Work Text:
THE MYSTERY BEHIND ‘THE STRENGTH OF US’?
Who is Hitocchi?
By Nakamata Ren | Popular Pros Network
09 July 2XX8
IF YOU ARE unfamiliar with the title, The Strength of Us, it is a popular webcomic that has shaken the hero fandom at its’ core. Filled with gorgeous art and atmosphere, it details the daily life of a handful of Pro Heroes. However, it is not just any Pro Hero—but, rather, Underground Pros that society tends to overlook for those in the spotlight.
Underground Heroes tend to take on the grizzly cases regular civilians’ balk at—trafficking rings, drug cartels, kidnapping, et cetera. Not much attention is given to those who are Underground because the very basis of their careers requires a level of stealth that they cannot afford to lose if they are exposed to popular media (i.e., the hero rankings, magazine spreads, and the like). After all, the majority of their quirks rely on surprise and the unknown.
The Strength of Us appeared as a webcomic on social media (Tumblr and Twitter) under the artists’ account, @HITOCCHI. It began as a slice-of-life of a young teen who dreamed of attending a heroics course but had been discouraged by the rest of the community because of their non-combatant quirk. When the teen, later named as the Pro Hero Suncloud, gets involved in a kidnapping scare, they get a firsthand look at an Underground Pro named Highkey (who many theorists believe are influenced by an actual Underground Pro Hero), and become inspired to be an Underground Pro Hero instead of one in the spotlight.
However, the webcomic doesn’t just focus on Suncloud’s story—many characters are introduced, and we see how their lives interconnect and overlap even if they may not meet one another. The “main characters” are Suncloud, Highkey, a young girl (Sasada Yuna) with a voice activated persuasion quirk, and a genderfluid hero student (Emote) whose quirk is low-level empathy. The comic does touch upon heroes in the “spotlight,” and there are a few other fan favorites as well, but it focuses mainly on the underground side of heroics and heroes who don’t have combat-orientated quirks.
It is unknown if the author, HITOCCHI, is aware of their impact this has had on hero society. An increased interest in underground heroics among the younger population has caused an influx in available Underground Pros when they were notoriously stretched thin, and has given hope to countless young peers who do not fit the stereotypical box of what a “Hero” should be.
No one knows HITOCCHI’s identity, and it seems to be a well-guarded secret. When they do live streams, they hide their face with a kitten mask and rarely speak. They interact with their fans and the community mostly through social media. There have been rumors that they cosplay at hero conventions, but it’s never been confirmed. We at Popular Pros Network are curious as to the mind behind a comic that shifted a generations’ perspective on heroism . . .
bestboyumbreon has reblogged hitocchi
hitocchi
Hi. Sorry for the late update. I kept going back and forth on introducing this new pair of characters, but I was distracted by upcoming entrance exams. Please enjoy and thank you for your support!
[IMAGE DESC.: The chapter cover of the next few chapters: STRENGTH OF US is in a pretty calligraphic purple-blue on the bottom of the image. The art focuses on two figures on a walk, one dressed in a light pink blouse crouching over a box of kittens. The other has an exasperated smile on their face, holding an umbrella over the other and the kittens. It’s raining, but the atmosphere is light and airy. Near the top, the words “the newest hero pair has arrived,” is in block text, giving a bit of information on the issue.]
Click here to read the update. Here is the comic table of contents page. Once again, please inform me if links are broken.
wildlife
im LIVING. im BLESSED
sleepykenmas
@hitocchi you’re taking entrance exams? high school or college? srry if this is creepy
hitocchi
@sleepykenmas it’s not creepy at all! I’m taking high school entrance exams!
7, 659, 852 notes
source: hitocchi #omg omg omg #MY FAVE ARTIST IS MY AGE #ok but i hope no one is creepy toward them or wteva #i will FIGHT!!!
commissions are [closed] @HITOCCHI • 3w
here’s a lil sketch to celebrate me getting into @UAHIGH.
[Attached Image: The Expressive Hero, Emote, is in casual clothing. They have a soft, quiet smile on their lips as they play with a small kitten; using a feather-like toy attached to a string. Half-formed speech bubbles float around their mouth, and squiggly lines fill it somewhat, giving the illusion of speech. The authors’ signature is scribbled near the corner along with the date.]
