Chapter Text
II.
Chasing Curiosity’s String
Aizawa Shouta is a simple man who lives and breathes by an equally simple motto: "Live rationally."
While others may waste their energy being swayed by the whims of their emotions or their uncertainty, he remains devoted to using logic. His decisions are made with meticulous consideration. His actions are never done without a meaningful purpose. His words are spoken clearly and concisely, and always for a reason.
This motto is more than just an ideal for Shouta; it's a lifestyle. Living rationally isn't just about making logical decisions, it is about cultivating a mindset of clarity, focus, and discipline. This means he is prudent with his time and energy and avidly avoids things that wastes said time and energy.
So how he ended up co-hosting the sports festival, expertly mummified by the old lady and high off painkillers he didn’t want to take, sat beside an overly energetic Present Mic, is a mystery he's trying to solve. Expeditiously.
“WOAH! That incredibly clever move from Team Monoma puts Team Bakugo at ZERO POINTS! Whatever will Team Bakugo do now?!” The man in question shouts, despite the microphone being not even a centimeter away from his face.
Logically, it wouldn’t make sense for a teacher to not watch their student’s show off their skills that are still in need of improvement. So, here he sits. He could’ve watched from home, but Shouta’s 98% sure Hizashi pulled some serious strings to get him in this seat, wanting to keep an eye on him. “It’s only logical!” he can already hear the man mocking him. Figures.
Fortunately, his students this year are talented (read: dramatic) enough to make each round at least somewhat entertaining to watch. Though, that's not to say he doesn't have a long internal list of critiques and intense training exercises that will be re-visited as soon as classes resume.
People will say many things about Shouta: he has never and will never care about his appearance any further than 1) appropriate and 2) easy to maintain, he’ll sleep wherever, whenever he can, and he's straightforward, nearly to a fault, and blunter than a punch to the face.
However, not a single soul alive will say that he doesn't care about his students. Let his current state of recovery from the USJ attack speak for itself.
Anyone who truly knows Shouta would say that while he is a hardass with incredibly high standards, his actions are fueled by his dedication to push his students to become the best versions of themselves.
Even if that means pushing them to their limits and then some.
Shouta has a reputation for the most student expulsions in UA history for a reason, and he shoulders that title with pride. He’ll only teach those he deems worthy enough to have a seat in the Hero Course, so he’ll push his students harder than anything. He’ll look past the surface of intentions, hopes, and dreams and look at the meat of their potential, and if what he sees doesn’t meet his standards, he nips the issue in the bud.
That being said, he also hates to see wasted potential. That's why those very same expulsions get reversed. All it takes is the death of an opportunity for the true potential to reveal itself. Those very same students now fight harder than ever to push themselves further than they ever imagined, all because they realized what will be taken away if they don’t.
This year’s first years, and he would never admit this to their faces, have the most potential he has seen in years. While they were definitely off to a rocky start in the beginning, now that they’ve gotten their feet under them they’ve been sprinting toward their goals ever since. He doesn’t know what the hell all their parents are feeding them to create such devoted, self-sacrificial children, but they’re in rare form these days.
Suffice to say, his time is well spent keeping close, careful watch over all of them to ensure they’re led onto the path of success.
So, here he sits beside Present Mic, who just shot out of his chair to bend his joints into some sort of rock-star pose that makes his own joints ache just looking at it, watching them battle each other with a sharp eye.
"And what is this? Team Shinsou has made it into fourth place?! When did this happen?!" Mic yells, vibrating with energy, "I've always loved a good underdog!"
A General Studies student's team made it on the board. It's impressive, given the fact that 1-A and 1-B are rather overwhelming in their tenacity to win, often outshining the other classes with their passion.
"Whether it was by sheer luck or actual strategy will be proven in the next round." Shouta comments internally, his curiosity piqued.
"Anything to add, Eraser?!"
"No."
"Buzzkill!"
Eventually, the students are asked to clear the arena and the sports festival announces a break for watchers to buy food, merchandise and hit the bathrooms. It also means that they're off-air until the games resume.
Shouta expertly utilizes the time to rest his eyes, leaning back to get as horizontal as his chair will let him go, which is not very. His eyes are killing him and it makes him squirm slightly, cursing both of his damaged arms. He'd love nothing more than to shower his eyes with the bottle of eye drops currently sitting in his utility belt.
"Need a hand while you’re all tied up?" A familiar voice coos sensually into his ear.
"If that's supposed to be a sex joke, I'm going to punch you in the balls." He responds lamely, his eyes peeking open to level a glare at the owner of the voice.
Hizashi looms over him, his hands settled on his hips with a cheshire grin beaming down at him. Shouta nearly has to squint from the luminosity.
"Not with those arms, you aren't," Hizashi laughs good-naturedly, his hand expertly reaching for Shouta’s utility belt. He pops open the case holding his eye drops and shakes the bottle a bit to assess the amount left. "Need to restock, I see."
All Shouta can muster is a low hum in response as his head is carefully leant back by Hizashi. One at a time the blond floods his parched eyes with the drops, gently wiping away the trails that spill down his cheeks, and if it weren't for the mummification of his face with bandages, he'd kiss him.
"Better?"
"Mm."
"Ya welcome, babe."
The break doesn't last forever, unfortunately for the slow creeping of a migraine rooting in deep behind his eyes. Soon enough, Cementoss has created the new arena and Midnight is snapping her whip at the first two fighters to get into position.
"The first round of the one-on-one battles! 1-A student Midoriya Izuku versus 1-C student Shinsou Hitoshi!"
Even from his position in the announcers box, Shouta can see that look of intense focus on Midoriya's face. He can only hope the kid doesn't go and shatter all his limbs in just one round for an all-time record of most-bones-broken-in-quick-succession. The 1-C student stands there with a lazy slouch with his hands in his pockets, leaving himself wide open.
"By his body language, he might have a long-range Quirk. He might attack as soon as the round starts and Midoryia will immediately have to jump into defense. This round will be over as soon as Midoriya gets in close."
The count-down begins and the fight starts anti-climatically. Both students just stand on their respective side, not moving from their starting positions. The GS student's mouth is moving, but they can't hear what is being said. Midoriya’s mouth moves in response, preferring to waste everyone’s time with conversation instead of sparring, then he jolts harshly in place mid-sentence.
Then, uncharacteristically, his Problem Child turns about-face and starts walking toward the edge of the ring. The crowd goes silent in shock and confusion.
“Shinsou Hitoshi! His Quirk? Brainwashing!” Mic jumps in to explain, “When an opponent answers his question, it flips a switch in their minds, forcing them to do whatever he says!”
The announcement made Shouta grimace under his bandages, cursing UA’s sh*t excuse for an entrance exam for the millionth time. It’s no surprise this kid only ended up as a GS student, students with emitter Quirks are at a significant disadvantage against robots compared to those with more destructive Quirks, and psychological Quirks are even more so. It’s the same reason Shouta himself hadn’t made it into the Hero Course as a first year student at UA.
