Chapter 8: To Question Everything (Ep. 23-27)
With their island vacation cut short, 3-E spent their final days of summer on their own. Most caught up on much-needed sleep, while others spent time with family and friends. Everyone was taking their own time, just to be happy to be alive.
Hitoshi went to visit his father.
It's been a while since he last visited, he realized as he entered the room — since before he transferred to E-class. The nurse changing out the IV gave him the same, pitiful smile all hospital staff had when they saw him. Her eyes lingered on the bandaged shoulder and arm tucked in a sling, but she didn't say anything as she departed. Hitoshi sighed, pulling a chair up next to the bed and taking a seat.
"You really need to think about redecorating the place, Dad," he said, taking a look around. "The white and gray aesthetic really washes everything out. Definitely not a good look for you." His eyes landed on a bouquet of withered flowers that he brought the last time he visited. "Seriously, does no one clean up around here? It's not that hard to throw stuff away."
To make his point, Hitoshi picked up the decayed bouquet and tossed it in the bin. In the past, he'd always bring a replacement, but money has only gotten tighter lately. Time that could be spared for shifts was now dedicated to training and assassination plots.
Collapsing back in his seat, he ran his fingers gently over his bandaged shoulder. "Well, I guess that solidifies that nothing has changed for you since the last time I visited, huh? I'm afraid I can't say the same. Things...things have certainly gotten crazy in the past months. I mean, the moon freaking exploded for one — though I'm sure you already know that. It's been the talk of the century. If only you could know the whole story, though…"
He glanced up. Even after all these years, it was weird to see his father appear to be sleeping. Before the accident, Hitoshi only saw his father 'sleep' four times — and even that had to be drug-induced by a doctor. His quirk made it so his brain never felt the urge to rest and could go upward to a year without ever sleeping before his body would completely give out. Now, after the accident, a comatose sleep was his only appearance.
Unable to look much longer, Hitoshi cast his gaze back at his lap.
"So much has happened, Dad. I've changed so much — and not just in the small, expected ways I've told you in the past. Remember how I told you I wanted to become a Pro-Hero? Well, I think it might actually happen now. I have this insane opportunity in front of me, and while it's not what most people wanting to become a hero would expect to take, I think it's really setting me up to make the U.A. Hero Course. I have all these friends in my new class; people actually talk to me now. They're not scared of me like everyone else…" Hitoshi inhaled sharply as his head shot up to look at his father again. "If only you could see — huh?"
Standing on the opposite side of the bed was Korosensei dressed in his pitiful human disguise and holding some kind of sign. Not even bothering to read it, Hitoshi stood.
"Uh, something just came up. I gotta go, Dad...bye, I guess."
He pushed at his octopus teacher, silencing all his protests with a sharp hush. Once they were outside the room and the door was closed, Hitoshi spun on his teacher. "What are you doing here? I thought we were supposed to be spending the rest of our vacation on our own. You know, to recuperate or whatever?"
The octopus sniffled and held up the paper. "We were, but I just got so lonely, so I thought I'd ask everyone if they wanted to go to a summer festival. Please say yes, everyone keeps rejecting me!"
"Maybe it's because we're all traumatized from our last summer trip. Or, you know, like to have lives outside of school," he muttered, which only made Korosensei pout more. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Hitoshi relented.
"Fine, I'll go. But you better not come stalking me outside of school again, okay?"
Korosensei nodded, but his excitable attitude had faded away, replaced by that all-knowing persona he got when trying to empathize with you. "That was your father in there, wasn't it?"
Hitoshi huffed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "What's it matter to you?"
"He's comatose, correct? It's in your school records."
Hitoshi paused and sighed as he scratched the back of his neck. "Has been for nearly six years with little signs of improvement." He eyed his father through the window. "His brain activity is the only sign he's still alive, though that's probably because of his quirk; it's impossible to shut that thing off. The doctors say they think that since his brain is still so active, he likely can hear and feel everything around him…"
"So that's why you talk to him?"
"And why I have to be careful with what he hears," Hitoshi gave Korosensei a pointed glare. "I'm pretty sure the nurses think it's just some weird coping technique, but it's not. I've already accepted this reality years ago. I just always thought...if he does wake up, I don't want him to be completely lost. I want him to already know how the world has changed — how I've changed. I don't want him to wake up and not- not even recognize me."
His eyes were downcast the whole time, which was why he was so startled when a handkerchief was thrust in his face.
"Wha-?" he swatted the cloth away. "I'm not even crying, Korosensei."
"I know, but I am!" the octopus sobbed, using the cloth to blow his nonexistent nose. "It's just so heartbreaking knowing one of my students has had to endure such pain. Don't be afraid to cry too, Shinsou. As a teacher, I am highly qualified to console students during emotional times."
"That's debatable."
-.-.-.-
Despite how Korosensei made it out to be, the class turnout for the festival wasn't actually that bad. He immediately made his way over to Midoriya, who was fiddling with the gray yukata he was wearing.
"Not you too," the quirkless boy whined when Hitoshi approached. "I shouldn't have listened to my mom when she insisted I wear this. I'm the only boy in the class who wore traditional clothes."
It was true. While most of the girls were dolled up in bright-colored yukatas, the boys were just wearing the usual street clothes. Hitoshi smirked playfully.
"Sorry," he said, not sorry at all. "But I think I've had my fair share of dress-up for a while."
That was only partially true. While he was scarred from anything outside his usual wardrobe, he also hadn't owned a piece of traditional clothing since before his parents died. It wasn't an expense most foster parents, even the nicer ones, saw as necessary.
Trying to ease his friend's discomfort, the duo set off through the festival to check out the attractions, spotting multiple classmates along the way. They passed Chiba and Hayami first, who got banned from the shooting games despite swearing they didn't usetheir quirks; Karma, on the other hand, openly used his quirk to call out a game booth for ripping off customers.
"You know, by the way Korosensei whined about it, you'd think no one would be here. I only agreed because I pitied him," Hitoshi noted as the duo grabbed some shaved ice. Midoriya nodded thoughtfully.
"I heard he got so desperate that he even invited Lovro."
Hitoshi involuntarily shivered. "Could you imagine a guy like that hanging around a bunch of children at a festival?"
"He's not that bad," Izuku argued, but still looked perplexed. "It's weird, though. When I messaged him about it later, all I got was a notice that his phone was no longer in order."
"Eh, he's probably on some top-secret assassination gig and had to go all radio silent or something."
"Yeah, probably…"
Hitoshi sighed and patted his friend's shoulder. "C'mon, let's go find a game. I bet I can get more carnival prizes than you, even if I can only use one arm."
"You're on!"
After Hitoshi crushed Midoriya at the basketball hoops game, a girl with pink skin and hair ran up to them, looking a mix of shocked and enraged.
"How were you so good at that game? You're even injured!" she said, gesturing to Hitoshi's sling.
The duo glanced between each other and Midoriya laughed. "Our, uh, schooling gets a little unique at times. Teaches us a lot of odd tricks that end up being surprisingly useful in real life."
