So, I've been working on some bits for later on— specifically the Hassaikai arc, and… I really hope none of you guys are big Nighteye stans. He's, uh… he's kinda one of my absolute least favorite (borderline hated) characters, and I wish I could say I was a good enough writer to portray him in a fair, unbiased light. But with how things are looking, I'm gonna wind up being real mean to him, so, sorry in advance?
Anyway, this chapter is pretty much filler, and wraps up the Kamino Arc. So, yeah… it's not the most exciting.
Shouta Aizawa was a Hero. A great one at that. So it was safe to say he had dealt with his fair share of fearsome enemies. Villains big and small, some who went down easy, and others that— more recently —had broken both of his arms and nearly blinded him.
Those had nothing on Nori Saito.
The golden eyes to greet Shouta when the Saitos' door swung open, burned bright like they were molten.
He knew he had his work cut out for him.
"Nori, is that Aizawa? Let him in!" Usagiyama called from somewhere deeper in the house.
Nori scowled venomously, stiffly stepping aside.
Shouta entered, not allowing himself to look around and reminisce. He came for a reason, and getting sidetracked by his history with Naomi and Riku was only doing to get in the way of that.
"Oh good, we've been wondering when you'd stop by." Usagiyama chirped as she stepped into the foyer, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "Come on, there are snacks in the living-room."
Nori huffed, stomping off in that direction. By the time Shouta and Usagiyama joined him, he was already sitting in the middle of the couch, fixing a narrowed gaze on Shouta.
This is my house. I have the power here. His posture said.
"Alright, let's get things started, shall we?" Usagiyama simpered, nonchalantly nudging Nori aside and taking his place.
No, I do. Her smile felt sharp and predatory.
Nori obediently slumped at her side, crossing his arms petulantly.
"Where's Hitomi?" Shouta asked once sitting across from them, surprised the pinkette wouldn't want to be present for this.
"She's outside with Hana. We made a deal, if we brought her home from the hospital early, then she would sit out on this conversation."
"Don't you think her input should be considered?"
"She's already made her stance clear." Nori grumbled.
Shouta could have guessed as much, but he felt better making sure.
"So, you've read over the letter, about the dormitory?" Shouta already knew her answer, but again, had to make sure.
Usagiyama nodded once. "Yes. And to be frank with you, I support it wholeheartedly."
Nori sneered. "And that's where we're at a disagreement."
The white haired woman sighed, looking down solemnly. "Look, I'll admit, things haven't been going right with UA recently. You've been attacked several times, and many of the children have gotten injured. Mine especially." Her hands fisted her skirt. "But… there's no denying the way Hitomi's changed since enrolling."
Some of the anger etched into Nori's face fell slack.
"She's been so… happy." Usagiyama's bottom lip trembled, tears filling her eyes. "For so long, Momo was all she had outside of this house. Then Hana was born, and she got to be a big sister. But it wasn't enough. And now, at UA, she's been so… vibrant. Her smiles are so big, and her tail is wagging! She has friends. Plural! Hitomi's broken out of her shell for the first time in so long. Everyday she's telling me about something funny Kaminari said, or how cute Uraraka looked, or how calm Bakugou was during lunch. She's thriving in UA! And I know I should be yelling at you, and berating how lax your security is, considering my girl has nearly died twice now, but she needs you. Hitomi needs UA and the people there." Usagiyama gave a wobbling smile. "And I can't imagine how much she'll shine after being given the chance to live with her friends."
The tension in Shouta's shoulder ebbed.
Nori stared down at the floor, brows furrowed.
"...The group that wants her… have the police figured out anything about them?"
Shouta sat straighter. "No, unfortunately. But we're still working on it."
Nori nodded slowly, lips pursed. "And… this dorm system, how safe is it?"
Shouta latched onto the tentative consideration he was showing. "Extremely. It's on campus, so no one without an ID card can get in unless escorted. There are security cameras, alarms, and emergency lockdown procedures. She'll be safer there, than she is here."
Nori made a face as if he was being forced to swallow a lemon. When he lifted his head, he leveled Shouta with a hard stare.
"Can you give me your word that she'll be okay? That no one will be able to get their hands on her while she's there?"
Shouta extended a hand. "Yes. You have my word."