It’s no wonder as to why the kid is trying so hard at this sports festival, he’s hoping to win and get transferred into the Hero Course.
To anyone else, this round would seem as good as done, but Shouta learned very quickly to expect the unexpected from Midoriya. With a flick of a few of his fingers, broken by the look of them fluttering unnaturally in the residing whirlwind from his power, Midoriya manages to stop himself and break out of Shinsou's hold.
As far as Shouta’s concerned, this fight is over. With Midoriya no longer under the control of his Quirk, Shinsou’s basically Quirkless, and going off the poorly executed punches Shinsou’s throwing, he hasn’t trained for close-quarters combat.
The round ends with Midoriya easily overpowering Shinsou, just as Shouta predicted. Even if Shinsou had managed to win, he had just revealed his entire hand to his next opponents. It was obvious the kid hadn’t expected to get this far given he didn’t follow through with a back up plan. He lost as soon as his desperation had clouded his ability to see that he relies too much on his Quirk to win.
The fact that he had made it so far in this sports festival was admirable, yes, but it was obvious he was miles behind even the weakest student in Shouta’s class.
The kid didn’t stand a chance.
His dry eyes followed the small blur of purple slowly making his way off of the field. If the kid had hopes of joining the Hero Course, that was his final opportunity offered by UA, and Shouta would bet cold hard cash that the kid is painfully aware that his final chance was just dashed away by a decently executed seoi-nage. He watches as the purple disappears back into the stands.
"Brainwashing, huh."
A Quirk like that garners attention, just by the name. Shouta can only imagine the things assholes would say and implicate about such a Quirk; that it would be perfect for committing villainous deeds rather than heroic ones. He can only imagine how many villains dream of having a Quirk like that.
Shouta, fortunately, is not like those who fail to see the Quirk’s potential. Unlike the flashy, explosive abilities wielded by many of his peers, Shinsou’s Quirk is subtle and reliant on the element of surprise. He can only imagine the untapped potential lurking behind a Quirk like Shinsou’s, what it could become under the right training regimen and guidance.
However, the Quirk does not make the hero. Any Quirk could be made into a useful and “heroic” Quirk. What Shouta is looking for is the potential that resides within the user themselves; do they have what it takes to push themselves far beyond their limits, to go beyond “plus ultra”? To fight tooth and nail to make their goals a reality?
He knows from personal experience how difficult the road from General Studies to the Hero Course is. He faced the same sh*tty entrance exam, the same misplacement, and he fought hard during his first sports festival. Only difference here is that he won, and he made it into his rightful seat. Shinsou, unfortunately, just had his goal post moved miles away from him.
If Shinsou is in any way similar to how he was when Shouta was his age, he won’t let this failure stop him from achieving what he wants. If Shinsou is anything like Shouta, he’ll claw his way raw and bloody into that seat in a Hero Course class.
He hates seeing wasted potential. This is a spark that could be fanned into a flame with the right guidance. Shouta already has a few ideas of where he would start.
But, this is only speculation. Shouta doesn’t live by theory, he needs to see it for himself. Shouta must be sure that Shinsou Hitoshi will be worth his time.
After all, he doesn’t waste his energy on hopeless cases.
It takes a few months before Shouta can begin his observation of Shinsou Hitoshi. Final exams, the end of first term, another villain attack during summer training, and one of his students being kidnapped by the League of Villains overtook his schedule to say the very least.
However, it's been a few weeks into the second term and he figures it's time to set a few plans in motion. The overall objective of his observation is to see if Shinsou Hitoshi is a student worth his time and effort to train. The first step will be to consider how Shinsou behaves as a student.
Which brings him to now, lurking at his desk at too-damn early in the morning in the teacher's lounge. Shouta sips as quickly as his tongue will allow at a cup of piping hot coffee, gripping his mug as if it’ll get taken from him, while he begins his review of Shinsou’s school records and grades.
The gradebook reveals that while he’s not the very top of his class, Shinsou’s always landed within the top ten in terms of ranking. His grades reveal a solid A-B student.
However, 1-C teachers’ comments reveal that Shinsou’s behavior in class is rather lazy– that most times he seems disinterested, and more often than not, attempts to sleep through the lectures. It seems to Shouta that the kid gets by in classes without having to put in 100% effort and uses it to his advantage. Not off to a good start. Laziness is not something he is willing to tolerate.
“Whatcha looking at there, Eraser?” Hizashi’s boisterous voice asks just next to his ear.
“Don’t you have a class to get ready for, Mic?” He responds back pointedly, his eyes never leaving the screen of his computer, raising his mug up to his mouth to sip at his coffee. He suddenly has an urge for a smoke.
“Wow, don’t you sound defensive this fine morning?” Hizashi throws himself back nearly too far in his desk chair, cackling loudly, before rapidly swinging back up and shoving his face toward the screen. “What are you trying to hide, huh— Oh? You’re curious about a student? Do I sense a new kitten being adopted into your litter?” The blond teases, jabbing his sharp elbow into Shouta’s bicep and poking his cheek with a finger.
Ignoring the teasing, Shouta turns his chair to face Hizashi, “You teach English to class 1-C this term right?”
“I sure do!” He chirps, flashing two thumbs up with a wink.
Shouta huddles his mug of coffee to his chest like a life-line, silently begging for more strength not to throttle his morning-person of a husband, “Tell me what you think of Shinsou Hitoshi as a student.”
“Hmm, Shinsou…” Hizashi hums, leaning back into his chair again. His gloved fingers curl around his chin as he genuinely considers his answer, “Now, I can only speak for his capabilities in English, but Shinsou is deceptively clever. A lazy genius! During class he jumps between writing a few notes on the lecture, staring out the window or napping. Usually this would be irritating, but the kid never fails to answer a question correctly when he’s asked, so I let it slide. He’s surprisingly advanced in English! But he also doesn’t exude that know-it-all energy some students have, y’know?”
Shouta hums in response, staring at the gradebook on his computer and considering Hizashi’s testimony of the kid’s character.
“If this is the kid not giving it his all, what would 110% effort look like? Or maybe he just isn’t being challenged hard enough to want to try harder. Maybe this is him accepting defeat from the sports festival, not putting in full effort anymore since he doesn’t have to.”
A familiar laugh cuts through his consternation and his eyes fall back to Hizashi, who’s green eyes are looking at him with a knowing look paired with a fond smile. “He reminds me a little of a certain someone I know, Sho.”
“Hm.” Shouta decides now is the best time to head over to his next class. He has a flock of fledgling heroes he needs to run until they drop today.
Later that day, Shouta is curled up in his sleeping bag in the privacy of the corner of the teacher’s lounge. His blissful napping is very rudely cut short when he’s nudged by a familiar combat boot. He squints a dry, tired eye open and glares lamely up at the owner of said boot.
