, Katsuki had met Kanami at her place Sunday afternoon for another cooking lesson and relayed every detail of what had happened. Her worry showed plainly on her face, especially when he got to the part where he was stabbed, but he waved off her concerns, instead focusing on her almost burning pot. He had no interest in fangirls.
Hitoshi found himself in an equally foul mood that morning. He had always preferred to stick to the background and go unnoticed, so having his name plastered on the news and his very recognisable hair on video had never been high on his bucket list. Everyone cornering him to ask about the fight had him nearly ready to snap at the next person who dared approach him. He goes to the training facility early in an attempt to avoid further contact and, hopefully, soothe his frazzled nerves before he said something else he'd regret to Kanami.
"Hey, Shinsou!" Turning around to find the smiling first-year waving at him, Hitoshi has a hard time fighting back his own smile, already feeling his mood lift a little. Maybe this won't be so bad.
"Hey, first-year," he smirks at her irritated huff.
"I have a name, you know, and that's not it." He arches an eyebrow at her as she starts stretching out her arms, eyeing him wearily. "Good day so far?" He shrugs.
"Not too bad," he replies, indifferently, just as he always does. Looking over her small frame, he can't fight away that same worry from the day before and pulls out his phone. "Listen, before we get started, I wanna talk to you about something." Kanami looks at Shinsou, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion as she looks at him with worried eyes.
"Is everything okay?" She asks, her tone immediately showing her concern. Not for herself, but for him. This time, he does smirk at her, shaking his head.
"Yeah, everything's fine, pipsqueak. Come here," he nods his head to the space beside him as he sits on the floor. She does as instructed, ignoring the irritating nickname, and looks at him in confusion as he pulls out a pair of earbuds. "I'm sure you heard about the last work study we were on." It isn't phrased as a question, but she nods her head anyway. Katsuki hadn't stopped talking about it for hours, not until she had heard every last detail of how they had all almost died. "Things got pretty hairy - "
"You're okay, right?" She interrupts, immediately looking him over again for any injuries.
"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine," his voice is more than a little surprised, unsure of why she is so concerned about him. He notices her cheeks turn a little pink as she looks back down at the floor.
"Sorry," she begins, quietly, "Katsuki made it sound really…" Hitoshi notices her eyes cloud over a bit with something that looks eerily like fear. He doesn't like that he had done that to her. That idiot probably couldn't keep his mouth shut and scared her to death, he thinks, angrily, to himself. "I was just worried about you." Hitoshi's eyes widen a bit at her confession, unsure of how to handle it. Sure, he's fairly used to his friends worrying about him now, but he didn't realise that she felt they were close enough to worry about him. Then again, a voice in the back of his head reminds him, you've been worried about her too. Rolling his eyes, internally, he surprises both of them by putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm good, really. I'd tell you if I wasn't," he smirks at her, relieved to see some of the tension leave her body as she looks up to meet his eyes again and nods. "But, I won't say it didn't get me thinking about you." He breaks their eye contact, feeling his own face heat up a bit as he admits the statement out loud. "Our quirks are pretty similar, only really works so much. Your hand to hand has gotten a lot better, I'm not saying anything about that, but you're a little…" He fumbles for the right word that won't offend her right off the bat.
"Small?" She helps. When he looks over, her head is in her hand, an annoyed look on her face. "It's fine, I know the problem." He chuckles a bit, focusing back on finding what he was looking for on his phone.
"You said it, not me. My point is, your physical body most likely won't ever be as strong as your quirk, that's how it's supposed to be with quirks like ours, so I want to make sure you've got something in your corner that's a little more offense and a little less defence or preventative." Smirking to himself, he finds the album he was looking for and plugs in the headphones. "Most of these would, most likely, only be used as a last resort, at least that's how I see them. You could probably come up with more interpretations to make them safer, more usable, but just going off the words, they're a little… heavy." He glances up to see her eyes light up in interest, but frowns at the teasing smirk on her lips. "What?" He deadpans.
"You looked up music for me?" She asks, genuinely shocked. She had been pretty convinced Shinsou only tolerated her because of his grade requirement, But to put in work outside of class hours, surely he had to like her a little bit, right? Hitoshi's face flushes again as he looks back at the ground, scratching the back of his neck.