The pink girl eyed them suspiciously as they all held their breaths before she broke out into a wide smile. "Wow, that's so cool! I wish my school would teach me more useful things than boring stuff in books. I can't wait until I get into U.A. so I can finally start learning the real stuff," she said wistfully. Midoriya perked.
"You wanna go to U.A. too?"
"Ashido Mina, future Pro-Hero at your service! I'm going to learn to be a great hero at U.A. and take down the ultimate villain: the Tentacle!" she cheered, lost in her fantasy and oblivious to the nervous boys next to her. Hitoshi forgot that no one else in the world knew of Korosensei's threat to blow up the earth in a year. He tried to stomach the bile that arose at the thought.
"Hey, you said you're wanting to go to U.A. too, right?" she said, spinning back toward them. "What are your names? Maybe we'll be classmates one day!"
She got uncomfortably close to Midoriya, and he clammed up. "Oh, well, I'm, uh, my name is, uh—"
"Hey, look, the fireworks show is starting!" someone shouted, interrupting the awkward moment. The exuberant girl spun around to look at the sky.
"Oh, cool!" she cheered. "I gotta go, sorry! Catch you later, future classmates!"
Ashido scampered off, leaving the two boys on their own again. Hitoshi could only stare, still not quite sure what just happened. Midoriya looked equally lost.
"So…" Hitoshi said, clearing his voice. "Fireworks, anyone?"
-.-.-.-
Following the festival, the students of 3-E finally got to spend the remainder of their break on their own time. While at work, Hitoshi caught sight of the day's newspaper, noting that the main story was yet again about the egg surplus plaguing the nation at the time. For a brief second, he contemplated if it was possible to take advantage of this for an assassination plot.
"Nah," he decided, mumbling to himself as he stocked shelves. "Who tries to use eggs in an assassination anyway?"
-.-.-.-
"So," Hitoshi drawled as the first four classmates joined the jail. "Looks like Karasuma's pretty tough, even on his own."
"More like a monster," Okajima said. "We didn't stand a chance."
As their first training assignment getting back from summer break, Karasuma set up a game of cops and robbers, with him and Korosensei being the 'cops' and the students the 'robbers'. The goal was to avoid capture at all costs. Since being chased down by a supersonic villain was too unfair, Karasuma was the only one who could tag people out, while Korosensei was in charge of watching the jail (which he was taking very seriously, if his police costume was anything to go by).
And Hitoshi, still injured and forbidden from participating, was put in charge of passing out the worksheets for those thrown in jail.
"C'mon, dude, aren't you supposed to be on our side?" Okajima protested as he passed out their punishment. Hitoshi shrugged.
"I don't really believe in taking sides," he said, trying not to get too much joy out of Okajima's "Oh, come on, really?" that followed.
Hitoshi sat on his phone, texting back and forth with a panicking Midoriya — "It's like he's everywhere and nowhere, Shinsou!" — and tried to not get too annoyed with the sling around his arm. Really, he should be grateful. Not only does he get to sit out of physical education, but he also gets a free pass on all the jail homework assignments. Sugaya and, oddly enough, Bitch-sensei joined the jail circle by the time Shinsou spotted Sugino (who, if he recalled, was traveling with Midoriya, Nagisa, Karma, and Okuda) signaling to Okajima. He's not sure what they're planning, but considering who Sugino was with, it'll probably work.
He tried — like, really tried — to remain impassive as Okajima passed a sexy picture of the new Pro-Hero Mt. Lady, even moving courtesy of Sugaya's quirk, to their teacher. But after Korosensei took the bribe and allowed Sugino to run by and tag everyone in, he couldn't help but glare at his teacher.
"You know, for such a powerful creature, you really can be so pitiful."
Korosensei cried as he buried his face in the pornographic picture. "I know!"
-.-.-.-
Hitoshi was at work again, taking the early shift before school and restocking the shelves next to the magazines when he saw it. And without much of a second thought, he grabbed the affronting object and marched it right to the hands of his fellow E-classers.
"Uh...you okay, Shinsou?" Midoriya asked, scared to look at what Hitoshi slammed on his desk. He made some flailing hand motions, too disgusted to speak, and Midoriya read the magazine cover aloud to their curious classmates.
"A Neighborhood Shaken! The Tentacle Spotted Targeting F-Cups and Above. Number One Villain Turned Underwear Thief?"
"What? Let me see that," Nakamura said, snatching it away and thumbing through the article. "Gross! I mean, we all knew he was a pervert, but this is a new low, even for him."
"Gooooood morning class! How are we doing to- eh?" the octopus in question froze when he noticed the deadly stares from his students.
"Alright, creep, it's time to come clean!" Terasaka demanded, grabbing the magazine and shoving it in Korosensei's face.
"How could you do such a thing, sir?" said Kanzaki.
"What? No! These are unbacked accusations! I'm innocent, I swear!" their teacher cried.
"Oh yeah?" Hayami challenged. "Well, since your reputation won't do much for you, what's your alibi for the nights of the attacks then?"
"Ali-what?" Korosensei croaked. "Class, c'mon, you know me better than this! I'm an outstanding citizen, I swear!"
"You're the Number One Villain in the world, sir," Nagisa deadpanned, and their teacher whimpered.
"Please, you gotta believe me! Anyone? Isogai?"
The male class representative, ever the peacekeeper, held his hands up placatingly. "Let's be rational, guys. Sure, Korosensei is a creep who reads adult magazines, takes pornographic pictures as bribes...and stares at pinups during recess...and sends weird messages to Pro-Hero Midnight's agency...wow, you really are a pervert."
Even Isogai turned his back to their teacher. Korosensei cried out in despair, his panic evident. Hitoshi rolled his eyes.
"Why don't you just prove your innocence, huh?"
The octopus perked up. "Of course! Follow me, class, I'll show you what a changed man I can become!"
They followed Korosensei to his office, where he proceeded to throw away his...immense...collection of adult magazines. When he reached the bottom, however, instead of pulling out more pornographic material, he held a bright purple...bra?
"You're joking, right?" Terasaka said, and even Hazama seemed disgusted.
"Hey, what's this?" Okano said, picking the roll call book off the desk. "Korosensei...did you write our cup sizes next to all of the girls' names?!"
"What?" Hitoshi and many of his classmates echoed as they scrambled to get a look at the list, looking at the handwritten info listing how Yada was an E cup, or how Okuda was an A. Then he felt his brain malfunction when he passed over his own name.
"Why the hell do I have a letter next to my name?!" he screamed. "Did you measure me when I was dressed up in that stupid disguise?"
Midoriya held him back, and good thing he did, or else he would have forgone his injury altogether and attacked the pervert right then, right there.
"No, please you gotta understand, this is just one big misunderstand-" their teacher begged, scrambling to find something to redeem himself with, but instead just ended up pulling out more stacks of bras.
Hitoshi was sick.
"Disgusting," Nakamura spat as the class turned a cold shoulder to their whimpering teacher.