Hizashi beams at him with a soft smile, his head tilted in obvious fondness, “Heya, sleepyhead. I just got back from my English class with 1-C. I’ve got an interesting little scoop on your mini-me, if you’d want to hear?”
Considering the facts that: (1) Shouta currently has zero plans of moving from his cocoon of comfort and (2) he knows Hizashi wil simply tell him no matter how he responds, Shouta simply nods, blinking slowly at the blond.
Hizashi plops down heavily in front of him, legs sitting criss-cross, and begins animatedly telling his story, remaining at a blessedly normal indoor volume.
“So, I decided to surprise the class with pronunciation practice today,” The man half-signs with his hands as he speaks, denoting how excited he is. “They weren’t too excited about that, their dejected groans were impressively harmonious, let me tell you,” He cuts himself with a self-satisfied cackle, “But basically they had to tell me an observation of someone or something in the classroom in English. I told the listeners that it had to be specific, ya dig ?”
Shouta nods.
“I noticed that Shinsou only spent a few seconds writing his answer before flopping his head down to take a nap. Once it was time to start sharing, I called on him just to get it out of the way for him. He’s always had that tired look, but recently he seems to be straight up exhausted, y’know? I felt like I should give him some time to fix those eyebags that rival yours– and you know that's saying something.”
Shouta huffs in response, “Shinsou seems to suffer from some sort of insomnia. Maybe it’s just gone untreated? Or perhaps a side effect of his Quirk?”
“Anyways, I call on him and he says– in damn near perfect English by the way– that my headphones aren’t just headphones but they’re also hearing aids!”
Shouta’s eyebrows raise just slightly in surprise. Not very many people know about Present Mic’s need for hearing aids, and to deduce that from just a quick, seemingly exhausted glance at Hizashi’s headphones is quite impressive.
“It really shocked me, y’know. I was literally speechless, Sho. I asked him how he knew and he just said he saw a glimpse of the wire and double the amount of buttons on the sides.” Hizashi adds, his smile growing wider and his green eyes glowing with pride.
If Shouta takes a mental picture of the sight and adds it to his never-ending mental file of his favorite looks on Hizashi, then that’s for him to know and for other people to never find out.
“I will say though,” Hizashi adds, his tone shifting into a softer, more thoughtful note, “For a second there, while I was taking a bit to respond, he looked white as a ghost– like he was scared by my reaction. When I asked him how he figured it out, some tension in his shoulders left, but I think he thought I was mad at him. I probably scared him into thinking that it was a big secret he just revealed.” He concludes, his smile now grown pensive.
“Hm. Seems the kid is capable of making complex observations and accurate deductions. That’s good, he’ll need to rely on it more than most people in the field.”
“Well, we weren’t exactly planning on telling people about it, so it wasn’t exactly not a secret.” Shouta comments, slowly peeling himself out of his sleeping bag. Once his torso is exposed, he sits up. His hands search his pockets for his eye drops and once he finds the near-empty bottle, floods his eyes with the rest of the liquid.
“True. But really, if anyone really thought about my Quirk they’d be able to reach the same conclusion. I just felt bad that I scared him.” The blond man says with a slight grimace before a bright, teasing grin curls across his face, “I think you’ve chosen an interesting one, Sho.”
“I haven’t chosen anything.”
The “yet” remains unsaid but is heard between them anyways.
Shouta decides that afternoon to tail Shinsou on his route home after school ends; he finds what students choose to do with their free time very telling of their character.
Unlike other students, who cluster together in groups and leave the school talking loudly about their plans for the rest of their day, Shinsou wastes no time silently slipping into his street shoes and speeding away from the school.
Shouta follows the kid via the rooftops, his footsteps silent and leisurely. He maintains an easy distance from the kid to make sure he goes undetected. Not that he's worried, he is a professional after all. If this kid manages catch on to his presence then Shouta will hang up his scarf for good.
The kid walks briskly along the sidewalk, putting the lengthy strides from his long legs to good use. He easily dodges other passers-by sharing the sidewalk with him.
After a few minutes of walking, the kid turns into a convenience store. Shouta squats comfortably on the edge of a building, tilting his head as he watches and waits for the kid to exit.
Shinsou leaves just as quickly as he went in, though he also leaves just as empty handed. Due to the advertisem*nts covering the majority of the convenience store windows, he couldn't see what the kid bought. Unfortunate for his curiosity, but not necessarily important.
Shinsou continues his march until he finally leads Shouta to his intended location: a nearby park.
"Meeting someone? Perhaps a friend? A younger sibling?"
The kid pauses in his step, head tilted slightly in consideration as he stares at the playground. After a minute, the kid turns 90 degrees in place and makes his way toward a more secluded part of the park.
Given his roof path is no longer a feasible way to continue his observation, Shouta patiently waits for the kid to stop and settle before continuing his approach.
He watches a purple head of hair head toward a small grove of trees, then disappear behind the largest tree in the group.
Shouta takes that as his cue and leaps from the roof, using his scarf to control his fall. His feet land silently on the ground as he follows in Shinsou's footsteps.
As he approaches the small grove, thankfully devoid of other civilians, Shouta expertly scales a neighboring tree next to Shinsou's. He situates himself on top of a high branch in the tree, providing him with the perfect visual of Shinsou and the rest of the park.
His gaze returns to Shinsou, who has since taken out a multitude of notebooks and textbooks from his bag. The kid ducks his head and writes quickly in a notebook leveraged on his thigh, only looking up every now and then to glance into an open textbook. As a teacher, Shouta can't help the praise that passes through his head at the sight.
"So he puts more effort into his school work than his actions in class let on. His grades definitely show it. Good to know he’s not just half-assing it."
Figuring this might take a while, Shouta re-situates himself to be more comfortable. He leans back against the base of the tree, crosses his arms over his chest and lets one of his legs hang down from the branch.
He watches as Shinsou writes and writes into his notebooks, as he silently flicks through his textbooks. Every now and then the kid yawns and rubs at his eyes, before shaking his head to wake himself back up.
A couple hours pass this way, the only noise being that of leaves moving in the gentle breeze or the odd page turn of a textbook. When the kid seems to have finished his work, he starts shoving his things back into his bag. From his advantage Shouta thinks he can see the metal of some cans in his bag, but he’s not too sure.
Instead of getting up and leaving like Shouta assumed he would, Shinsou instead makes himself comfortable in the tall grass, using his backpack as a pillow under his head. The kid's eyes soon flutter shut and his tired expression gently relaxes, slowly being lulled to sleep by the warmth of the sun.
As a Pro-Hero and an educator from UA, it's Shouta's duty to ensure the safety of citizens and students alike. So, it's only logical that Shouta remains in place on his branch, his tired gaze unmoved from Shinsou's sleeping form, keeping an eye out for potential danger.
Fortunately, Shouta's ears are just as capable as his eyes, so he can close them while also keeping watch through the sounds of the environment. Time passes comfortably with the warm light of the sun dancing behind his eyelids. Shouta can see the appeal of this hidden treasure of a napping spot.