Nori eyed it, before sighing through his nose and taking it. He shook it firmly, glowering.
"I'm holding you to it."
…
A purple crayon scribbled away on a piece of paper, carefree and messy.
"Whatcha hummin'?" Hana asked with her tongue poking out, while she focused on her own drawing.
Hitomi paused, trying to grasp the wispy memory. "It's a song I can't remember learning. It gets stuck in my head sometimes."
Hana made a thoughtful noise, then pointed to the pinkette's doodles. "What's that?"
Hitomi looked down, smiling sheepishly— a motion that crinkled the bandage covering her healed cheek. "My Hero costume. It's pretty boring compared to my friends'."
Hana blinked, then shrugged. "Make a new one."
Hitomi slumped down, propping her chin on the patio-table. "I can't. My first design got turned down. It's hard making something look cool when it has to accommodate my Quirk."
Hana stared, and Hitomi quickly elaborated.
"Accommodate means, uh… changing to help something else fit in?"
Hana's lips parted in an 'O' and she nodded. Then, after a stretch of continued drawing, she looked up again.
"So, make a new one."
Hitomi's ears drooped. "Hana—"
"A new da— de-sign!" The girl said merrily, hastily sketching up a less than stellar costume idea. "That works."
Hitomi watched her contemplatively. "I don't know… I'd love a new costume, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure I could make a functional one that looks nice."
"Yu's looks nice!"
Hitomi sat up, staring at her sister.
"Hana?"
"Hm?"
"You're a genius."
…
"So, something tells me this isn't a bonding sort of lunch."
Hitomi chuckled sheepishly. "Ah, who says it can't be a few things?"
Takeyama rolled her eyes goodnaturedly, sitting down in the booth.
"Alright, what's up?"
Hitomi reached down into the bag at her side, pulling out a messy stack of paper, a packet of drawing materials, and a ring of paint swatches.
"I need advice." She wordlessly pushed forward her original costume design, along with a picture of her current one.
Takeyama's eyes lit up, and she eagerly leaned to look closer. "You know, I've never been asked for help like this before. When people wanna talk about Hero work with me, it's almost always with thinly-veiled sexism. So this is a refreshing change."
Hitomi's tail thumped the back of the booth. "So you'll help me?"
Takeyama placed her chin on her hand, smirking slyly. "If you pay for lunch."
"Deal!"
Soon the table was crowded with dishes and the supplies, while the two worked diligently through quick bites of food.
"Definitely not." Takeyama held a swatch of dark green up to Hitomi's face, sneering in distaste.
"So no greens, then." Hitomi marked off the color from a list.
Takeyama hummed around her fork, eyes squinting contemplatively. "Mark off blue too, it'll clash with your hair."
"Got it."
"Hmm…" Takeyama shuffled through the swatches, eyes widening halfway through. Setting her fork down, she held up a swatch with a look of triumph. "This one."
Hitomi blinked at it, then cocked her head. "Are you sure? My hair and eyes—"
"Your hair's cherry blossom pink. Your lashes are rose pink. And your eyes are fuchsia. This," she waved the swatch, "is salmon pink. Redder than the others. I think it'll do nicely."
"Cherry blossom… fuchsia…" Hitomi murmured, unsure why she felt like she should be having a revelation of some sort.
(In their home, Izuku's mother fretted, and passed her son a tissue. The boy thanked her and wondered why he inexplicably felt like facepalming.)
"We just need some accent colors." Takeyama said, continuing to flip through.
Hitomi sat straighter.
"Silver and gold."
"Hm?"
Hitomi scoured through the messy papers, finding a lone photo. She held it out to Takeyama, expression serious.
"The accent colors. I want them to be silver and gold."
Takeyama studied the picture of Hitomi's parents, then slowly nodded.
"We can make it work. Now for the hard part." She gently set aside the photo, and took a blank piece of paper, swiping up a pen.
"The actual design." Hitomi slumped.
…
"You should be resting."
Hitomi hummed absently, sitting on her floor to pack away some of her clothes. It was a struggle to pack up anything, while still bound by her crutches.
Nori sighed, leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed.
"You haven't taken a second to breathe since you got home. This can wait— or I can hire some movers. Just— just take a break."
Hitomi paused, frowning at the plea. "When you moved to your college dorm, didn't you say the movers broke half your stuff?"