"What an embarrassment," Hitoshi muttered as he walked away, avoiding the roll call book (not even he knew that the bra for his drag disguise was a C cup). "Jolly Green, you coming?"
The quirkless boy was the only one who hadn't moved, looking concerned and lost in thought. He jumped when he heard his nickname. "Huh? Oh, y-yeah," he sputtered, leaving the room and shooting looks back the entire time.
-.-.-.-
"Something's not right," Midoriya said, breaking the silence as the class sat in a teacherless room. Korosensei was too ashamed to attend the day's lessons.
"Yeah," Sugino agreed. "Our teacher is the world's biggest pervert."
"No, I mean," Midoriya argued, taking a deep breath. "Sure, Korosensei has a bit of a pornography problem—"
"A bit?" Hitoshi muttered.
"—and yeah, his addiction is quite concerning, but the whole situation with the bras being everywhere...it just doesn't make any sense."
"I don't understand, Midoriya," said Nagisa.
"I do."
Karma reached under his desk and tossed Nagisa a basketball with a pink bra wrapped around it. "Found this in the storage shed," he said. "Just sitting in plain sight. Now, we all know Korosensei is no idiot. His entire world is dedicated to being our teacher. And you don't need a quirk like mine to know what he'd choose if it came down to his assassination or our respect for him."
It was true. Korosensei would likely rather die than let his class think so lowly of him.
"Okay, but then who's the sicko doing all of this? The reports say the criminal spotted resembled the Tentacle, and I don't know about you, but there's not exactly an abundance of yellow flying octopuses in this world," Nakamura argued.
"An imposter," murmured Fuwa, capturing the class's attention. "Nagisa, pass me that ball."
The aspiring detective placed both hands on the object. Her eyes flashed white. "I see now. While whoever doing this has a face that looks very similar to Korosensei, they have human hands, and they seem to have deliberately planted this ball in the storage shed. It's a fake sensei! Oldest crime troupe in the book!" She clutched a manga to her chest dramatically. "This means someone out there is framing our teacher and we have to catch them! Who's with me?"
"I am," Karma volunteered, surprising everyone. Karma was usually the last to volunteer for anything, except for beating someone up. "I don't know what motivation the real culprit has, but we need to put a stop to it before the rumor mill runs Korosensei out of town, taking our bounty with him."
"And if we do catch the fake, the octopus will be in our debt," Hitoshi noted, and Karma smirked.
"Looks like we got a perv to catch."
-.-.-.-
In the end, their mission team consisted of the rainbow hair crew, Fuwa, and strangely enough, Terasaka. Fuwa hide them outside some camp for entertainment groups where a girl group was staying. According to Takebayashi, there was 99.78% chance their criminal would strike here next. Hitoshi just hoped they were right because he snuck out after curfew for this, so it better not be for nothing.
"Whatever," Hitoshi mumbled after Fuwa finished her genius detective spiel. "Just wake me up at the good part."
His eyes were barely even closed before Midoriya was elbowing him in the side. "Look!" he hissed before Hitoshi could even protest.
On the opposite side of the treeline, they could see Korosensei sneaking around in a suspicious dark get-up.
"I really hope he's here to catch the fake too because that outfit's doing nothing to help his case," muttered Terasaka.
As if summoned, a second yellow-headed creature jumped out of nowhere and began snatching the underwear hanging on clotheslines at an alarming speed — but not a supernatural one. Korosensei pinned him with ease.
"How dare you try to impersonate me and embarrass me in front of my students! Who are you? Show us your true face!"
The group of students stood from their hiding spot to get a better view of the imposter, so they all got a front-row seat as the fake-sensei's head shrunk down, revealing...a man Hitoshi did not recognize in the slightest.
"Hey, isn't that one of the agents that works for Karasuma?" Midoriya asked — because of course he'd recognize a random face like that. "What motive could he possibly have for-"
Out of nowhere, a large white contraption sprung up, trapping Korosensei and the fake inside.
"The government loaned me one of Karasuma's men to act as a decoy to lure you in," a chillingly familiar voice said. "We made this trap out of anti-sensei sheets, making it easy for anyone but you to escape." Brandishing his typical white uniform, Shiro walked out from the shadows as the decoy agent crawled out of the trap. Hitoshi was wide awake now, adrenaline spiking. "We were inspired by the impressive plan your students devised on the island. Lure, confine, and strike, isn't that right, children?" Shiro glanced back at them. Hitoshi swore he saw the man's beady purple eyes linger on Midoriya.
"Prepare for your death, Korosensei." Shiro snapped his fingers. A shadow passed over them, and Hitoshi saw Itona floating above them with anti-sensei material weaponized on his tentacles. Itona punched, lashing down inside the trap at lightning speed. The white sheets made it impossible to see inside, so Hitoshi could only hope Korosensei could dodge; however, the occasional hiss or yelp hinted at how well he was faring.
"Shiro!" Terasaka called out. "I should've known you would be behind a scheme like this."
Shiro hummed. "Fortunately for us, the predictability of this outcome was overshadowed by the circumstances around it. Your teacher was so blinded by the desire to prove himself to you students that he overlooked any sort of threat."
Hitoshi gritted his teeth, feeling helpless. Korosensei and Itona were talking, but without any sight or visual of how the battle was progressing, he didn't know how to help. Gritting his teeth, he recalled their last effort to stop Shiro and Itona, and how they succeeded by separating the two. While he might not be able to stop Korosensei's outright attacker, he could still target the mastermind. With his good hand, he whipped out his capture rings, lassoing them around Shiro's arms. The man grunted and broke one arm free with few calculated maneuvers (it would seem, despite sending a child to do his bidding, Shiro wasn't completely defenseless), but it was enough to distract Itona and let Korosensei recuperate.
Shiro growled — now Itona was losing. "You insolent brats are more trouble than you're worth," he stated, pulling on the remaining ring. Hitoshi stumbled, and since he was down an arm, he didn't have anything to catch himself with. Midoriya saved him before he faceplanted
"You should know by now that I have no issue sacrificing you all for the sake of my success," Shiro sneered, reaching into his robes and pulling out another strange, dangerous device, and again he was eyeing Midoriya way too much for comfort and—
"Not on my watch, you don't!" Korosensei called out, and the trap glowed. "My assassination experience with the kids on the island taught me how to harness the energy of my ultimate defense form into the tips of my tentacles instead of my whole body. After all, assassination is education, which means the teacher can only grow stronger with every lesson!"
The glow just intensified, and no one could brace themselves before the world became nothing but light.
-.-.-.-
As everything regained its normal coloring, the first thing Hitoshi noticed was that his capture ring had retracted. The second thing was Itona's screaming. The boy rolled out of Korosensei's tentacles and withered in pain, crying out about how much it hurt. Their teacher looked at a loss.
"The pain of defeat has become too much to bear," Shiro said emotionlessly, like his (ward, protégée, tool?) wasn't crying out. "The tentacles on his head are attacking his brain now. It's a shame, really, but I guess it goes to show that it's time to cut your losses before they grow too great. I need to move on to my next project anyway. So long, Itona."