The sound of a small cry has Shouta’s dry eyes shooting open. They dart toward the origin of the sound and his head tilts slightly at the sight.
A black and white cat has appeared beside Shinsou, and is currently nudging at Shinsou's sleeping form. The boy hardly reacts, hinting to Shouta just how exhausted the kid may be. Growing more confident, the cat decides to stand on the kid's chest and use it's paw to gently tap at the kid's nose.
Shinsou wakes with a violent jolt, his eyes shooting open and frantically glancing around at his surroundings, his once relaxed body now taut with tension.
"Jumpy. From exhaustion? Bad dream?"
He watches as the kid takes a few deep breaths, forcing his body to relax. It's only when his breathing settles that the kid finally notices the cat standing on his chest.
“Phn-tom?” Shinsou grumbles, his voice thick with sleep.
At the acknowledgement, the cat jumps off of his chest and chirps a plethora of meows in greeting. Shouta hears the kid meow back to the cat, and he can practically hear the loud aww-ing Hizashi would be cooing at the sound of it.
Shinsou rubs aggressively at his eyes, slowly sitting up from his prone position. The cat's vocalizations only grow more aggressive, and it's frantic pacing growing more prominent. The cat struts pointedly in a direction before pausing and looking back at the boy. This repeats only twice before the kid finally notices it's odd behavior.
"Something is wrong," Shinsou states, suddenly sounding more awake. The kid leaps to his feet and equips his bag with dizzying speed, "Show me what's wrong."
The cat, Phantom, Shouta recalls the kid calling it, seems to understand what he said because it's quickly sprinting toward the edge of the park. Shinsou follows right on the cat's tail, surprisingly fast.
"Was he that fast at the sports festival?"
Shouta takes advantage of Shinsou's head start and being out of hearing range to drop down from his branch. It doesn't take long before he's returned to the rooftops, leaping easily along with the pair sprinting below him.
The cat leads the kid through a series of different side-streets, alleyways and back yards. The kid doesn't miss a single step, following the cat's path with ease.
Phantom leads Shinsou down another alleyway, only this one leads to a fenced dead-end. The cat has zero issues scaling and leaping over it, and Shouta watches closely to see how the kid will react. Without a second of hesitation, Shinsou sprints at the fence and uses his momentum to jump and latch onto it. Soon as he's grabbed hold of the fence, he's launching himself up and over the top with decent form. His landing isn't too bad either, as he lands with a roll that returns into a sprint.
"Definitely an upgrade since the sports festival. Has he been training?"
The chase finally ends once the pair come to a sudden stop at the mouth of another dim alleyway. From Shouta's perch on a building just across the street, he can see both Shinsou and Phantom at the edge of the alleyway, as well as the three kids inside of it. They seem to be high school kids, going by their uniforms and squeaky voices, and they're all facing the back corner of the alleyway.
"Teenagers and alleyways are never a good sign."
He watches as Shinsou leans back against the wall beside the alleyway, the tilt of his head denoting that he was listening for information. The cat’s ears are pressed flat against its head at the sight.
“Heheh, look at the way it curls its back! How pathetic, it probably thinks it looks scary.” A kid with some form of crustacean claw manifestation Quirk cackles, followed by the loud snap of a rock hitting concrete after the kid throws it.
“You’ve got such sh*t aim man!” Another pubescent voice says.
“Shut the f*ck up!” The first kid shouts, pushing the second kid’s shoulder in retaliation with his claw.
“This little f*cker had the nerve to hiss at us, now look at it. Scared out of its mind!” The third kid laughs tauntingly, crouched with his phone aimed toward the corner of the alleyway.
Shouta and Shinsou hear the pitiful cry of a kitten at the same time. He feels his fingers twitch around the capture scarf in his hands instinctively, ready to swing over, but he stops himself. As a Pro-Hero, it’s his job to stop crime when it’s happening before him. As a cat lover, he’d enjoy nothing more than getting these little sh*ts the punishments they deserve.
However, the look on the kid's face keeps him in place, suddenly curious to see what he'll do. He watches as Shinsou’s face darkens with fury and his hands curl into tight fists at his sides. The cat brushes frantically between the kid’s legs. Shouta can already see how this will play out: the kid charges in anger-first and gets himself hurt from stupid impulsivity.
But imagine his surprise when he watches Shinsou place a hand on his chest and force himself to take a few deep breaths, the fury once darkening his face slowly melting away. The anger still resides in the tension of his body, but the kid’s eye’s sharpen into something more determined, more focused.
Well, he’ll be damned.
Shinsou carefully peeks around the corner of the alleyway, his head swiveling as he analyzes his surroundings.
“He’ll probably take the little sh*ts by surprise and then use his Quirk.” Shouta predicts, his fingers curling around his chin in thought, mindlessly scratching at the scruff growing there.
The kid must've settled on a plan because Shinsou slowly removes his backpack from his shoulder and takes careful steps into the alleyway. He walks until he's just a few paces away from them, then he straightens himself, pulls his shoulders back, and speaks.
“Oi,” the kid’s voice reverberates down the alleyway, using his deep voice to his advantage and spooking the kids into turning to face them.
“Here it goes.”
“I’ll give you two chances. Leave.”
That response was unexpected. "Didn’t the kid need to ask a question for his Quirk to activate?"
The brat in the middle scoffs at Shinsou, “A UA student, huh? f*ck off, you sh*tty hero wannabe. Go play hero somewhere else.”
Shouta watches closely for the moment where the kid's eyes go blank and for his body to go slack, the same as Midoriya's did during the sports festival. Only, it never happens. The kids instead turn their backs on Shinsou, continuing their torture.
“He’s choosing not to use his Quirk, so he must remember that he can’t use his Quirk unauthorized and unlicensed. Smart, finally thinking ahead.”
“Final warning,” Shinsou’s voice warns again coldly, “Leave the cat alone.”
“Or what?” The blond spins around, “You gonna tattle to your tea—“
He’s cut off as Shinsou spins, swings and throws his backpack at full force at the kid with a simple “catch!”. It hits square onto the kid’s chest, causing him to fall flat onto his back. Shouta can hear the desperate gasps for air from across the street.
The other two seem frozen in shock, which Shinsou uses to his advantage. The kid sprints toward the wall, managing to gain a little height with a few steps before attempting a kick. His form is atrocious and his timing was off, but he managed to still make contact. Seems that it was a spur of the moment move, which, given his weak opponents, worked out well for him, but he’ll need better training if he wants to attack like that on stronger opponents.
The lackey goes down with a pig-like squeal, and Shouta thinks he can see blood pouring from his nose.
Shinsou’s landing makes Shouta wince internally. He landed too close to the last kid, which meant no time to dodge the rock being thrown at his head. Shinsou’s disoriented for a few seconds from the hit, but that’s all it takes. The kid throws an amateur punch at him, Shinsou's head snapping to the side from the impact.