Nori hesitated, squinting at her. "Yes. But now I know which ones not to call."
Hitomi shook her head goodnaturedly, pushing aside the box, and slowly standing. "Sure, sure. I just need—"
The floor tipped, and Hitomi caught a glimpse of her ceiling blurring by.
"Hitomi!"
Her back ached, and she blinked, staring blankly up at her panicked brother. His lips were moving, but it was difficult to make out anything with the ringing in her ears.
Nori scowled, slowly sitting her up, and lightly slapped her cheeks, trying to bring her back to focus.
"When was the last time you ate?" She finally heard him ask.
"Um…" Hitomi wracked her brain, brows furrowing. "When did we get take-out?"
Nori's expression hardened. "Yesterday. Are you telling me you haven't had breakfast or lunch?"
Hitomi shrank under his angered gaze.
He sighed heavily, rubbing a hand down his face. "What about sleep?"
Hitomi pursed her lips, eyes wide, as if caught.
Nori noticed.
"Damnit, Hitomi."
Shoving aside her crutches— that she had dropped when falling —Nori scooped her up and carried her to her already stripped bed.
"No, Nori, I have to pack, and—"
"Rest." He cut her off coldly, depositing her down.
She looked up at him pleadingly. "But, there's stuff I have to do!"
"Like what?" He crossed his arms.
"L-like…" She swallowed, eyes flickering around, trying to come up with something.
"Look, you've been keeping yourself busy ever since… And I get it. Really, I do. But you need to take a break, and keep better care of yourself." Nori pulled a blanket from a nearby box, throwing it over her. "What would Momo think?"
That finally broke her, and Hitomi sighed with defeat.
"Just a short nap." She hedged, eyes already fluttering.
"Of course." Nori smirked, walking back toward the door.
"Still have stuff to do." Hitomi mumbled, curling up and pulling the edge of the blanket to her chin.
"It can wait 'til later." He flicked off the light, lingering in the doorway, and watched her drift off to sleep.
…
Her crutches clacked on the brick walkway, as she marched on to her new home for the time being.
As UA's arching entrance grew closer up ahead, Hitomi humored herself with thoughts of what dorm life could be like with such a varying cast of characters.
A breeze drifted by, fluttering her hair.
Burnt caramel.
Hitomi stopped, looking toward where it came from, and stared at the head of spiky ash blonde hair bobbing a ways ahead.
Hitomi took a deep breath, and pushed herself to walk faster.
He didn't pay her any mind when she finally matched his stride next to him, keeping his carmine eyes forward.
Hitomi blinked, noticing the buds fit snugly in his ears.
"What're you listening to?" She asked curiously, cocking her head. She could hear it slightly, but it was muffled and tinny.
Katsuki sighed through his nose, fleetingly glancing her way. His eyes lingered on her doodled-on cast, and crutches.
Then, to her shock, he removed the left earbud, and held it out to her.
Hitomi nearly gaped, but quickly acted and took the offered bud, knowing he would get impatient and irritable if she took too long. She held it up to her right ear, forced to come to a stop, as she couldn't use her crutches and hold it at the same time.
Katsuki stopped with her, shocking her further.
She listened, a small smile spreading across her face, scrunching the bandage on her cheek.
"It sounds 1980s. Early 90s, maybe." She identified the western rock music with a growing grin. "Mama was a big fan of that genre and time." She explained her ability to recognize it.
Hitomi passed the bud back, continuing on with him as he put it back in. As he did, Hitomi noticed the wrappings going around his left hand.
"Katsuki, what happened?" She fretted, gesturing to it.
Katsuki studied his covered palm, pinning her with a considerate look, before shaking his head.
"It doesn't matter."
"Does it hurt?"
"No."
"Has Recovery Girl seen it?"
"No."
Hitomi frowned. "I can smell the blood. Will it cause problems with using your Quirk?"
"No."
She huffed, then asked in a much meeker voice, "Will it scar?"
Katsuki didn't answer, shoving the hand in his pocket.
Hitomi frowned. "Katsuki—"
"Didn't Recovery Girl heal your cheek?" He pointedly stared at her pristine bandage.
Her lips pursed shut.
"Hey, Bakugou, Hitomi!"
Hitomi looked up, spotting pointy, strikingly red hair.