Shiro walked away, much to everyone's horror.
"You can't just abandon Itona like that! You're his guardian!" Korosensei cried out.
"Says the villain playing teacher," Shiro mocked. "You feign concern for them when you bring terror to the world. Mark my words, Korosensei. I will stop you. I will kill you. And I'm not above targeting your precious students to do it."
Before anyone could react, Shiro pulled out his mysterious weapon again and fired an oddly colored ball of electricity at Midoriya. The boy went down with a scream matching Itona's, and rage blinded Hitoshi.
"You bastard!" he screamed, lashing out with his capture rings again. This time, however, Shiro was prepared and batted them away with a scoff.
"Your little toys won't stop me. Nothing will," he said, and without a glance back, Shiro disappeared over the fence. Before anyone could go after him, however, Itona let out a pained, gut-wrenching cry, his tentacles going haywire. Korosensei jumped between him and the group of students, protecting them from being struck. Itona shakily stood up, launched into the sky with a guttural scream and disappeared as well.
"What's wrong with him?" Nagisa wondered aloud, but Hitoshi didn't care about Itona or his tentacles. He made a running dive for his best friend, who was lying on the floor and groaning quietly.
"Midoriya! Shit, are you okay?"
His friend whimpered as Hitoshi pulled him into a seated position. "Y-Yeah," Midoriya whispered, his body all twitchy from the strange electric attack. "Just a little...a little woozy."
Korosensei appeared on the other side of Midoriya and scooped the boy into his tentacles. "Better not do anything to strain yourself, my boy," he comforted. "We don't know what that attack did to you yet."
"What are we going to do, Korosensei?" Fuwa asked, and their teacher sighed.
"Shinsou, I want you to stay back with Midoriya and make sure he's okay. As his teacher, it's now up to me to make sure Itona is safe." Korosensei blurred and quick-changed into his usual teaching uniform.
"Can we come with you, Korosensei? We want to help!" Nagisa asked. Korosensei paused, looking conflicted.
"Alright, but if it becomes too dangerous, I will send you all away. But for now, the more eyes looking, the better. Who knows how long we have to save that boy."
-.-.-.-
It wasn't too hard to find Itona. Ritsu reported a string of bizarre cell phone business attacks popping up in the area, and the others went to investigate, leaving Shinsou and Midoriya camped out in their hiding spot. His friend was recuperating well, all things considered, only twitching every once in a while now. The tremor in his hands, no matter how hard Midoriya tried to mask it, remained.
"Jolly Green," Hitoshi said cautiously. "Are you positive you're fine? I will brainwash you if you keep lying to me and you know it."
The corner of Midoriya's mouth quirked up, just to fall back into a frown. "I feel fine now...physically, at least."
"And mentally?"
"Mentally…" The boy trailed off, his eyes growing distant. "This buzzing in my head won't go away, and I don't know, it's just. I know I've gotten a lot stronger this past year with training and Korosensei's help; there's no denying that. It's just...sometimes I just feel so weak and — and it's moments like this that make it so much more obvious. Makes it feel like I'm just kidding myself."
"Midoriya…"
"Like, I keep telling myself that I can become a hero, that I fight an enemy most heroes can't, that I'm becoming strong. But at the same time, I'm still quirkless, and nothing will ever change that. Even if I defeat the one enemy All-Might couldn't stop, that doesn't mean I'm anywhere near as strong as All-Might. No matter how much I train, it'll never be enough."
The boy kept mumbling to himself, most of it unintelligible at this point, and his distress was escalating fast. Knowing he had to act now, Hitoshi moved in front of his friend and grabbed his trembling arms.
"Midoriya," he said, but it fell on deaf ears. "Midoriya. Jolly Green. Izuku. "
That got the boy's attention. He froze instantly, looking at Hitoshi with wide eyes.
"Wha—"
"Calm down."
He brainwashed his friend into submission, not feeling the least bit sorry about it. If he let Midoriya's mental state escalate any further, who knows what kind of situation they'd be stuck in. The effects were instantaneous. The trembling stopped, his breathing evened, his mumbling ceased. Shinsou held on for a few moments longer, just to be safe, before releasing his quirk, as well as his hold on Midoriya's wrists. They sat there as a tense moment of silence passed before Midoriya released a shaky breath.
"T-That's how you used your quirk when we first met," his best friend whispered. Hitoshi couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh yeah? Well, I'll do it again too if you keep it up, you self-deprecating ball of anxiety."
They both chuckled at that before settling into a much more comfortable silence. Midoriya shifted so he was sitting upright and stared him down intensely.
"Shinsou. There's something I need to tell-"
An explosion went off, filling the area with suffocating smog. Hitoshi grabbed onto his friend's sleeve, unable to properly see him anymore.
"I apologize," Shiro's voice called out (where did he come from?!). "Along with pretending to cast the boy aside, I needed to isolate little Midoriya here. I hope my weapon didn't wound you too badly."
Someone clad in white (not Shiro though. A lackey, maybe?) knocked the two boys apart, sending Hitoshi to the ground hard enough to hit his head. Despite the fog from the bomb and the pain in his head, he heard some kind of mechanical contraption going off, followed by Midoriya screaming. He ran out of the smog and watched, horrified, as his best friend, trapped in a net, was carted in the back of a truck and taken away.
In a blurry panic, Hitoshi pulled out his phone and pulled up the emergency line Ritsu monitored.
"Ritsu," he said, coughing the smog out of his lungs. "Contact the class. We've got a Code Red."
-.-.-.-
After hearing that Shiro took Itona and Midoriya, Korosensei tried to take off on his own, claiming he was the one who let Shiro get this far, so it was his responsibility to put a stop to it. Fortunately, no one listened to him.
E-class snuck up on the scene undetected to find Korosensei being slowed down by pressure rays and fired on at all corners. Laying at the feet of the evil mastermind, both unconscious and trapped in separate nets were Itona and Midoriya. The sight of it boiled Hitoshi's bloodlust. By the time Isogai signalled them to attack, he was buzzing with energy. As gracefully as a one-armed person could, he jumped down from his branch and kicked his target to the ground. Many of his other classmates did the same while the ones on the floor focused on tying up the subdued foes.
"Sorry to drop in on you like this," Karma mocked Shiro. "While taking Itona was one thing, I'm afraid capturing one of our own is simply unacceptable."
Korosensei, now no longer being fired on, came to a stop next to his gathering students. "Excellent work, class!" he said. "Now, Shiro, I highly encourage you to step down. If you refuse, I promise I will not hold back. Once you involve my students, I cannot ignore such a threat."
Shiro sighed. "How infinitely irritating your class is proving to be," the white-clad man muttered. "Nonetheless, I've finished my business here. You can keep Itona if you so desire. He'll only live for another two days anyway."
And with that, Shiro disappeared yet again. Hitoshi freed his best friend from the net and sighed in relief when Midoriya groaned.
"S-Shinsou?" he mumbled, and Hitoshi couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah, I'm here, you troublesome shrubbery," the brainwasher said, glancing at his hovering classmates. "We all are."