The kid just tanks the blow and shakes it off with a smirk.
“This kid.” Shouta can't help but huff an amused breath through his nose.
The remaining kid activates his Quirk, from the looks of it being some minor skin-hardening power that forms hard calluses on his knuckles. The kid rears his arm way too far back and tries to punch Shinsou again.
Shinsou catches the next swing and pivots in place, slamming the kid down onto the hard concrete floor. A very familiar move.
“He definitely has taken his mistakes from the sports festival to heart.”
Shinsou remains the only one standing, having successfully won a 3 v 1 Quirkless. While his opponents weren’t strong, they easily could’ve overpowered him with sheer numbers.
The kid seemed to have considered that detail— instead he used the element of surprise to his advantage and made use of his surroundings. He incapacitated them without excessive damage, despite gaining a few hits himself. Not awful.
His attention slowly drags back to the trio who got their asses handed to them on the ground. Even from his vantage, Shouta can see the way all three of the boys look at Shinsou in fear.
Power is addictive. Shouta can still remember the high he felt after he won his first 3 v 1. It's easy for that particular high to cloud your mind, to let it convince you to take things too far in hopes of prolonging the feeling for as long as possible. He’s seen Pro-Hero’s he genuinely respected fall due to it.
It's even harder to discipline the younger you are, when you’re desperate to find any sort of control. It's an issue that must be corrected early on in his students, lest they let that addiction fester into something worse.
His eyes dart back to Shinsou, waiting to see what he'd do. He watches as Shinsou slowly walks toward the kid in the middle, he sees how the kid begins cowering and curling in on themselves as he approaches. Shouta stands from his crouch, seconds away from swinging in to stop Shinsou from going too far, when he sees the kid silently step over the blond and head toward the corner of the alleyway.
The kid crouches down, attention strictly on the kitten in the corner instead of the brats behind him. After a few seconds, the kid rises again with a small ginger kitten huddled close to his chest. Shouta can see a thick trail of blood trailing down the side of his face and neck from the rock thrown at him earlier.
He continues watching as Shinsou approaches the boys still wallowing on the ground with a cold gaze, crouching down to loom over the blond one. He leans in close and speaks in a low tone, but Shouta can hear what he says clearly.
“I won’t say it again. If I find you doing sh*t like this again, you won’t get another warning.”
The boys smartly take the kid’s words as gospel and make themselves scarce. Shouta recognizes the uniforms the boys are wearing and makes a mental note to contact the school to figure out identities and help deal out their rightful punishments. Actions, meet consequences.
His tired eyes continue to watch as Shinsou’s head drops to his chest for a moment, before he dutifully stands up. A look of consideration passes over his face before he looks over to where his bag is on the ground. He puts the escaped contents back into his bag, shoulders it, and then he leaps on top of the dumpster in the back left corner, then jumps up to grab onto the fire escape folded above him. He pulls himself up slowly, one handed, and joins Shouta on the rooftops.
Shouta easily hides from the kid's sight behind an air conditioner and watches as the kid sprints away from the alleyway and Shouta.
Shouta goes to follow after him when something catches his eye down in the alleyway. He leaps over, dropping down onto the dumpster Shinsou had just jumped onto, and discovers a textbook lying underneath it. A familiar textbook.
“Intro to Criminal Justice?” Shouta flips through the pages, pausing where a few pieces of paper have marked important sections with questions and analysis. “I just went over this in class today. How did he know about this? Did he ask someone in 1-A?”
No, Shouta quickly corrects himself, that's unlikely. From what he’s observed, the kid doesn’t seem like the type to make friends like that, more prone to just doing things by himself.
He knows the tactic well.
“So he's realized that he's behind not only in training but also class subjects, and has taken it upon himself to teach himself the material. Damn, this kid.” He huffs again, slightly amused.
Despite the fact that his goal of getting into the Hero Course has been pushed miles away from him, here the kid is sprinting to cover as much distance as he can to get closer to it. Shinsou definitely has the dedication and determination to continue the rest of the way there. All he's missing is someone to guide and push him.
"Easily amendable."
Using his capture scarf to carry the book, Shouta leaps his way back onto the roof and runs in the direction of the nearest vet, as he’s sure that’s where the kid is heading.
It takes little effort for him to catch up to the kid, who must be going half his typical pace due to only being one handed. He's silently impressed by the kid's ability to calculate and accurately execute parkour moves with only one hand given it's obvious he's never had to do so before.
Soon enough, the unlikely trio reach the vet. Shouta decides to wait outside while Shinsou bursts into the vet office. Phantom waits outside the doors, pacing along the sidewalk. The sun has begun to set, leaving the sky glowing gold and red.
He sits on the ledge of a nearby roof, his legs hanging off the edge and making sure to keep the vet office and the cat in his peripheral. He pulls out his phone to check the time, 19:42 pm. Unsurprisingly, he also sees he has a string of texts from Hizashi.
Hizashi, 15:03 pm:
Where have you run off to Sho?
Hizashi, 15:03 pm:
If I find you asleep on top of the vending machines again, we are going to be having words, ya dig?
Hizashi, 15:10 pm:
Nvm I figured you out, you sneaky little bastard. You can't fool me!!
Hizashi, 15:10 pm:
You're out keeping an eye on your mini-me huh?
Hizashi, 15:11 pm:
I bet you already have an entire training regimen planned out for the kid and you haven't even spoken a single word to him yet.
Hizashi, 15:11 pm:
Softie.
Hizashi, 15:15 pm :
Well, I'm heading off for patrol and then the radio station. I'll be home at the usual time. I want DEETS when you get home from patrol!! You can't escape this!!
Shouta huffs a small laugh. Leave it to Hizashi to have an entire one-sided conversation with himself in their text chats.
He decides to leave Hizashi on read instead of gracing him with a response, just to get back at him for the teasing comments. Serves the bastard right.
Shouta is placing his phone back into his pocket when suddenly the kid bursts through the vet doors again, only this time looking more frantic. From the millisecond glance he gets from the kid, he sees that the blood on his face has been cleaned and bandaged, which is good. The loud crash of the doors spook Phantom and sends the cat running, but the kid doesn’t seem to even realize.
He watches as the kid scrambles back to the rooftops and sprints full speed away from the vet. He's much quicker when he can use both of his hands, much to Shouta's satisfaction. His current abilities for free-running are a great foundation to build off of.
Going off the time of day and the kid's speedy exit, Shouta assumes the kid is sprinting home to make some sort of curfew. He had wanted to talk to the kid once he was done at the vet, but he can always catch him at school.
Then he considers what he’s learned about the kid so far. It’s obvious he devotes his energy to teaching himself other subjects rather than his current curriculum. His physical abilities have improved since the sports festival, which means he’s been training. If he’s not training during the day, then he must be doing so at night.
Shouta glances at the textbook hanging from his capture scarf, "Something tells me I'll see the kid again sooner than that."