13.2k Retweets 16.5k Likes
Hungry, but Tired @erasercat
Replying to @HITOCCHI
what’s the cats’ name
commissions are [closed] @HITOCCHI
Replying to @HITOCCHI, @erasercat
her name is mai n she’s a gray tabby cat!!
… also, i like your handle
[speaker emoji][speaker emoji][speaker emoji] @PresentMicOfficial • 3w
i would die for mai
[commissions are [closed] @HITOCCHI
here’s a lil sketch to. . .]
23.5k Retweets 25k Likes
The livestream crackles to life. Thousands pour in with cheerful greetings, suggestions, and comments on how cute Hitocchi-sensei’s desk looked. Hitoshi finishes his set up, humming along to Present Mic’s radio show, and picks out the main colors he wants to use for the live stream. After a considering pause, he clears his throat. The stream can only see his hands; chipped lilac nails and all.
“I’m going to sketch Highkey,” he says quietly, swallowing a laugh when the chat explodes with excitement and people complimenting how his voice sounds. He doesn’t know why they find his voice “soothing” or “cute,” but he ignores them and focuses on the sketch.
He starts with an apartment-style background. A stained but well-loved couch, a rocking chair that creaks and groans, a bookshelf overflowing with novels, a coffee table, a soft rug. The focus, however, is on his character, Highkey, destressing from a recent patrol. Hitoshi makes sure to add their hero costume crumpled on the couch, a little dusty and torn. Highkey sits on the floor in front of the table, squinting at the spread of papers before him. Long hair pulled into a bun, glasses perched on their nose, and dressed in sweats and an oversized shirt that may or may not belong to another character. Most likely KatKall, who could imitate cat sounds and kind of communicate with felines, though Hitoshi tried not to get too involved in the various, ah, “shipping wars” of the fandom.
Hitoshi adds small details that make the sketch more realistic—hints of the sunset, poking through the curtain; paint on the walls, slightly blurred photographs on the bookshelf, a roll of bandages on the couch, the disappearing tail of Highkey’s cat.
After he adds last minute touches, Hitoshi chews on his bottom lip for a good moment. “Thank you for joining me,” he says to the stream, just as quiet as before. “Um. I’m going to put this online so . . . uh . . . bye.”
He flushes at his awkwardness and ends the stream before he could embarrass himself further. After he stretches and grabs himself a drink, he uploads the stream sketch to Tumblr, Twitter, and his website for the comic. His phone pings with an influx of notifications from his social media, so he silences his phone before it can give him a headache.
As he stares at his timeline, his mind drifts. Hitoshi can’t believe that his little comic has grown so large and popular. He remembers when he sketched out the bare bones of the first chapter on his old tablet. He did his best to color it well and make it look nice before he uploaded it to Tumblr and then Twitter, once he made an account for those sites. He posted drafts, sketches of characters and dialogue as well, and most of them were things he absentmindedly drew either in class or lunch.
But Hitoshi hadn’t expected it to become reblogged and liked so much practically overnight. He used his little comic—could it even be called a webcomic anymore? It was practically a manga at this point—as a way to vent his frustrations at the world.
“You can’t be a hero.”
Ever since his quirk appeared, those words were seared into his mind. No one wanted to give him a chance, so quick to write him off as a baby villain, as someone up to no good, just because of what his quirk happened to be. Even his own family tiptoed around him, and while they never outright scorned his dreams, their indifference and silent looks hurt worse.
Art became a healthy outlet for Hitoshi, but it helped him find a community of support. While he wasn’t one to air out his problems to strangers on the internet, he certainly implied that he wasn’t in the best space for his health, physical or otherwise. Many people offered their aid and advice, but Hitoshi was a little skeptical of their intentions. He didn’t want to accidentally interact with a predator or someone unsavory.
The Strength of Us began as a random doodle after his guidance counselor told him to consider other options besides the U.A. Heroics Course. Hitoshi dipped into an old fantasy of his, and basically drew himself being mentored by his favorite hero, an underground Pro named Eraserhead—or, in the comic, Highkey.