-.-.-.-
Korosensei said that they couldn't remove the tentacles until they got Itona to drop his fixation on winning. Not even their genius teacher knew how to do that — though it was probably because no one could have foreseen Terasaka and his gang. They came out of nowhere and swooped the suffering boy right up, saying things like how "We mutant quirks gotta stick together." Using a bandana made of anti-sensei material to keep the tentacles in check, they towed him around all night doing stupid things you'd expect from a dumb delinquent group, while the remainder of E-class watched the bubbling disaster from afar.
"Dear lord, this is a travesty," muttered Hitoshi after watching Yoshida, who was showing off his quirk at his family's race track, launch Itona into the bushes.
"I feel like we should take cover," said Midoriya, who was doing better but still leaning on Hitoshi for support.
It was right idea. Itona's tentacles broke out of the bandana and the boy was screaming at the group about wanting to win. Yoshida, Muramatsu, and Hazama sensically started to run away, but Terasaka, the idiot, stood his ground like the overly proud, stupid lion he was.
Just when Hitoshi thought Terasaka was going to be made into a fur coat, the lion boy stopped Itona's tentacle with his hands and roared using his quirk, making the earth rumble.
"Look, you're not the only one with a useful quirk to help you win, bud," Terasaka growled loud enough for everyone to hear. "But hell, if I've learned anything during my time in this sappy class, it's that it doesn't matter how strong you are when it comes to killing the octopus. His power will always outnumber yours, so snap out of it!"
Terasaka slapped a furry hand on Itona's head, but instead of lashing out, the white-haired boy just looked more shocked.
"The only way we're gonna take the dude down is together, with all of us using our quirks to become stronger than him. And it doesn't matter that we've failed a hundred times before; we're in this for the long run, and it only takes one time to win against him. If you do it our way and succeed with us, you can use the prize money to revive your father's tech company. C'mon, man."
"Oh yeah? And what am I supposed to be doing until then?"
The lion snorted. "You act like an idiot like we did tonight to pass the time. It's a simple solution."
At that, Itona lowered his head and the dangerous fire in his eyes went away. Hitoshi scratched the back of his neck, genuinely impressed.
"Wow. Looks like my number one puppet is walking without strings," he said, and Karma laughed.
"Please. He's just saying what only an idiot can say. We're just lucky it happened to work."
Korosensei approached Itona holding tweezers with all of his tentacles. "Well, what do you say, Itona? Ready to get rid of those painful tentacles? I promise, what you lose in individual strength will be more than multiplied in that of joint prowess."
Itona smirked. "Sure. Whatever you say, sensei."
-.-.-.-
"So," Hitoshi said during their morning ritual training session the next day. "What the hell happened with Shiro?"
Due to Shinsou's arm still being wrapped in a sling, their morning sessions had become a lot less fighting and a lot more talking. Which, given the exhausted state his best friend looked to be in the moment, was a good thing.
"C'mon, Jolly Green, don't give me the silent treatment. You look like you're trying to beat me in the eyebag contest; something's clearly up."
That at least got a small smile out of that one. "I'm not sure it's possible to do that."
Hitoshi snorted. "Yeah, yeah, you're a real jokester. Seriously, Izuku," he said, trying the first-name basis out again. It worked well last time. "What the hell happened with Shiro?"
Midoriya gnawed on his lip. "Nothing much, really. He talked a lot about how his quirk allowed him to see a percentage every time he looked at someone, telling him what their potential was for a given situation. And apparently, I had the best potential for luring out Korosensei while causing the least amount of problems."
They sat in silence for a moment, Midoriya's shoulders drooping more and more before Hitoshi scoffed. "Well, his quirk was dead wrong. The dude failed big time last night. I bet he's eating his words now."
"Yeah," Midoriya mumbled with less enthusiasm as usual. "You might be right."
-.-.-.-
Turns out, the biggest shock of the week wasn't the Korosensei pervert scandal, nor Terasaka's gang stepping up to save the day. It was the reveal of Itona's actual quirk.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S YOUR QUIRK?"
After class, Midoriya had noticed Itona tinkering away with a strange device. When asked what he was doing, the white-haired boy explained that he was building a remote control tank to assassinate Korosensei with. That in of itself wasn't that big of a deal; E-class students were well known for combining their hobbies into their assassination plots, like Sugino with his baseball.
No, it wasn't until Midoriya asked how Itona learned to be so well-versed with technology that the commotion started.
"Well, my parents always said I was a prodigy with technology," Itona stated flippantly, not even looking up from his work. "Though really it's just because my quirk allows me to communicate with any electronic I touch."
Hence, the riot.
"Honestly, I'm not sure why we're all that shocked," Hitoshi pondered while holding back a raging Terasaka. "Considering the vast majority of the world has a quirk, it's not surprising he had a different quirk before the tentacles."
"That's not Terasaka's issue here," Hazama said, the creepy shadow appearing out of nowhere. "It's that he's in the gang, but he doesn't have a physical or mutation quirk."
Midoriya looked horrified. "Is he going to kick him out now?"
Muramatsu literally howled in laughter. "Please, Terasaka already admitted he considers Itona a part of his 'pride.' There's no going back now."
"Yeah," Yoshida added. "He'll probably just sulk for a little while before going back to normal."
All the while, the white-haired boy just kept tinkering with his high-tech looking device, undisturbed by the chaos. "Hey, it's not my fault you just assumed I had a mutant quirk because of the tentacles." The kid didn't even blink at the resonating roar.
-.-.-.-
"Uh, Shinsou… What are you doing?"
Midoriya leaned over the desk to get a better look at Hitoshi, who was rifling through Korosensei's desk as discreetly as possible. Though, with his friend standing out in the open and staring at him, it was kind of pointless.
Hitoshi sighed after turning up empty in yet another stack of papers and moved on to the next. For an over-powered octopus, it would seem organization was not a skill he acquired.
"I'm trying to find where Korosensei keeps his roll book."
Midoriya blinked. "Um. Why?"
"Isn't it obvious? So I can burn its existence off the face of the planet." Another stack left unsuccessful. "Stupid creepy octopus writing bra sizes next to students' names. I'm not even a girl, you freak."
He opened up the right-side drawer and was greeted with his prize. "Ah-ha! Hope Korosensei can get a replacement because this is — huh."
Hitoshi paused in his campaign for destruction momentarily, making Midoriya perk up and ask, "What is it?"
The brainwasher held up the sheet to his best friend. "Kimura's given name is Masayoshi...his name is literally Justice if you don't write it out in kanji."
Midoriya blinked and took the paper for himself. "Huh."
-.-.-.-
"Aw, did you really have to point that out?" bemoaned Kimura after the duo brought their findings to the attention of the class. "I've just been lucky that Korosensei is nice enough to say it my way. My parents are both police officers and, well..."
Hitoshi covered his hand with his mouth to hide his snickering. "They must be very passionate about being cops."
