Chapter Text
“We have a new student today. Shinsou, please introduce yourself to the class,” Aizawa said, nodding towards Hitoshi.
“Hey, I’m Shinsou Hitoshi. I’m here to become a hero, not to make friends, so don’t try,” Hitoshi said, waving a hand before letting it fall back to his side. He was met by an excruciating silence as his new classmates stared at him. The green-haired boy he fought against at the sports festival, Midoriya, smiled like he was greeted with a challenge.
Aizawa seemed to have moved on already. “Ok, do whatever you want for the rest of homeroom. Don’t kill anyone,” he said, zipping up his sleeping bag and laying down. Almost immediately, Midoriya ran up to Hitoshi.
“Hi! Shinsou, right? I remember you, your quirk is so cool! You were a really challenging fight! Sorry for throwing you, I was kind of caught in the moment,” he said, grinning apologetically. Hitoshi waved him off. “I don’t mind.”
Just then, a boy with bright yellow hair walked up to him. “Hey, Shinsou! Look, I know you said you aren’t here to make friends, but I like you! I think you’re gonna fit in immediately,” he said, smiling wide. Hitoshi nodded. Another boy walked up to him, this one with angry red eyes. Hitoshi recognized him as the loud one who won the sports festival. “Look, Mindfuck, I heard you spit that shit about not making friends, so let me warn you: you don’t have a choice.”
Oh. Ominous.
“Thanks for letting me know?”
Hitoshi was beginning to realize that was the case.
~~~~~~~~
At lunch, Midoriya waved Hitoshi over. “Hey, Shinsou!” he said, scooting over to make more room. “Sit with us!” Shinsou smiled slightly and plopped down into the new seat. “Thank you, Midoriya,” he said.
“Any time! Oh, these are my friends!” Midoriya gestured to a girl with light brown hair. “That’s Uraraka Ochaco!” He moved on to a tall boy with deep blue hair. “This is Iida Tenya, and this—“ he pointed at a boy with red and white hair— “is Todoroki Shouto!”
Hitoshi acknowledged each one, but his gaze lingered on the last boy. Todoroki Shouto was unique. With one gray eye and one blue, Hitoshi felt sucked into his gaze— and the scar cloaking his blue eye didn’t help.
Todoroki, appearing self conscious, brought his hand to his scar. “Sorry,” he began, “I know it’s kind of odd.” Hitoshi was surprised. “No, that’s not why— it’s not— it suits you.”
He got a small smile for that. “Thank you,” Todoroki said, bringing his hand back down to his lap.
“So, Shinsou!” Midoriya jumped back in. “How are you liking the hero course so far?”
“Oh, well, it’s—“
~~~~~~~~
Hitoshi was officially one month into the hero course, and he was loving it. Sure, he missed his gen ed friends, but the hero course was another world. More quirk training, harder education, and to top it all off, he had met so many amazing people with fantastic powers, many of which had made him feel better about his own quirk, especially his teacher, Mr. Aizawa. Since Hitoshi had gotten special training from him, he was able to ask for some advice on self-doubt. “Kid,” Aizawa had said, “I’ve got a ‘villainous’ quirk too. The trick is fucking with anyone who accuses you of being a bad person. I used to tell people that once I became a villain, they’d be my first target. Making a joke out of it made me feel better.”
Hitoshi had heeded that advice, and surprisingly, it worked. His self esteem was way higher than it was when he began his first year, and now, one month into his second, he was officially on the course to heroism. Plus, he had even made some friends, despite what he said on his first day. He was part of the “Dekusquad,” as Uraraka so affectionately called it, and had grown close to Midoriya especially over the past month, while also managing to befriend Kaminari, Jirou, and Sero.
Today, he and Midoriya were in the latter’s dorm room, working on their English homework. “Oh my god,” Midoriya complained, “English is so hard. Why do random words end in ‘e’? Why are there three versions of the word ‘there’? This is so dumb,” he finished, pushing his worksheet away. Hitoshi, who had finished a while ago, was contentedly doodling on the corner of his page. “Midoriya, I think that’s because you’re dyslexic.”