Thankfully, no one has connected the dots, but Hitoshi was well aware of the theories and speculation. But he stayed away from Reddit and other hero theory websites. He’d probably delete everything he ever posted if he had to read a theory about the heroes his characters were influenced after.
(He doesn’t even want to think about other heroes speculating over his comic. He knows a few who support it—Present Mic, Midnight, and the Wild Wild Pussycats are the most vocal about it, especially on social media—and he has the vague suspicion that the U.A. staff as a whole support his comic when the U.A. official twitter liked a few of his posts. He also received a commission from someone named Nezu, and Hitoshi’s pretty sure that’s the name of U.A.’s principal.)
Hitoshi spends a good few hours on social media, retweeting things he liked from his timeline, and answering the flood of questions flung at him with a grace he does not possess outside of the internet. His parents don’t come home until late, so Hitoshi prepares dinner and eats by himself.
He’s used to it by now.
When he fails the entrance exam for the heroics course, he draws a chapter about a boy with a psychological quirk who doesn’t get into the school of his dreams. He doesn’t post it, though, because he doesn’t want to risk the chance of someone connecting it to UA’s entrance exam. He doesn’t want to embroil himself in a scandal, and then get blacklisted from secondary education.
He places the chapter in a folder of things he’ll never post. Things he’ll never let see the light and tries to breath.
It still hurts. He thinks it always will.
WHO IS HITOCCHI? Jan. 09, 2XX6 This Thread is Archived
Click to see what this means
destinyfruit (destinyfruit) wrote:
ok so im not one who typically reads webcomics or wteva but a close friend of mine introduced me to the comic, strength of us, and i got very into it!! like i devoured everything about it n followed the authors’ accounts on sns, but like ???
who is this person??? where did they come from?? why are they so secretive??? on that note, does anyone know their pronouns or??? n there’s so many conflicting theories going on abt their age/gender/quirk etc n im so confused!!!
help ya girl out pls
thnx
tags: #strengthofus #hitocchi #mystery
mimikyuu
sensei is a mystery to us all
preseeentmic
while they never say their pronouns, i think they’re comfy w/ they/them as that’s what everyone uses for them!! Ngl all the theory is pretty confusing. I think the general consensus is that they’re, like, a college student! But honestly, it’s all up in the air
midnightislife
whos’ your fave character???
Click to read 32 replies
midori!!
u/preseeentmic is correct! Hitocchi-sensei’s pronouns haven’t been confirmed, but they haven’t expressed discomfort with gender-neutral pronouns either, so that’s what the fandom uses when talking about them. The fandom is pretty split on Hitocchi-sensei’s age and gender; but I think many believe they’re around college-aged because of their grammar, art style, and that they post around odd hours!
As for their secrecy . . . Hitocchi-sensei is very protective of their privacy, which makes sense as they probably don’t want to be taken advantage of. Overall, no one really knows where they came from but they posted the original drafts of TSOU on tumblr and twitter, and it just blew up a few weeks after they posted a full chapter due to its’ art and plot. They’ve been on a roll ever since!
[Read More]
scream
damn u/midori!! out here writing an essay again
<< 1 2 3 4 . . . 38 >>
ABOUT THE AUTHOR strength of us contact support the author webstore
When HITOCCHI isn’t drafting out new ideas for the Strength of Us or interacting with fans on social media, they are listening to music, playing with their family cat, Beanie, or experimenting with their family recipes.
They do their best to maintain a regular updating schedule, posting small drafts and blurbs in-between chapter updates, but they are vocal about their physical and mental health needs going first before their webcomic.
Updates, personal or otherwise, can be found . . .
[PROFILE PIC: A picture of Hitocchi-sensei’s cat, Beanie, curled atop a drawing board.]