"Now, now, Shinsou Hitoshi. You don't have much room to talk," Karma teased. "If you break your name down in kanji, it literally means 'to use the mind to manipulate'. Isn't that funny?"
Hitoshi glared at the devil-boy, completely deadpan. It only made Karma smile wider.
"That is kinda funny, Shinsou," Fuwa commented. "It's almost like you were named by a manga writer or something!"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Wait, Karma. Why are you commenting on people's names?" Nagisa asked. "Out of everyone here, don't you think yours is the most...odd?"
Karma arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I happen to quite enjoy my name; I think it's rather fitting."
The class sweatdropped unanimously; you can't say the boy doesn't know himself.
"Is that why you have us call you by your given name instead of your family name?" Kurahashi asked.
"Hmm? Oh, no, not entirely. It's also because I'm adopted, so I've never felt any claim to my family name."
Adopted? That was news to Hitoshi. While he knew Karma came from a well-to-do family with travel-obsessed parents that led to their frequent absence, he would have never guessed that Karma of all people was adopted. Before he could question this fact any further, however, Korosensei appeared with a sinister smile on his face.
"Don't feel too bad students! I, too, am not satisfied with my name!"
"Huh?" Sugino frowned. "I thought you liked being called Korosensei?"
"No, not that name. I mean the derogatory codename given to me by the media. The Tentacle, really? What an insult to my many other squiggly limps!"
The class rolled their eyes at their teacher's playfulness, while Yada perked up considerably. "Hey, what if we started going by codenames in class? I mean, it makes sense given our classroom environment and all. Pro-Heroes use them, and considering our mission is to take out a villain, we're kinda like hero-assassins!"
Korosensei grinned. "Brilliant idea! Here, we'll have everyone write down a suggested codename for each of your classmates, and whichever one I draw randomly will be the name they have to go by for the rest of the day; real names will be forbidden. It'll be so much fun!"
-.-.-.-
This most definitely wasn't fun.
To test out their new codenames, the teachers set up a little game of 'Catch Karasuma', where their P.E. teacher ran through the forest and it was their job to coordinate and take him out by shooting at paper targets pinned on front and back of his shirt. It was a simple enough drill, but there was just one problem.
"Puppeteering Crossdresser! Do you copy?"
Hitoshi swallowed down a growl. He swore, he was going to find out who submitted that name choice and he was going to crucify them.
"Yeah, President Poverty, I copy," he begrudgingly answered into his walky-talky.
"Straight Lace has just escaped from Womanizing Scumbag and is headed towards you and Notebook now!"
Midoriya groaned at the mention of his nickname but lifted his gun nonetheless. "I don't think I like this whole codename thing anymore."
"Yeah, well, it's not going to be my first pick for my hero name, that's damn sure," Hitoshi muttered, holding up his own handgun. He may still be down a hand, but this task was simple enough that he convinced his teachers to let him participate so long as he took it easy. "Besides, you could be having it way worse right now. I submitted 'Toe Joints' for your codename."
"Shinsou!"
-.-.-.-
Despite their bumps and bruises, their little band of E-class misfits was starting to come together. And with every passing second, they got closer and closer to killing their teacher and saving the world. To becoming heroes.
For the first time in his life, Hitoshi felt happy to be covered in bruises because they symbolized him getting stronger, not getting another beating from a foster parent or sibling. His home life no longer bothered him because, for the first time since he was eight, he had a group of people to call his own. A family, of sorts.
So it only made sense that someone would soon come in to tear this all down.
-.-.-.-
"My, my, Shinsou. What a surprise to see you here."
Hitoshi froze in his shelving, his blood turned cold at the voice. He feared turning around and tried to keep his breathing as even as possible.
"Funny, Asano. I wasn't aware corner-store convenience stores were such a hip shopping place for rich and spoiled teens."
Asano snorted at the (admittedly pitiful) jab. "Well, I wasn't aware the school reversed its policy regarding student employment." Hitoshi tensed. "Oh, wait, it hasn't. This would be another infraction on your record if the school found out."
"So what, Asano?" Hitoshi said, spinning around to face the smug boy. "You report me to the school and what? They move me down to E-class? You and I both know the school code only expels students for having a job if it's their second time with the offense."
Asano's smirk only seemed to grow. "Right you are, Shinsou. But you see, when I first learned you had a job, I did some searching. After all, there are more ways than my quirk to uncover things about people. I was curious as to what would push you take on employment in the first place; was it immense poverty in the wake of an ill loved one, like your precious class representative?"
Hitoshi tensed up at the mention of Isogai. If Asano noticed, he didn't show it and kept plowing on.
"So imagine my shock when I went searching into your funds. The money your parents left behind pays for your tuition, but you can't access it personally yet. And even though the government pays your foster family compensation — and a hefty amount at that, since you're marked off as a 'dangerous inhabitant' — you still need to work a side job just to pay for the bare necessities such as food and clothing. Now, I don't know what that looks like to you, but it appears your foster family is withholding care from you; an offense that needs to be reported."
And just like that, Asano's angle became crystal clear. He knew — he knew how reluctant foster families were to house children with 'dangerous' quirks like Hitoshi. It was only by some miracle that he happened to find a house near Kunugigaoka; if Asano filed a report of negligence, he would be transferred to a new home and would probably move far away. Far from the humble 3-E building.
"Alright, Asano," Hitoshi said, standing so he could stare the equally tall boy in the eye. It was dangerous, standing so close to Asano, but he could care less right now. "What's your play? What do you want from me?"
"I would say I want answers in regards to whatever shitshow you and your little classmates have been cooking up the past few months, but I know you'll never give those up. So instead, I propose we play a game."
"...a game."
"You see, I've already challenged your classmates to a competition of pole-toppling at the Sports Festival. However, given your...mysterious and unfortunate injury, you won't be able to participate with the rest of your class. So instead, I challenge you to a simple game of strategy."
"Strategy?" Hitoshi repeated, feeling like a parrot at this point.
"Yes. You see, while the pole-toppling will be the main event of this A vs E class battle, there are multiple events throughout the day, allowing students to show off their physical skill sets and quirks. You will plan and organize which members of your class compete in which event, and I'll do the same for mine. Whoever gets more first-places wins. It's very simple."
Hitoshi scoffed. Nothing related to one of Asano's schemes was ever 'simple.' But, in the end, it wasn't like he had much of a choice.
"Alright. And when I win, this report and all the info you used to uncover it needs to disappear. Got it?"
He held out his hand, shamelessly pulling his sleeve down to cover his palm so Asano couldn't use his annoying quirk. Asano eyed the action, looking an odd mix of grim and amused, before taking the covered hand and shaking it.
"So be it."
-.-.-.-
Hitoshi called his best friend the moment his shift was over.
"Midoriya. You're not going to believe what—"
"Shinsou! Have you heard about Isogai?!"
"...no. What happened?"
"Asano showed up at his work and threatened to report him, which would mean expulsion for Isogai! They made a deal, but now we have to beat A-class in pole-toppling!"
"Oh. Wow."
