A/N:
This is my first song fic, as well as my first MHA fic. So please bear with me. I love Izuku and Hitoshi and I'm hurting them in this fic. I'm so sorry. But when I heard this song for the first time, I started working on how to apply it to Izuku and Hitoshi and this was what happened. Pretend the USJ and the Sports Festival happens far enough apart for this fic to take place in between. Like a month or something. Not that the Sports Festival is going to have any mention in this story. I just know some people like a timeline.
Also, in case it isn't obvious just from the summary, but Hitoshi replaces Mineta in 1A and both Hitoshi and Izuku were orphaned at a young age. And the implication is that their biological parents weren't great ones. In addition, there isn't emphasis placed on the others. This is for Izuku and Hitoshi. Also, it depends on how many requests there are for a chapter that focuses on the after math of the story that decides it's priority. Otherwise, it might be a while before I put up the next part. Please read and review. And if you have some constructive criticism for me since this is my first song fic story, that'd be appreciated.
Summary:
Class 1A is given an assignment in English: To tell a story that reflects something from their lives that had a drastic effect on them. Something life and path changing. It could be put to anyway they wanted. Story. Poem. Jingle. Music. So long as it was something to explain something more about themselves. Something that could come out as natural or instinctive. Something true. They could even have a partner to team up with if it helped.
Izuku and Hitoshi have always been close. They were even orphaned together. They had their fair share of experiences that have affected them. Too many in common, but they choose one in particular. One that truly affected them like no other. One that had them doubting their right to live. A tragedy that even to this day they blamed themselves for. The reason they were 15 and living on their own and working two jobs to try and survive. And had been for two years. A tragedy that was a constant reminder to them about the ruin they brought to everyone around them, except each other. That would no doubt happen in time to their classmates and teachers. Could they do this? And would anything change if they did? Did the two of them have any chance at redemption ahead of them? Did they deserve it?
: The Assignment:
"Alright little listeners! Time for me to tell you about your newest assignment." Present Mic told class 1A, getting the hyper class to calm down in curiosity. "You are going to present a story to the class and some of your teachers. These stories can be done in any format: A poem. A short story. Sing it as a jingle or song. Heck, you could even add some music or visual effect quirks for a bit of pizzazz. You can even have a limit of one partner for the assignment." He told them, smiling at the excited whispers. "I know. But you do have a few parameters that have to be met." They were quiet again. "These stories have to reflect an event in your life that had a drastic effect on it and how it either changed or cemented something you know about yourself. Something real." he told them, getting grins as some of them were talking about memories as children that were the reason, they wanted to be heroes. "This is going to happen during a double hour at the end of the week that is going to be your Homeroom class that bleeds into your English class. No vulgar language." he added, glancing at Bakugo. "Any questions?"
"Which teachers are going to be there?" Ochako asked curiously.
"There will be me. Eraserhead. Hound Dog. And Nezu."
"Any limits?" Idia asked.
"No. Just something that truly reflects something about yourself and your life." Mic told them. "You have the rest of this hour to begin. Then you have two more days before you'll present your stories on Friday. Other than that, let your creativity flow." Mic told them, and the class burst into excitement as they either found a partner or started work. Mic watched his class. Among the ones who were going solo, because of course they were, were Bakugo, Todoroki, and Yaoyorozu. Among the groups were Mina and Kirishima, which made sense because they had gone to the same middle school and probably shared experiences. Hagakure and Ochaco who had bonded over something it seemed. And... Mic paused in his perusal of the class.
Izuku and Hitoshi. They were both amazing students. They were smart and dedicated to being underground heroes from what he had learned from Shota. They were also quiet. They rarely spoke if they could avoid it, instead either not talking at all, or falling into JSL. They worked hard to keep others at a distance, classmates and teachers both. For most of the students in class 1A, the USJ had brought any number of them together. Almost all of them had some connection with another student, even Shoto Todoroki had wound up getting dragged to the sides of Yaoyorozu, Koda, Ojiro, and Tokoyami. But it had been like the opposite for those two. They stuck tighter together and kept others farther away. The teachers noticed that Ochaco's group, who had succeeded in sometimes getting the two boys to interact with them and the rest of the class, had been in particularly worried and devastated when they stopped succeeding with that mission.
