Hitoshi woke up and immediately regretted it. He felt like he'd been run over by a truck. And it was much too early.
Now, neither of those would really be problems if he weren't an impulsive idiot. Alas, he very much is. See, he'd failed to get into UA's hero program, and had to settle for Gen Ed. For any sane person, that'd be the end of the story. He might not be entirely sane. Because he started moonlighting as a vigilante for "training". Hmph.
Now, usually his quirk made it fairly easy. It was a useful quirk. He'd shout at the criminal, they'd answer, and boom! He just saved the day.
Last night, though, he'd managed to run into a very quiet, very violent villain. To say he'd been tossed around like a rag doll was much less painful-sounding than it was. His ribs hurt. His shoulders hurt. His head hurt. A good chunk of his skin had been scraped off between the brick walls and asphalt street. Really, it's a bit of a miracle that he'd managed to drag himself home.
Now he just needed to drag himself out of bed. And to school. And through eight hours of class. And, shit , a training session with Aizawa. He was thankful for the training, it may have saved his life last night, but it was unpleasant when he was perfectly healthy. This afternoon would be torture.
Getting dressed was surprisingly difficult. His shoulders were strained and it hurt to raise them over his head. Hopefully that'd go away with time.
If you ignore how his backpack managed to bump against the multitude of scrapes along his back, the walk to the train station was practically pleasant.
To be honest, his classes weren't as bad as he feared. He was sore, yes, but if quickly became a background soreness, only becoming consciously aware of it when he moved wrong. Sitting at a desk was nearly painless.
After lunch, he had P.E. That wasn't so painless. It was dodgeball. Supposedly fun, actually incredibly painful. He got out quickly, the ball smacking between his shoulder blades and sending pain shooting through his ribs and across his back. He gasped but held back tears. He had a high pain tolerance. He could handle this.
Finally, the bell rang for the end of the day. His classmates were happy. He was not. Because now he had to drag himself to the gym, so that he could frantically try to hide his many injuries from someone who could read him impossibly well. Shit.
He debated pretending to forget, just heading home now. But he can't risk Aizawa stopping the training. He needs it. It's been getting less painful throughout the day, his joints loosening up and the scabs getting used to the movement. He can do this.
Aizawa doesn't talk when he enters the gym, already in his P.E. uniform. He never does. He just tosses Hitoshi his spare capture weapon and attacks.
Hitoshi had forgotten about how he'd almost pulled his shoulders out. His shoulders did not. They screamed as he pulled on the capture weapon to catapult himself across the room. Aizawa quickly followed, but he had the skill to keep one hand attacking Hitoshi while the other pulled him in.
Hitoshi had to change tactics. He slid across the room again, but this time immediately shot one end of the weapon upwards and pulled himself to the ceiling. He'd long ago learned that Aizawa wouldn't answer him, but the urge to use his quirk still tempted him. He'd do it anyway if he had the breath to spare.
Between the beams in the ceiling, he had the height advantage. It was a battle of escape, and the only pain he had to worry about was the predictable pulling in his shoulders. Which was getting worse every second. Hey, at least he could work through it?
Okay, maybe he can't. He tried to swing under Aizawa, to get on the other side of him, but instead his shoulder sent a shooting pain down to his hand, numbing it, and causing the capture weapon to fall loose.
Aizawa caught him. So he didn't plummet to his death. That might've been preferable, though.
"Mind telling me why you fell?" Aizawa had that weird bored-frustrated-concerned mix that Hitoshi had never seen on anyone else written across his face.
"Sorry, Sensei, I didn't have as good a grip on it as I thought I did."
"Hm. And I suppose you've been acting strange all day because..." he trailed off, the question implied.
"Ah, I just didn't sleep very well."
"I've seen you fight after not sleeping at all. That isn't it," He pulled out his I'm-so-disappointed-in-you look. Oh, Hitoshi is so doomed.
"Look, it's nothing, I'm just feeling a bit off today," Hitoshi moved to leave, to delay this conversation until after he could come up with a solid lie.
"This isn't nothing," Aizawa grabbed his shoulder.
Hitoshi let out a small yelp at the sudden pain, jerking away. Aizawa' s eyes grew big. Shit. He definitely knows something is wrong.