Hitoshi, of course, already knew all of this from his interactions with Asano himself, but hearing Midoriya fret so openly, he decided to keep his situation to himself. The class was already under stress as it is; the threat of losing their class representative and leader was terrifying. Revealing his own threat would risk them overstressing, which could lead to more mistakes. It'd be best if they remained oblivious of his situation.
Fortunately, pulling strings was one of his best talents.
"I don't know how we're going to win; even if we're better trained, their class is twice the size of ours!"
Hitoshi hummed. "It's even worse considering I'm not allowed to participate in hard physical activity for another two weeks."
"You're right! What are we going to do? And what are we going to do about Asano's quirk? He can use it unregulated in the Sports Festival — not that that's ever stopped him — and if we touch him trying to take down the pole, he could learn about Korosensei!"
"He can't use his quirk unless he touches your skin, so everyone will have to be as covered up as possible and dodge him, which shouldn't be too hard, given our training. Really, don't worry, Jolly Green. Just remember, we have Isogai to lead us."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." There was a slight pause. "Wait, Shinsou, were you going to say something earlier? I'm sorry if I cut you off."
"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing really." Hitoshi reached down to pick up his bag and noticed one of his notebooks hanging out. An idea popped in his head. "Hey, actually...do you think I could borrow some of those quirk journals? Specifically the ones for E-class."
-.-.-.-
Late at night, long after his foster siblings fell asleep, Hitoshi slipped out onto the rooftop with a notebook and some paper. Spending his insomniatic nights on the roof had become a bit of a ritual once he started learning tricks like how to fall off a building and not die in E-class.
He pulled out the journal, smirking at the label: Quirk Analysis to Stop Korosensei. He thumbed it open, scanning over the entries. Korosensei was the first one; his analysis went on for three pages, with an additional two left blank as they learned more and more about their powerful sensei. Next was Okano, followed by Isogai, all the way until Itona. He flicked past his own entry, feeling awkward and embarrassed seeing his quirk analyzed so thoroughly. He had by far the longest entry after Korosensei.
Oddly enough, the shortest one was Karma, which just had the basic description listed, followed by a giant question mark and a note that said Suspicious circumstances around 'quirk' use. Needs further exploration. Weird. After all, Innate Capability was confusing to Hitoshi too, but he figured if anyone could understand it, it'd be Midoriya.
He scanned the list of Sports Festival competitions. It was standard; lots of various races, from sprints to obstacle to bicycle, as well as a 5x5 tug of war, and multiple different jumping and strength-based tasks. He started with the obvious — Yoshida was the clear pick for the bicycle race, and Kimura for the sprints...and the obstacle race. No, he didn't want to overburden his classmates by having them compete in more than one competition. Damn, looks like strategizing was gonna be a lot harder than he thought.
He started skimming the journal to know what he was working with.
Sugino Tomohito
Quirk: Energizing
Description: Able to transfer the user's own energy into inanimate objects to increase energy, more specifically used to increase speed.
It's a type of energy manipulation. The human body has a lot of energy. In the average adult male, the energy stored in fat is equivalent to a one-ton battery. There are five main types of energy: heat, kinetic, mechanical, chemical, electrical, and potential. Further discovery would have to be made to know which one Sugino can harness. He ability lets him supercharge things he throws to increase its speed potential, like his baseball. Balls of paper can be made like rocks. How fast he can throw an object is unknown.
Known Quirk Applications: Increasing the speed of something, increasing the impact force of weapons and possibly his own hits, possibly store energy to replenish stamina?
Questions that keep me up at night: Why can't he thrust energy into biological organisms? It has the potential to help people heal (as according to Recovery Girl's quirk) and could even possibly boost other people's quirks if he could. Also, can he harness energy to do something other than increase speed? Say, charge a phone?
Conclusion: Needs more testing
Hitoshi couldn't help but snort at the sheer dorkiness of the analysis, but he had to appreciate the thoroughness of it all. It was obvious how much thought Midoriya put into these journals. And it got Hitoshi thinking.
If Sugino could increase the speed of objects, should he be put in a race? But the analysis says it's only been shown to work toward inanimate objects, not himself, so it didn't help much... except.
Hitoshi grabbed his sheet of paper and erased Yoshida's name. Time to mix things up.
-.-.-.-
With the rest of the class was obsessing over and strategizing for the pole-toppling task, Hitoshi was able to approach Karasuma unbothered.
"Hmm? What can I help you with, Shinsou?" he asked, looking up from his work.
"Well, you see, sir, since I've been forced out of commission, I've been trying to think of ways to help the class at the Sports Festival even though I can't compete."
Karasuma arched one of his pointed eyebrows and nodded. "I see. Well, what have you come up with?"
Hitoshi passed his sheet of competition placements. His teacher was silent as he scanned down the list, his stoic face giving away nothing. After finishing, the teacher lowered the paper and met Hitoshi's eyes.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you come up with some of these entries? You put Sugino in the bicycle race, and have Kimura for the obstacle race instead of sprints. You also signed Hara up for one of the racing events. Why?"
"You see, sir, Kunugigaoka takes inspiration from U.A.'s Sports Festival — something I believe you're very familiar with — and allows students to use their quirks during the festival competitions. With that in mind, I think we could exploit some of the more unique aspects of the classes' quirks to reach success. Sugino's quirk allows him to energize objects he touches to increase the object's speed; by that logic, he can greatly increase the speed of his bike by touching the wheels. Kimura's quirk, while it does make him faster than the average human, allows his feet to adhere for short units of time to surfaces, depending on how smooth the surface is and how steep the incline — hence why his freerunning and parkour skills are the best in the class. The obstacle race is a much closer fit for him."
Karasuma looked impressed, his eyes racking over the list once more. "And Hara?"
"The final task in that particular race is to eat a sweet bun dangling above from a string, which is rather difficult. While she may not be the fastest runner, she can blow through that task so fast with her Goat Bite that it won't even matter."
His teacher nodded before taking the paper, folding it up and putting it in his pocket. "I think this just might work. I'll make sure to double-check with your classmates before I submit it, but I think you've got yourself a winning strategy here."
Hitoshi scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Th-Thanks, sensei."
-.-.-.-
He had been worried that his classmates would be so caught up with the pole-toppling competition that they wouldn't put any effort into the other tasks. Thankfully, he was proven wrong. His classmates blew through the competitions even better than he expected, stealing first place like it was nothing. He made eye contact with Asano halfway through the day, and it was clear the boy was furious. Hitoshi just smirked. It wasn't all that big of a surprise that E-class was dominating; not only did they have excellent assassination training, but Asano was stretched thin trying to devise a strategy for both the pole-toppling and this. He gave Hitoshi a golden ticket by only putting one task on his plate.
"Wow, you guys are doing amazing! Phenomenal! And to think just months ago you refused to use your quirks against me!" a disguised Korosensei cheered, taking pictures of them like a proud dad. "Your quirk compatibility with these competitions is excellent. Did you pick them out yourselves?"
Hara, proudly wielding her first place ribbon, shook her head. "No. I'd never sign myself up for a race on my own accord, but Karasuma presented the lineup to us. He said someone in the class came up with it."