It had him and all the other teachers worried. It was getting to the point that having them in a mandatory session with Hound Dog was looking more and more likely. What Mic had yet to tell this class, was that there was a guest coming in who had a special quirk. Their quirk would play the memories the story they tell is coming from to help with the interpretation of the story, so it isn't misunderstood. Explain the thoughts behind their stories. They were hoping to figure out something more about those two students. Nezu had done his research on them, but other than their transcripts from middle school, the orphanage they were in, their biological last names that they legally didn't use, and their quirks- or lack thereof in Izuku's case- there was nothing on them that could be found. They were hopeful that this would help them understand more about the two students.
: The Assignment:
Friday had come quicker than many of the students had expected. This Resulted in nervousness from a lot of the students, even more so when their guest and their quirk were made known. They had gotten blanket permission from guardians to have the quirk used in cooperation with the assignment. Izuku and Hitoshi had paled the most, looking almost sick when they heard. And it was concerning to the heroes present. But there wasn't any going back now. The class passed as each group got a story or poem about something that really affected their lives, at least from their point of view. And it was eye opening to everyone who was witness to it. Like Tsuyu and her younger siblings. Koda and his love of animals, from those being his first companions. Mina and Kirishima and the villain attack from middle school. Bakugo's own experience with a villain before UA and All-Might saving him. Music from Jiro and Kaminari. And so, it continued.
Until the last ones in class, the ones who had spent this time keeping one eye on the stories of their classmates. And the other eye on any escape route they might find. When it was finally their turn, no one, especially the teachers were ready for what their story, presented as a song, was going to reveal about the two children. And they hadn't realized just how deeply their scars truly went as they watched the event that so drastically changed their lives. And cemented in them their beliefs even firmer.
(Song: The Neighbors by Rosendale)
"Say hello,
To the couple that just moved in.
Wonder where they're from and where they've been,
Don't forget to bring cookies and the brownie tin
Ring the door,
Painted faces and sparkling eyes.
Picture perfect with their pearly whites.
Nice to meet you hope to see you again sometime"
They were a young, newlywed couple. One with many years, even decades, ahead of them. And they had requested to foster- maybe even adopt- both boys. It was already difficult to find people who would have accepted one of the boys, let alone both of them. Izuku and Hitoshi learned not to get their hopes up. The matron had tried to get the couple to reconsider, telling them about how seven other couples had ended up returning them just from fostering. And that was in the span of two years. They were never gone from the orphanage for more than six months. Izuku and Hitoshi were curses that brought ruin to those around them. The couple had said it was awful to claim that two 12-year-old boys were the cause of misfortune. They were children. The matron had even pointed out Hitoshi's villainous quirk. And Izuku's quirklessness. The couple hadn't cared, their own quirks not all that flashy either.
The matron had no choice but to go through with the fostering, since there weren't any legal reasons not too. But she knew she would be seeing them within a couple months. Izuku and Hitoshi were right there with her. But all three of them had been wrong. It had almost been a full year before they returned to that hell hole of an orphanage. And it wasn't long before they had left it themselves, to avoid another tragedy like the one that was going to happen.
"But ,they don't know
When the night comes,
I can hear the wicked things they say
From my bedroom window,
All the messes that they've made.
They fight and yell and scream,
Smash the glass like no one's listening
I guess everybody's got their problems."
The fighting had started about six months into their new foster home. Izuku and Hitoshi had begun to let their guards down because it had been the longest, they've been somewhere. The longest they had been out of the orphanage since they had wound up there. They had let their guards down too soon. That first night they heard the raised voices and shattering glass; their guards had gone back up. And they hid under the bed as they hear what was going on.
'Cause they say things like:
Why did you cheat on me?
Get out of my house,
It's time for you to leave.
Please don't make me go.
I don't wanna be alone forever.
But hush now,
Please don't scream
The neighbors, they can hear everything.
Shush now
Please don't scream,
The neighbors, they can hear everything"
It wasn't the just the neighbors who could hear everything. It was them as well. Weren't they important to consider? But they also hadn't noticed the affair had been going on for two months. They should have though! They should have known that things had been too good to last. It was their curse all over again. They spent the rest of the night under the bed, scared and unsure. Trying to rebuild the walls they had let down in those months of peace. But at the same time, wanting to see if they could salvage the couple's relationship. Fix what they must have had a hand in breaking.
"Hi, hello.
Didn't mean to bug you guys today.
I'm just checking if you're all okay,
Heard some noises coming from your apartment late at night.
Oh no,
There ain't nothing wrong in paradise.
Must have been somebody else's fight.
Nice to see you gotta run we'll keep it down next time."