"Hi, Eijirou." She smiled softly, her and Katsuki reaching the UA gate.
"Leg's still broken?" Eijirou asked, shooting it a concerned look.
"Yeah. It was bad enough Recovery Girl's had to do it in segments. I go in tomorrow for the last session."
"Well, that's good at least." Eijirou took to walking on Katsuki's other side, the three joining the crowd of students already there.
Mr. Aizawa stood before them all, starting once he saw his full class.
"Given everything that has happened, I'm glad we were able to bring Class A back together."
"So we all got the go-ahead to move on-campus?" Sero surmised, grinning.
"I was pretty concerned about my parents agreeing." Kyoka admitted.
"Nori put up a fight, predictably." Hitomi huffed, spotting Momo and shuffling over to her.
"It makes sense, Jirou, you did get the worst of the gas attack." Ojirou commented.
"We're glad to see the teachers got to come back, too." Tsuyu added, turning to Mr. Aizawa. "I was afraid you wouldn't be allowed. The people at the press conference seemed pretty upset with you guys."
"I was surprised as well." Mr. Aizawa said. "But circumstances have changed. Now then. I'll explain how your dorm assignments will work shortly." He clapped his hands. "First, however, we haven't forgotten about the provisional Hero licenses you were supposed to get during the training camp."
"Oh yeah, that's what we were there for." Sato mumbled.
"So much has happened, it totally slipped my mind." Mina scratched her head.
"This is important. Listen well." Mr. Aizawa cut them off, then looked to specific students. "Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, Midoriya, Iida. You five are the ones who broke the rules and went to rescue Bakugou and Saito that night." He narrowed his tired eyes.
Hitomi frowned, brows furrowing. But she noticed how Momo stood tall by her side, expression tight, but with no remorse.
She didn't regret it.
"Based on your reactions, I assume the rest of you were at least aware of their plan. I'm going to set aside a number of issues, and just say this. If it weren't for All Might's retirement from the Hero scene, I would expel everyone here except Bakugou, Saito, and Jirou."
Hitomi swallowed dryly.
"The five of you who went, of course. But also the remaining twelve who didn't stop them. You betrayed our trust. Even if it was to keep your friends from getting into trouble. In order to regain our confidence, you'll need to obey every rule to the letter, and live as model students. That's all." He finished off with a lighter tone, nonchalantly turning and walking toward the dorm building. "Now, look alive. Enjoy your new home."
"Uh, we're supposed to be excited after that speech?"
Hitomi glanced around, feeling guilty for all the downtrodden expressions and smells. If she had been strong enough, maybe she and Katsuki could've escaped together, and no one would have had to break the rules.
A slender hand settled on her head, making Hitomi jump.
Momo gave her a wry smile.
"It was worth it."
Hitomi's eyes stung.
"Tch, come here."
Hitomi blinked, looking to Katsuki, who was dragging Kaminari over to the bushes.
"Uh— Huh? Wait, for what?" Kaminari nervously asked, before being pulled out of sight. Not a second later, he screamed, sparks flying. When he popped back out, he was giving thumbs-up, drooling in his dumbed down state.
Kyoka sputtered and cackled at the sight.
"Dude, what'd Bakugou do to you?!" Sero asked between his own amusement.
"Kirishima."
Katsuki marched up to Eijirou, holding out a stack of paper yen.
"Whoa, did you shake him down for cash?!"
"No! This is my money, you idiot. To replace what you spent."
Oh, Katsuki must've known Kaminari would tease him about this, so he made it so he couldn't.
"Uh, how'd you know I bought night vision goggles?" Eijirou asked, stunned.
Katsuki didn't answer, shoving the money into Eijirou's chest, forcing him to take it, before stomping off to the dorms.
"Don't say I never gave you anything. Now I'm not in your debt. Kaminari, show 'em your dumb side." Katsuki spoke lowly, without ever glancing back.
Okay, so Kaminari was also a distraction from the generous deed Katsuki did.
"Sorry everyone. I know this won't make up for it, but let's all go eat yakiniku tonight, on me!" Eijirou declared while Kaminari bumbled around and spoke gibberish.
While everyone cheered about the free food, Hitomi found herself watching Katsuki's back.
Huh…
Were his shoulders alway that broad?