“It barely happens when I’m writing in Japanese! English just sucks.” Midoriya gasped. “I have an idea,” he said, smirking. “We should play truth or dare!”
Hitoshi sat up. He was done with his work, after all, so what harm could a couple rounds do? He’d help Midoriya finish afterwards. “I’m in,” he said.
“Ok! I’ll go first. Truth or dare?”
Hitoshi thought for a moment. “Truth,” he decided.
“Who do you like the least in our class?”
“Oh. There’s nobody I really dislike, but Aoyama kind of scares me. I’ve caught him staring at me, like, six times this week. And it’s Tuesday.”
Midoriya giggled. “That’s just what he does. He likes the attention. Ok, your turn!”
“Alright, truth or dare, Midoriya!”
“Truth!”
“I’m going to go with a cliché one because I honestly can’t think of anything. Do you like anyone?”
Midoriya gasped and slapped his hands over his face. “Never mind! Dare!” Hitoshi grinned. “I dare you to tell me who you like.”
Midoriya groaned and separated his fingers, peering at Hitoshi through the gaps. “Ok, fine, but you CANNOT tell a single soul. Promise?”
“I promise.”
“It’s— I kind of— I like… Todoroki.”
A pause.
What was that feeling that just hit Hitoshi?
Midoriya looked uncomfortable. “What, unexpected?”
“No no no,” Hitoshi started, “Not at all. I can kind of tell. You’re really sweet with him. It’s cute!”
“Really? Do you think I have a chance?”
Hitoshi didn’t really have an answer for that. He was under the impression that Todoroki wasn’t really interested in romance, but maybe he was wrong. “I mean, he kind of acts the same with everyone, but it’s not off the table.” Midoriya seemed to accept that.
They played a few more rounds, in which chaos revealed itself in the form of attempted gymnastics, embarrassing childhood stories, and far too many chips consumed. Eventually, Hitoshi checked the time.
“Holy shit, Midoriya, it’s 12:30! I have to sleep!”
Midoriya seemed as shocked as he was. “Oh my god, okay, I’ll finish this and go to bed. Thanks for coming over, Shinsou!”
“Thanks for having me! Let me know if you need any help finishing that homework up, I can probably help in the morning.”
Hitoshi exited with a final wave and walked back to his own dorm. Closing the door, he sat down and sank against the wall.
He felt… funny. He’d had a good time with Midoriya, so why was he suddenly switching up? He thought back to their game of truth or dare and sighed. He was probably just tired.
Hitoshi changed his clothes and got in bed, pulling the covers up to his chin. He would worry about these weird feelings in the morning.
~~~~~~~~
“Damn, Shinsou, you look beat.”
Hitoshi reluctantly raised his head from his desk to see Jirou looking inquisitively down at him.
“Huhhhh?”
“Didn’t sleep well?”
Hitoshi shook his head. “I don’t know why. I just kept waking up.”
Jirou pulled her chair up to his desk and sat down. “Did you take your melatonin?” Hitoshi nodded, saying, “Yeah, and I took an extra when they didn’t work after an hour. It’s just… I don’t know. I was thinking.”
“What’s bothering you?” Jirou looked genuinely concerned. She had struggled with severe insomnia before, and she said that after getting a better prescription and going to therapy, it disappeared almost instantly, so Hitoshi usually went to her when he was having trouble sleeping.
“Well… last night I was studying with Midoriya. We started playing truth or dare, and…”
Jirou nodded to show her attention. Kaminari, who sat on Hitoshi’s other side, was listening now too, having moved closer as well. Hitoshi sighed. “You really can’t tell anyone, okay?” he said, looking at his friends for confirmation. They both nodded.
“He told me he likes someone.”
That got a gasp from both Jirou and Kaminari. “Who!?” they asked in unison.
“It’s not my place to say, but it made me feel… weird. I don’t know. I can’t describe the feeling.”