"Hey, Shinso, kid, talk to me," he was just concerned now, his voice getting soft.
He can't find out. If he finds out, he'll kick Hitoshi out of UA and then he'd never be a hero. Hitoshi runs. Well, he tries to run. Instead he makes it about three steps before being thoroughly encased in Aizawa's capture weapon.
"C'mon, I can help you."
"Please. Just let me leave."
"I can't just let you leave if I don't think you're safe," Aizawa's concerned face starts to blur as tears well up in his eyes.
"If I promise that I'll be safe, then can you let me leave?"
"I don't think that's true, though."
Hitoshi was scared. He was scared that Aizawa would learn something that'd force him to tell the principal, or even the police. So he did something stupid," How can I trust that you won't tell someone?"
"I-" he cut off as Hitoshi took control, his eyes glazing over. Hitoshi couldn't bring himself to actually make him do something. He just needed Aizawa to stop interfering. He could do damage control tomorrow.
It took him a second to wiggle free, but once he did, he ran out the door. He must've been more tired than he thought, though. Normally he could run much farther than that before he had to catch his breath. He could just hide out under the stairwell for a moment, to rest. It'll just be a couple minutes.
He crouched down, suddenly very aware of the stabbing pain in the side of his chest. That's not good. He coughed. His hand had a touch of red on it. Shit. He heard footsteps pounding after him. Double shit.
Aizawa didn't take long to find him, the gasping breaths didn't do much for stealth.
"Kid," he sounded angry. Or panicked. Hitoshi couldn't really tell, but he thought that angry fit better," Talk to me."
"I-" coughed and his hand came away bloody.
"Shit, we need to get you to Recovery Girl."
Hitoshi tried but he couldn't really resist much. He was busy trying to get enough air into his lungs.
At least he had a few minutes reprieve from Aizawa's questions. They'd have been a bit futile considering that Hitoshi couldn't answer even if he wanted to.
Recovery Girl practically glared at him as she used her quirk, nearly making him pass out.
"Four broken ribs! A punctured lung! You're not even in the hero course," she scolded," not to mention the injuries I couldn't heal due to exhaustion."
Hitoshi stayed silent. He was going to be expelled. He'd never be a hero. He felt like he was going to puke. His hands were shaking so he pressed them into his legs, which also seemed to be shaking a bit.
Aizawa kneeled down next to him. He looked too kind to be talking to a soon-to-be-expelled failure. But he only looked at Hitoshi as he said," Look, you don't have to tell me everything, but I need to know something . I can help you."
Hitoshi tried to ignore the sobs building in his throat," I can't ," the sob broke through, running any attempt at explanation Hitoshi could've come up with. What could he say?
"If I ask yes or no questions, will you answer truthfully?"
" I guess," Hitoshi said between sniffles, really just wanting the day to be over already.
"Were your injuries caused by your guardians?"
"No," his current foster parents were actually pretty good to him, compared to his past ones.
"Were they caused by students?"
"No."
Aizawa paused for a moment before asking," Were they caused by someone you know?"
"No," he didn't even know the villain's name.
"Is it going to happen again?"
Hitoshi paused. He wouldn't be able to go out until his shoulders healed, probably at least a few weeks. But could he actually stop? After a moment, he answered," Not for a couple weeks for sure, but after that... I don't know."
"Okay," Aizawa looked as though he was debating something. Maybe Hitoshi wasn't going to be expelled? No, that's ridiculous, he used his quirk on a teacher. He can just hope the police won't be involved. Aizawa continued to speak," I'll make you a deal. I won't force you to tell me what happened, like I could ," the last part was under his breath, as if it wasn't supposed to be said out loud," and in exchange, you tell me when you're injured. I can't have you training and making it worse."
"I'm... Not expelled?"
Aizawa looked genuinely shocked," Why would you be?"
"I used my quirk on you."
"You were obviously panicking and I was restraining you. It'd be illogical to blame you for doing everything you could to get out."
Hitoshi blinked," Okay. Deal, I guess."
Aizawa visibly relaxed. He seemed to debate something for a second before wrapping his arms around Hitoshi. Hitoshi relaxed into them, the touch melting away his anxiety, if just for a moment.