Shouta's first objective during his patrol was to go to the local police precinct and give a report on what he witnessed in the alleyway earlier. Giving an officer the street name and approximate time, they manage to find the trio on a nearby security camera and get the name of the school they attend. By tomorrow morning, the brats should be identified, called in and given their rightful punishments. Should be easy for the police to charge them, given one of the kids probably still has evidence of it on their phone.
The rest of his patrol goes by easily. A spare attempted mugging here, the typical drunk and disorderedly there, and the local police precinct he sometimes partners with is quiet tonight, so nothing too intense. He likes having nights like these every now and then. The busy nights where he can let off some steam with some combat are great, but nights like these where he can just swing around and observe people, keeping an eye out for the safety of the public while enjoying the night air and starry sky, they’re his favorite.
It's grown close to the end of his patrol now, and Shouta's currently planted in his favorite lookout spot. His legs dangle off the ledge of the roof of the tallest building in the area, where he has the perfect vantage point of the streets below. He watches the small figures of people move about below him as he puffs of a cigarette hanging on his lip. The cool night air blows through his hair, washing away the smoke that billows from his nose with each exhale.
He sits there observing until his cigarette has burned down to the stub. After a final puff, Shouta puts the cigarette out on the bottom of his boot and drops the stub into his belt. With a content sigh, he rises from his spot and turns to return home for the night when he spots a small figure leap from one rooftop to another in the corner of his eye. His eyes quickly follow after the figure out of curiosity, and spots a familiar head of purple hair. Suddenly the textbook still wrapped in his scarf feels a bit heavier.
He follows after the figure, all the way back to the very same alleyway from earlier. He hangs from his scarf wrapped around nearby electrical wires, watching as Shinsou carefully slides his way down the wall of the alleyway, bounces off a small awning, and then flips to the ground. The kid's landing falters slightly and the kid has to correct himself using the wall.
He watches as Shinou’s head spins around as he looks for the missing textbook, kicking around piles of trash, ducking to look under the dumpster and then lifting the lid to look inside.
The kid huffs in frustration, tucking a hand into his hair as he tries to figure out where the book went. Shouta swings down from the wires, landing silently in the opening of the alleyway.
"Looking for this?" He says in lieu of a greeting, holding the textbook up in his hand.
The kid nearly jumps out of his skin, spinning around at break-neck speed to look at the origin of the voice. He doesn’t feel bad about spooking the kid, he’ll need to get used to paying close attention to his surroundings. Especially in the middle of the night in random dark alleyways.
Shinsou gawks at him in shock as he takes in Shouta's form in the dim light.
"Let's talk, kid."
The kid shakes his head slightly, snapping himself out of his shocked stupor. In the dim light, Shouta can see the wound from earlier has lost its bandages and looks red with irritation and greasy. The bruising on the kid's cheek also seems much worse than he would've expected from such a weak punch. Maybe the kid bruises easily?
Most jarringly, though, is the plain exhaustion haunting the kid's face. The kid's under-eye bags look worse up close.
"Oh. Um, Eraserhead– that’s mine." The kid finally manages to say. One of his hands goes to run through his hair nervously, but he flinches with a wince when he accidentally brushes against the head wound. "Thanks for finding it for me."
"It was no problem, given I watched it fall out of your bag earlier today." Shouta responds lamely.
His words once again jarr the kid into silence. Shouta watches in real time as the boy realizes that yes, he did get caught fighting in an alleyway by a Pro-Hero UA teacher and no, there's no point in lying about it. The kid's face morphs into a deadpan, the hand in his hair dropping heavily to his side.
"You saw--"
"Yes."
"And you just watched--"
"Yes.” Shouta nods emphatically, before continuing with a shrug, “I wanted to see how you would react."
The kid stares at him for a few moments at the response. "Well." Shinsou finally replies with a judgmental huff, looking Shouta up and down with an unimpressed look, "That's an odd hobby to have."
"Would you like to know why, or would you like to continue being snarky?" Shouta responds evenly, his tone firm but not angry.
The kid glances at his feet, looking rightfully chastised as his hand goes to scratch at his cheek sheepishly. "Yes, I’d like to know."
Shouta steps toward the wall to his left, leaning his shoulder comfortably against the brick. "I watched your performance at the sports festival. I'll save you the sugar coating and tell you straight-up that you had no chance of winning."
The kid's face returns to a deadpan, revealing no signs of the words affecting him. Shouta continues on.
"However, that's not solely due to your mistakes and inexperience. I understand how discriminatory UA's entrance exam is, psychological Quirks can't do sh*t against robots. I understand that you don't get the same training the Hero Course students get."
Shinsou doesn't respond, he simply lifts an eyebrow to silently say an unimpressed, "Okay, your point?"
"Basically what I'm saying kid is that you were set up to fail from the beginning. But I also know potential when I see it, Shinsou. So, I spent my time today watching you. I watched you apply what you learned from the sports festival to successfully stop three teenage sh*t-heads from torturing a kitten– and you did so without excess violence or relying on your Quirk."
Shouta motions at the kid with the textbook in his hand, "It’s obvious to me that you’ve been trying your best to catch up by doing what you can with what you have. Unfortunately, kid, I can tell you right now that it won’t be enough. So let me ask you Shinsou, do you want to be a hero?"
"More than anything." Shinsou responds without a second of delay. His apathetic expression finally cracks, his voice alight with fierce determination.
"If you're serious about becoming a hero," Shouta lifts from the wall, stepping closer to Shinsou to look him in the eye, "I can train you. It will be hell, and I will push you harder than any of my other students. I will expect nothing less than your full commitment, and I’ll tell you right now, I have no patience for laziness. But if you're willing to put in the work, I will help you."
The mask of apathy cracks even further as Shinsou's tired eyes brighten with hope, "Yes! Yes, I'd– Of course, I'd appreciate any help you're willing to offer, Eraserhead."
Shouta nods, finally handing the textbook back to Shinsou, who quickly takes it from him.
"So, Intro to the Criminal Justice System, hm?"
Shinsou huffs, his hand raising to scratch the back of his neck, "Ah. Yeah. Got it from the library.”
Shouta raises an eyebrow at the kid, “You just happened to pick up a textbook that I just so happen to be using to teach my 1-A class this week?”
The kid shrugs his shoulders before murmuring, “Your students aren't exactly quiet when they complain about homework. Figured it couldn't hurt to follow along with the course work as much as I can."
"Complaining about homework, huh? Those brats are lucky I was going light on the assignments this week."
Shouta watches as Shinsou squats to the ground, dropping his bag from his shoulder to return the book to his bag.
"Hm.” Shouta nods slowly, “And this textbook was so important that you had to go looking for it in the middle of the night?"
He doesn’t miss how Shinsou's movements still only for a second at the question before quickly continuing their job of zipping up his bag, "Didn't want to lose it or have it get damaged and have to pay for it."
Shouta graces the kid with his best unimpressed look as he reshoulders his bag and stands back up, eyeing his clothes and the backpack hanging off his shoulder.