"Yeah, well, I'm supposed to be helping you, aren't I?" He passes her an earbud, ignoring her still teasing expression. "This metal band wrote an album of horror movie inspired songs, I just thought you'd like them." She looks up at him in shock again as she places the earbud in her ear. He remembered I like horror movies? "This is just an example obviously, you don't have to use these exact songs, or whatever. I'd just…" Kanami watches him stare intently at his phone for a moment, almost seeing through it, as he thinks of the right words he wants to use. "I'd feel better sending you out knowing you have something with a little more kick under your belt." He glances up long enough to see her nod before pressing play on the first song, happy to have her attention off of him.
He takes the moment to watch her listen to the songs, strangely pleased as she seems to like them. Her head bobs to the beat as her fingers tap out different notes on her legs. Her eyes light up when she figures out which movie each song belongs to. Hitoshi hadn't taken the time to watch her listen to music, or pay this much attention to her quirk aspect since the sports festival several months ago. Every line in the songs shows on her face, almost as though she feels what the singer is saying as deeply as he does. Beautiful… She catches him staring and he quirks his eyebrow, burying his thoughts, and waiting for her reaction.
"I love them!" He smirks, recognising the beginning of a rant, "They're so good and they all really captured the movies so perfectly! And I love that they didn't just do the really well known ones, they went out there and found a banned film, classic films, newer films, it, it's such a good mix of everything! How did you find this?" He shrugs, taking his phone back, and watches her phone light up as he sends her the link to the album.
"I'm pretty good friends with Google." He stands up, offering her a hand up, "Remember, last resort only. Heroes don't kill people." She nods, letting him pull her up, and rests her hands on her hips. "Now that that's taken care of, let's at least get a few things in before time's up. No quirks, just sparring." She nods her head and gets into position. They barely get five hits in together before the bell rings, calling for a change in classes. She looks up, disappointed.
"Seriously? I practiced!" Hitoshi smirks at her outburst before leaning down to ruffle her hair a bit.
"Sorry, short stop, next time." She grunts in irritation as she fixes her hair, following after him.
"Would it kill you to use my name from time to time?" She asks, feigning more anger than she really feels. Hitoshi chuckles, sticking his hands in his pockets.
"It very well might, and in my already delicate condition from Saturday, I'm not sure we should find out." Her eyes immediately widen in concern as her face takes on a worried expression.
"I thought you said you were fine, what happened?" Hitoshi sighs, still unsure of how to react to her concern.
"I am fine, it was just a little burn. Can't even tell now." She steps in front of him, stopping, and crosses her arms over her chest.
"Show me," she demands. He scoffs and moves to get around her, but she counters his steps, effectively blocking him. "I said show me." Seeing no way around the situation, Hitoshi sighs, rolling up his sleeve. As he does, he reveals a large, red, swollen burn. He stops at his elbow, knowing if he goes any higher, he'll wince at the pain. Kanami's eyes widen as she covers her mouth in shock. "Shinsou, you need to have that looked at," she chastises. He rolls his eyes, walking by her before hearing her footsteps quickly catch up as he rolls his sleeve back down.
"I did. Hospital already fixed what they could."
"You mean it was worse before?" She asks, incredulous at his nonchalance. When he just shrugs in response, she grabs his uninjured arm, turning him to face her. "You need to see Recovery Girl."
"It's fine, it'll go away on its own in a few days." Sensing he isn't going to budge on the topic, Kanami sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.
"Are you doing anything to help it?" She asks, already sounding skeptical.
"Ice and aloe, twice a day." Kanami looks up at him in complete shock.
"You're joking. Tell me you're joking." When he does not, she runs nervous hands through her hair. "Oh my god, you're not joking. Okay, first, never put ice on a burn, you risk damaging the nerves in the area. Cool water for at least five minutes, it's much gentler on the skin." Hitoshi had alway thought that was a myth, but, not wanting to worry the small girl any further, he nods his head in agreement. "Take Advil, it'll help with the pain and swelling, and buy some antibiotic ointment and some gauze from the convenience store. You can sleep with that on."
"Yes, Dr. Sato," he teases. Kanami rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I'm serious. Promise me you'll do it." Hitoshi sighs and nods his head. "Say it."
"I promise I'll do what you said. Better?" She smirks, glancing down at his arm.
"You will be by Wednesday," she promises, walking off in the direction of the girls locker rooms. She crosses paths with Katsuki on the way and Hitoshi hears her ask, "Why are you letting your classmates be idiots?" Forcing a chuckle from the brainwasher as he turns to his own locker room.