All eyes turned to the Data Duo, who sweatdropped and held their hands up.
"Don't look at us!" Midoriya squeaked.
"Yeah," said Nagisa, shrugging. "I've been too stressed with pole-toppling to come up with something like that. Whoever did this had to have a lot of time on their hands."
In unison, the class turned their heads together eerily slow. Hitoshi, who had been messing with his phone the whole time, glanced up and blinked to see so many people staring.
"Shinsou…" Midoriya said. "Didn't you borrow my quirk journals earlier?"
Feeling anxious, the brainwasher shrugged. "What? I wanted to help crush A-class somehow."
"Aww," Karma cooed in his ear, appearing behind him out of nowhere. "If you really cared so much, you should've just said so!" The devil-boy pinched his cheek, and Hitoshi contemplated if he valued satisfaction or his life more.
He chose satisfaction and judo-flipped Karma to the floor.
(He got a long lecture from Korosensei, Midoriya, and Karasuma about doing 'such dangerous stunts' while his stitches weren't fully healed, but it kept him safe from Karma's instant-retaliation, so he couldn't complain.)
-.-.-.-
He cornered Asano long after the festival ended; after E-class walked away victorious in every aspect. It was partly because he wanted to gloat his success in that smug bastard's face, but it was also because he wanted to guarantee Asano didn't go back on their deal. He found the boy outside Principal Asano's office, which was the last place Hitoshi wanted to be near. Shoving his hands in his pockets and making sure most of his skin was covered, he approached Asano with a cocky smirk.
"So, you gonna make good on your word, or do I need to make you?" he mocked. Asano looked over at him, and it was then that he realized how bizarrely…frazzled Asano looked. It was unnerving to see the boy look like that.
Asano scoffed, trying to hide his panic. "Despite what you may think of me, I am a man of honor. I've upheld my end of the bargain with you E-class pests before, and I'll do it again."
Hitoshi snorted. "Good. I hope I won't see you around, Assano."
Before Asano could reply — and before Hitoshi could disappear far, far away from here — the principal's door slammed open, revealing the monster himself. Despite every instinct in his body screaming for him to run, the brainwasher found himself frozen in place.
"Oh? What's going on here?"
Hitoshi's heart stuttered, and he hated how just the man's voice could paralyze him with so much fear. If he ever had a bad relationship with someone in his foster home, he was defiant and belligerent. Yet with Principal Asano, every fiber of his being just wanted to hide.
When it became obvious that neither boy was going to reply, the principal tsked his teeth. "Boys, if you could give us some privacy."
At first, Hitoshi thought the principal was addressing him and Asano, but he realized he was talking to the group of young men now filing out of his office. It was the foreigners A-class recruited for pole-toppling, but they looked… different. Their faces were dark, their eyes were hollow, and they were drooling bloodlust as they zombie-walked passed them. Victims of Principal Asano's manipulative brainwashing.
"Come inside now, boys."
This time he was talking to them, but Hitoshi felt like doing anything but complying. Yet, somehow, he found himself trailing after Asano inside the office.
The doors closed, and the principal spun around. "Now. Who's going to answer my question?"
Neither boy moved. Both had their eyes glued to the floor, barely breathing. Hitoshi was surprised Asano didn't turn around and rat him out to save his own ass, but he wasn't questioning the good faith.
Unfortunately for them, the principal was not a very patient man. "Not going to answer me, huh? Well, never mind that." He lashed out and grabbed Asano by the jaw, his hand gloved. "There are other ways I can get my answers."
For once, Hitoshi pondered what life for Asano must've been like. Growing up with a father so cruel, who will invade your secrets but never indulged any back. He wondered if Asano had ever touched his father's skin since he developed his quirk. The answer was probably no.
In his pondering, he failed to realize the principal had turned to look at him before it was too late. "Shinsou. Don't tell me you're trying to stop my son from reporting your abuse. It seems to me that he's only trying to help."
Hitoshi's blood turned cold, and he tried to mask his true feelings. He kept his eyes trained on the floor and his lips sealed tight. The principal sighed and stepped back, letting go of his son, who hissed in pain. The man walked back to his desk and took a seat, placing his locked fingers on the table in a manner that screamed 'Evil Overlord.'
"I'm afraid this is simply unacceptable," Principal Asano declared. "I cannot allow students to be put in harm when I'm knowledgeable of it."
"That's ironic," Hitoshi couldn't help but mutter, but then snapped his mouth shut when he remembered Asano was right next to him. The boy was staring at him, curious, and Hitoshi refused to look his way.
The principal hummed. "Well, I simply cannot let this go unreported any longer. I'm going to contact your social worker at once."
"You can't!" Hitoshi shouted without thinking. His head shot up before he returned his gaze to the floor. Who knew it was so hard to talk to someone without eye contact. "You can't tell her. I know you know why. They'll send me away and can't leave this school. I can't leave E-class. And I know you know the reason for that too."
It was clear the younger Asano was growing frustrated with such cryptic talk, and would've lashed out already if his father wasn't in the room. Principal Asano, on the other hand, looked unnervingly amused.
"Oh Shinsou, whoever said that you'd be sent far away?" he said, leaning back in his chair. Hitoshi decided he didn't like the direction this was headed. "As an educator, I have all the certification to take in any poor, lost child in need."
Nope. He's definitely not okay where this is headed and he needed to get out of here now.
Laughing to mask his panic, he leveled a glare at the window behind Principal Asano's head. "Yeah, I'd rather get moved to the opposite side of the planet than be under your care."
The principal had the audacity to laugh back. "But weren't you just saying you can't leave?"
Hitoshi's brain short-circuited as he tried to find a comeback but altogether stopped when the younger Asano grabbed his sleeve.
"Alright, Father," he hissed, looking right at the principal. "What's your play here? We both know you're not equipped to take on another child, nor would you ever want to."
"On the contrary. I think it could provide a unique and useful opportunity for me."
"Like what? Access to my brainwashing?"
Principal Asano stopped laughing, and Hitoshi realized that he was right. He scoffed and pulled his arm free so he could cross them haughtily.
"You know, it must suck having to go through so much to bend the mind to your will. Having to go through the work of taking the brain and turning it inside out yourself. I bet having a charge who could do it in seconds would be a dream." Hitoshi dared to meet the principal's eyes, building up his mental wall in defense ahead of time. "Like I said. I'd rather be sent far, far away before I let that happen. I'm not the one who gets used as a puppet, and I'll never be your pawn."
With that, he spun on his heel and high-tailed it out of the room without a glance back. It was probably the first time a student had ever left the principal's office without being dismissed, but Hitoshi didn't care.
He was probably going to die either way.
-.-.-.-
(He didn't end up dying. Days passed after the incident, yet his social worker never showed to take him away. He avoided the main campus at all costs, which wasn't too hard when your classroom was located up on the mountain. He tried to ignore the feeling of impending doom that had settled into his body. And something told him it wasn't just because of Principal Asano.)