"I also... go on walks sometimes. When I can't sleep." The kid reluctantly admits, scratching his neck again.
“This kid loves giving half-answers.”
"It goes without saying, but you shouldn't be out at this time of night, kid.” Shouta states firmly, leaving no room for argument. He turns and begins walking toward the exit of the alleyway. “I'll walk you back home."
"Oh," The kid says quietly behind him, unmoving from his spot, "I need to stop by a few places first."
Surprised by the request, Shouta pauses in place and turns to look back at the kid, "What places do you need to visit in the middle of the night?"
The kid shrugs with a bored expression before leisurely walking past Shouta and out of the alleyway, speaking with his back turned to him, "Guess you'll just have to follow me and find out."
“This little sh*t.” He huffs internally. Shouta is far too old to do something as childish as eye roll.
The brat doesn't stop to see if Shouta will follow him, just continuing on with his walk and seemingly confident that the hero will follow after him. He would be correct, but only because Shouta's curious as to where a 16 year old needs to go in the middle of the night, and he want to make sure the brat gets the hell home safely.
Shinsou leads the way as the pair walk in silence. After a few minutes, Shinsou's leisurely pace turns down yet another alleyway. The kid walks down the barely-lit alleyway with confidence, much to Shouta's quickly increasing concern.
"Kid, what are we--?" He quietly asks as he follows closely behind the kid, eyeing the shadows for potential threats, only to cut himself off at the sight of a large colony of stray cats at the end of the alley. At the sight of the kid, the colony bursts into a ruckus of meows. The strays group together at the kid's feet, rubbing against his jeans and jumping onto him.
"Hello, little bastards. Good to see you too." He hears the kid murmur, carefully crouching down to pet the cats swarming him. A few of the cats are daring enough to approach Shouta, sniffing curiously at his boots and rubbing against his legs. Shouta offers a hand down for the cats to smell, letting their little noses bump against his fingers, before finally gaining permission to stroke the cats’ backs.
"Yes, yes I know. Get off me and I'll be able to feed you." Shouta watches as the kid once again drops his bag to the ground, unzipping it to pull out a can of tuna stored within it. The kid cracks the can open, using the metal top to portion out the tuna into three spacious piles.
The cats eagerly abandon the visitors to scarf down the food, and Shouta silently crouches down beside Shinsou.
“How’s your head?”
Shinsou glances over to him, as if surprised the man is talking to him again. “It’s okay. The, uh, punch wasn’t even that bad. The lady at the vet helped clean the cut from the rock.”
He takes a moment to analyze the wound again, taking in its obviously irritated state. It definitely needs stitches, not just some neosporin the kid seems to have slathered all over it.
The kid seems to notice the attention and turns his face away from him, hiding the wound. “I’m a restless sleeper. I accidentally ripped the bandages off so now it’s irritated again.” He excuses, scratching the back of his neck.
Shouta is not so sure and far from completely convinced. Surely a vet can identify wounds that would require stitches, but the kid seems uncomfortable with the conversation. He decides to drop it for now.
Instead, he asks, "The kitten you saved earlier today. How was it when you gave it to the vet?"
The kid takes in a deep breath of air before slowly releasing it, rubbing at his eyes with his finger and his thumb, "They'd broken it's back leg and it was bleeding pretty bad. It was also disorientated, though I wasn't sure if that was from blood loss, exhaustion from the fear and stress, or potential damage to the head. Or all three." He sighs, crossing his arms over his knees and dropping his chin onto his forearms, his eyes never straying from the cats finishing the piles of tuna. "I gave the receptionist my number, so I'll be updated on the cat's condition."
Shouta hums in affirmation, letting the silence fill the air. As the tuna is finally being finished, the cats soon return their attention to the pair, pacing around them and begging for attention.
"You don’t seem to be upset about me… fighting earlier today." Shinsou states unsurely, his eyes glancing between an orange tabby demanding his full attention and Shouta in the corner of his eye.
"I’m not,” Shouta responds evenly, using the tail end of his scarf to play with a small calico cat. “I'll consider it a supervised incident, even if you didn't use your Quirk. However, that is not a blessing to go off and start more back alley fights." He finishes firmly.
Shinsou nods, "Okay. That's-- that's good."
"I've also made a report of the incident.” Shouta adds, “The kids should be identified and brought into the police station by tomorrow."
Shinsou hums in agreement, letting the tabby jump up onto his knees and brush its face aggressively on his, though he bites his lip when the cat brushes against his bruised cheek. Despite the obvious pain, he doesn’t stop the cat. "Good. Those assholes deserve whatever's coming to them."
As a teacher and Pro-Hero, he cannot condone wishing bad things onto kids, even if they are assholes. But internally, Shouta agrees.
"So you really watched me fight this afternoon." Shinsou says after a moment of silence.
"I did."
"... I'd like to know what you thought of it." He asks quietly.
Shouta watches the calico roll over onto her back and use her legs to start bunny-kicking at the scarf caught in her grasp, considering his response. He can feel the weight of the kid’s gaze on the side of his face as he awaits his response.
"Your approach was well thought out. It was smart not relying on your Quirk to handle the situation. Giving them a few warnings was considerate. You did well using what you could with your surroundings, but your combat abilities need work. The kick was sloppy and your landing was even sloppier. Your seoi-nage had decent form.”
Shinsou nods his head, “I thought the same. Well– I mean about the kick.” Shouta hears the kid murmur, “Was hoping no one else saw that,” under his breath before continuing, “The flip just… happened.”
“We’ll work on it.” Shouta promises.
Shinsou hums with a small nod, letting silence swell between them again.
"So,” Shouta glances at the kid in the corner of his eye, “you sneak out in the middle of the night to feed stray cats?"
The kid and the cat bonk their heads together a final time before Shinsou slowly stands from his squat, cracking his neck with a sigh, before defiantly arguing, "It's not ‘sneaking out’."
Shouta stands as well after a final pet of the calico's head, "This you telling me your parents often let you wander around at night?"
The kid immediately goes quiet, looking everywhere but at Shouta in guilt.
"... No. They don't. But I don't just walk around feeding the cats because I like hanging out in sketchy alleys. I meant to do it earlier, but I kinda got distracted." He indicates to his face with a finger.
"Mm," Shouta responds, prompting Shinsou to lead the way and continue their walk with a tilt of his head. “I noticed. I also noticed your parkour skills.”
Shinsou quickly takes the hint, walking at his usual unhurried pace, like he's trying to drag out the walk for as long as possible. "I like to practice free-running and parkour and stuff."
"Your agility has improved since the sports festival.” Shouta comments, glancing at the kid in the corner of his eye, “How long have you been practicing?"
The kid's face remains neutral at the compliment, though Shouta can see the pink of a blush rush to the tips of the kid's ears. Shinsou thinks for a few moments before responding, "Just a few months. Started a bit after the sports festival. I had to teach myself the basics, but now that I've got them down I've been focusing on increasing my speed."