Late last night, as Hitoshi was struggling to sleep, he began thinking again about the strange feeling he got when Midoriya confessed to liking Todoroki.
Jirou and Kaminari looked at each other knowingly, grins forming on their faces.
“Shinsou…” Kaminari began, “do you like Midoriya?”
Hitoshi raised his eyebrows, surprised. “No, no, god no. It’s not that, it’s just—“
He was interrupted by the entrance of Aizawa.
“Talk this evening in my dorm, okay?” Jirou said. Kaminari and Hitoshi nodded and stayed silent.
“It took you all four seconds to come to attention. It has been a month since your second year began. I expect better.”
~~~~~~~~
Later that day, in Jirou’s dorm, Hitoshi’s friends prodded him to continue.
“Ok, where was I?” Hitoshi asked, laying on the ground.
“Denks had just asked if you like Midoriya.”
“Oh. No, absolutely not, he’s just a friend, I promise. I don’t see him like that. Way too vanilla.”
Jirou and Kaminari nodded. “Yeah, I get that. Luckily I found the perfect matches,” Kaminari bragged, looking over at Jirou. He, Jirou, and Yaomomo had been together since the end of first year, and they were thriving. “Yeah, and now I am bi panic personified,” Jirou added, smiling. Hitoshi rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
“Anyways, Shin, if you don’t like Midoriya, then why is it bothering you?” Kaminari asked.
“Is it something to do with the other person?” Jirou added.
“I— I don’t think so?” Hitoshi said, unsure.
“Hear that, babe? He doesn’t think so,” Kaminari said, giggling.
“Well, now we have to know who Midoriya likes! We won’t say anything, we promise. Well, Momo will have to know, but that’s just because we can’t keep secrets from her, but she wouldn’t tell a soul, you know that. Pleaseee?” Jirou begged, batting her eyelashes at him.
“God, I feel like such a bad friend, but… he likes Todoroki.”
“I CALLED IT!” Kaminari proclaimed, raising his arms. “I FUCKING CALLED IT!”
“What, you think they’re going to get together?” Hitoshi said, suddenly worried for reasons unknown.
“Oh my god, no, but Midoriya is kind of obvious. He’s amazing to everyone, of course, but he does the most for Todoroki. I highly doubt he’s Todoroki’s type though.”
“Wait, but babe, he does like guys. Remember when he and Momo dated at the start of first year and he admitted he only did it to stop girls from pestering him?” Jirou said, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
“Well yeah, but that doesn’t mean he’s gay, that might just mean he didn’t like the attention. Either way, doesn’t matter, I just don’t think he’d go for Midoriya. I love the dude, but he’s a lot.”
“This is so not productive. I’m going,” Hitoshi said, beginning to get up.
“Wait, Shinsou, but you haven’t figured out what’s going on? Let us try to help you. Please?”
Hitoshi stood at the door, looking back at his friends. “Okay. Fine,” he relented, sitting back down.
“Oh yeah, bitches!” Kaminari said, whooping. Jirou grinned.
“Well, if it’s not Midoriya you’re thinking about, have you considered maybe liking Todoroki?”
Hitoshi paused. “No. Midoriya likes him.”
Jirou peered at her friend, face soft but serious. “We know that, but that doesn’t mean you can’t like him too.”
Hitoshi thought about Todoroki, his soft, deep voice, the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled, his laugh, so rare but so gentle. He thought about the way Todoroki carved ice into the sky, the way he released warm steam when he used his fire too long. He thought about the times that Todoroki’s gaze lingered on him just a second longer than it should, the gentle swoop of his handwriting, the way he looked when he dozed off doing homework.
“Shinsou?” Kaminari asked, shaking Hitoshi back into reality.
“I— no. No, that’s— that’s not right. Look, I think I’m going to hit the hay. Gotta make up for the sleep I lost last night, right?”
“Wait, Shinsou—“ Jirou said, standing up.
“Bye.”
~~~~~~~~
homosexuality?? group chat
11:26 PM
shinshomo
fuck
you’re right
i do like him
fuck.