The couple had tried to shield Izuku and Hitoshi. They insisted that it wasn't them. It must have been one of their neighbors. Izuku and Hitoshi knew better. They. Knew. Better. But they had been desperate to keep that peace that had been there before. That acceptance and happiness they hadn't known outside of each other. The belonging they had, no matter how brief. So, they allowed themselves to be blinded. And that blindness only hurt them when it all got worse.
"But they don't know,
When the night comes,
I can hear them call out their mistakes,
From my bedroom window.
All the love has been erased."
Hitoshi figured that they were the reason the couple had lost the love that had been between them. The love that had gotten them married eight months before. After all, weren't they the common denominator in this?
"They fight, and yell and scream.
Do they even know how they started arguing?
I guess everybody's got their problems"
Izuku had noticed how the fights started to be about more than the affair. Money. Work. The stress that was starting to be put on the two boys. The fear of the two boys who knew something was wrong. The couple had begun to blame each other for everything that had gone wrong. It hurt that they still refused to blame the obvious causes of their problems. Why couldn't they just blame him and Hitoshi? Just send them back like everyone else before them had. That was what they were used too after all. It didn't hurt like this did. Like seeing a couple that had been so happy and full of life and optimism, spiral into hate and contempt because of them.
"'Cause they say things like:
Why did you cheat on me?
Get out of my house,
It's time for you to leave.
Please don't make me go.
I don't wanna be alone forever.
But hush now,
Please don't scream.
The neighbors, they can hear everything.
Shush now
Please don't scream.
The neighbors, they can hear everything"
The two boys had fallen asleep in the closet to the sound of the arguing, having been too exhausted to keep themselves awake like they usually did. They woke up in their bed. And when they went downstairs, he was the only adult still in the house. His wife having been the one to put them to bed and say good bye to them. Their curse had struck again. And neither boy knew how to handle being chosen when they didn't deserve it. So they clung closer together.
"Oh, how, the mighty fall.
Castle in flames from a hole inside my wall.
I guess everybody's got their problems
'Cause they say things like:
Please.
Please come back to me.
I should have never tried to make you leave."
He had begun to drink, but he was never a violent drunk and tried to keep it from them. He was always sad but kept up a fake smile for them. But there was only so much Izuku and Hitoshi could do to make things better for him. That was how months passed. He tried to be happy for them. And they were good for him. They did their best keep his spirits up. And when she visited, the adults put their problems aside as they both tried everything in their power to make the two boys understand that no, they weren't to blame for the choices of adults. Izuku and Hitoshi almost believed them. Then it happened.
"I won't ever go.
You and I were meant to be together.
But hush now.
Please don't scream.
The neighbors, they can hear everything.
Shush now.
Please don't scream.
The neighbors, they can hear everything"
He was a violent drunk. Not the husband. Never him. The man she had had an affair with so long ago. The two adults had been working on reconciling their differences. Probably for the sake of the two boys they had taken in that were only just starting to believe them when the adults said they weren't a curse. He had barged into the house without permission in a drunken rage. He said if he couldn't have her, no one could. Her husband told her to take the boys and run. She did so, the sound of fighting breaking out below them as she took them to the study. In the study, there was a bay window with a bench attached to it. That bench was hollow. She hid them there and told them not to leave until her or her husband came to get them. Then she closed the lid and used her quirk to place up a mirage that would hide their hiding place from any one with ill intentions. It didn't block out the sounds though.
They could hear everything, as the adults that they had come to love and consider the closest thing to parents they had ever had, fought for their lives. They heard every connection of fists and objects on skin. The screams and cried of pain. Her agonized cry of grief when the man had fatally wounded her husband and was silenced herself. The man shouting about how he would go deal with the brats now that they weren't protected. The sound of a gun as her husband shot the man before he could make more than a step towards their hiding place. Then silence. Painful, suffocating silence filled the home and Izuku and Hitoshi clung to each other in their hiding place.
"I can hear everything".
It had felt like hours later before Hitoshi and Izuku left their hiding place. It had felt like hours since they had heard anything at all to indicate any sign of life. They had crept downstairs and found the blood bath that awaited them. They called the police, and things were a blur from there. They wound up in that same orphanage again. And everyone made sure that they understood that they were the ones who had gotten a kind and innocent couple killed. Just because they existed.
"I can hear everything."
Even now, that night haunts their dreams. Even now, they knew they were the reason that innocent people died. Even now, they wondered if they deserved to live for their crime. Their crime of existing.