Shouta nods in affirmation, "We'll spend some time figuring out where your abilities stand now and where you need to improve."
The kid bobs his head in understanding, turning into a small side street. Shouta decides to end his long line of questioning there, figuring the kid has had enough interrogation for a first meeting.
Another group of cats greet them while some of the more skittish ones sprint away at mach speed. The process is the same as the previous group, the cats hound the boy for attention and food, some cats brave enough go to greet Shouta, food is divvied out and the pair watch the cats eat in silence. This process repeats two more times throughout the rest of the walk.
The walk draws to a close once the kid slowly rolls to a stop before a decently lit street, turning to look at Shouta. "This is my street. I'll be okay getting home from here."
Shouta hears a dismissal when he hears one. He's tempted to just power-roll over it, like he is wont to do, but he figures the kid has already spent enough time being followed around by Shouta for the day.
"Okay kid. Meet me at Ground Gamma after school ends tomorrow and we'll get started on your training. Try to get some sleep, you'll need the energy. Oh, and go see the old lady to get those bruises and that cut healed tomorrow before class. I'll know if you don't go."
The kid nods with an acknowledging hum, "See you tomorrow then, Eraserhead."
Shouta nods in farewell, watching stoically as Shinsou turns and walks down the street. Once he can’t see the kid anymore, he flicks his scarf to swing his way home.
When Shouta walks through the door to his UA apartment, he's greeted with darkness and blissful silence. He removes his shoes and hangs up his goggles and scarf blindly, his eyes still adjusting to the pitch black. He traverses through the entry hall expertly from memory, dodging stray shoes and the small table along the wall in the entrance way.
He carefully walks further into the apartment, mindful not to kick a cat that may suddenly appear in the darkness. The only thought currently on his mind is to locate his bed and pass the f*ck out. He tentatively opens the door to his bedroom, careful in case Hizashi is already asleep.
His mind then sluggishly reminds him of the texts Hizashi sent him earlier. He knows his husband will want to squeeze every little detail out of him, and while he's known to indulge Hizashi in most things, he can indulge him in the morning.
Unfortunately, the universe hates him and loves Hizashi. He curses internally at the sight of Hizashi sitting up in their bed, reading some random manga Nemuri probably gave to him, very much awake. So much for immediate unconsciousness. The man's eyes lift from the manga and land on Shouta, taking in the sight of his tired form. The smile that curls across his face makes Shouta's chest flutter.
"Hey there, hot stuff. Come here often?" Hizashi teases softly, tossing the manga onto his nightstand ungracefully. Instead of gracing him with an answer, Shouta simply falls face first onto the bed, uncaring about the fact that he's still in his jumpsuit and has yet to shower. He’s so tired that he’s sure he’ll fall asleep midway through, and he doesn’t want to fall in the shower again.
Hizashi gently coerces him to roll onto his side so Shouta’s back is facing him, then he drops his chin onto his bicep, curling around him. Shouta can feel Hizashi’s expectant gaze burn into the side of his face, waiting for Shouta to pay attention to him.
"So?" The man draws out musically.
Shouta hums, eyes welded shut. The relief for his dry eyes is divine and their soft bed is seducing him into falling asleep.
"Sho! How was it? Did you talk to the kid?" Hizashi shakes his shoulder gently, pleading for him to stay awake.
"Yes. We start training tomorrow." Shouta reluctantly responds. His first mistake. He should’ve pretended to have fallen asleep.
"... Shouta. That's seriously all you're gonna give me? Nah, you bastard, get the hell up." Hizashi sits up, tugging Shouta's arm to pull him up from his prone position and into an awkward slant. Shouta doesn't help, in fact he relaxes fully to add some extra dead weight.
Unfortunately, his rag-dolling does nothing to sway Hizashi's dedication to torturing (see: begging) him into sharing every minute detail of his entire interaction with the kid. Hizashi tugs him so he's lying on his back, then he's situating himself to straddle Shouta's hips.
"Zashi--" Shouta warns, his voice deep with exhaustion, peeking an eye open to lightly glare at the persistent man.
"Just tell me a little about it,” He begs with a whine, leaning down to cage Shouta in further, his long blond hair tickling his face. “How did it go?"
"Mm.” His eye falls shut again, “Followed him to a park. Watched him do homework. He took a nap. Cat appeared. Followed the cat to an alleyway. Watched the kid save a kitten from three teenage sh*theads. Spotted him again later during patrol. Scared the sh*t out of him. Offered to train him. He said yes. Went with him to feed stray cats. Was a smartass to me the whole time. Walked him home." And thus concludes his incident report.
Hizashi silently processes the vague summaries, seemingly taking what he can get out of the near-comatose man beneath him.
"You scared him and he still said yes? He's more like you than I thought." He teases, gently brushing Shouta's hair out of his face and away from the zipper on his suit.
Shouta hums groggily, letting Hizashi tug the zipper down and finagle each of his arms out of the arms of the jumpsuit as he continues, "Not letting anything stop him from achieving his dreams.” He lists softly, following up with a quick, gentle kiss, “An obsession with cats and cat-napping.” Another kiss, “Being a smart ass.” Another kiss, “Are you sure you didn't sprout him from a rib or something?"
He peeks an eye open again to level an unamused look at the man gatekeeping him from blissful unconsciousness.
Hizashi giggles, leaning down to place another kiss on his lips, this time taking his time and deepening the kiss. The warm buzz that rushes through his nerves from the kiss mingles with his exhaustion and Shouta feels like he's floating.
Too soon, Hizashi pulls away with a laugh, "Okay, fine. I'll leave the rest of my burning questions for the morning."
Shouta rejoices in his head at the words, another step closer to being dead to the world.
"Don't look so happy, bastard," Hizashi huffs in amusem*nt.
Hizashi finishes helping Shouta out of his jumpsuit and utility belt, leaving him in only a black tanktop and his boxers. He listens as Hizashi fiddles with the suit, searching the pockets for his phone. He hears the flapping of fabric as he tosses the suit into a nearby laundry basket, then the rustle as he places the belt onto Shouta's nightstand and puts his phone on the charger.
Soon enough, Hizashi is pulling their comforter over his undressed body and joins Shouta under the covers. He can hear the distinct sound of the man's hearing aids sliding onto their charging port and his glasses hitting the nightstand. An arm curls around Shouta's middle, a comforting weight and a welcome source of warmth. Shouta's mind is drifting off as Hizashi tucks his head into the space between his shoulder and neck.
“I love you.” Shouta sleepily murmurs, sure that Hizashi can feel the vibration of the words while he’s pressed against his throat.
“I love you too.” Hizashi whispers back, pressing a kiss to his jaw.
Shouta falls asleep with his face tucked into Hizashi's hair and his arm wrapped around the blond, pulling him in and keeping him close, the familiar scent of sandalwood and leather pulling him under.