[HEADER: The comic title, STRENGTH OF US, is written in calligraphic script, purple-blue coloring, and surrounding it are partly drawn buildings.]
update: pending
@HITOCCHI
{Edit profile}
your local artist • webcomic + hero enthusiast •
author of strength of us • cat lover
Joined September 2XX5
strengthofus.com
261 Following 1.3M Followers
Pinned Tweet
update: pending @HITOCCHI • 6/12/XX
New prints available! Commissions will reopen within a few weeks, so keep an eye out. thanks for your support [Link]
26k Retweets 30k Likes
herofan12 reblogged louderthanmic
toequirk
… y’all WHO HAS SEEN THE LATEST CHAPTER OF TSOU I AM SCREAMING!!!!! SOMEONE PLEASE READ IT SO I CAN SCREAM W THEM!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SPOILERS ARE UNDER THE READ MORE
--- Read More ---
appple
THE WAY
HIGHKEY JUST
BODILY PROTECTED KATKALL IM
N THE WAY
SASADA USED HER QUIRK AS AN INTERROGATION TOOL IM
bestjeanistist
tbh this chapter has me thinkin @HITOCCHI is involved in the heroics world bc this info is just too detailed!!!!! like!!! if they don’t have some knowledge we lowly civs don’t have im gonna be shook
mirukooo
bruh im living highkat LIVES!
greenbean
ladkfjgakfg Y IS NO ONE TALKING ABT MY GOOD GIRL SASADA THO!!!!!
265,758 notes
Source: toequirk #hitocchi #strengthofus
He loses the Sports Festival.
He’s bitter about it but resolves his conflicting emotions when he does a chapter about loss in Strength of Us. He posts it over the weekend and then ignores the entire world by watching cooking competitions and eating things he probably shouldn’t. He sketches a half-rant about the discrimination involved in the idealization of combat-oriented quirks but decides to leave that away from the internets’ sphere of influence.
It does feel nice to get it out of his system, though.
When he steps on campus the following Monday, Class 1-A’s homeroom teacher pulls him out of class for a moment. At first, Hitoshi thinks, his heart sinking in the tiled flooring, that he’s about to be scolded for using his quirk during the festival, for making hero students feel like they couldn’t continue on in the festival, but those thoughts are smothered the minute Aizawa opens his mouth.
“You don’t have zero potential,” Aizawa (Eraserhead, Hitoshi’s stupid baby brain shrieks. ERASERHEAD!!) explains quietly. “And I hate to see wasted potential due to a biased exam. Therefore, I have an offer for you.”
The terms and conditions are laid out before him. Hitoshi accepts without hesitation and, therefore, is greeted by Aizawa’s wide, slightly unsettling smile.
Their training begins tomorrow, and Hitoshi finds, for the first time in his life, that it’s difficult to pay attention to his lessons. He spends most of the lectures staring blankly at the teacher, thoughts racing, his fingers itching to bring life to a scene.
He goes home and sketches out a meeting between Highkey and a new character. He doesn’t think he’ll post this one—the character is just too similar to Hitoshi, after all—but it’s one of his favorites, once he’s finished with it.
He does tweet that he “received some good news,” though, and laughs to himself at everyone’s attempts to needle the information out of him.
One day, he’ll reveal his identity, but he’s still uncomfortable with the idea of people knowing who he is and what he looks like. He has such a large following, and he’s aware of how fickle public opinion can be given the years he’s watched the hero rankings and various scandals and the like. A part of him is terrified of being judged due to his quirk. He gets enough discrimination in his real life, he doesn’t need it online.
When his parents come home, late in the night when Hitoshi starts preparing for bed, he doesn’t bother telling them of Aizawa’s offer. He’s not sure if they’d believe him. If they’d even care.
Things are looking up, Hitoshi thinks in the quiet of his room, and smiles.
The months seem like they fly past Hitoshi, what with his time taken by training, school, and his comic. He updates sparsely until he finds a comfortable groove of schoolwork, training, and his hobby. When he gets into Class 1-A (Well, it’s 2-A, technically), he celebrates by posting a “special edition” chapter and reopens his curious.cat account for a few days.
There was a catch, however—as a Gen Ed student, he had the choice of living on campus or being a day student. Heroics students didn’t get that option as they were at an increased risk of being targeted by villains. Because of this clause, Aizawa had to do a home visit and have Hitoshi’s parents sign off on him living in the dorms.
Hitoshi knows they’ll say yes even without the home visit, because it’d mean they had to interact with Hitoshi less, but protocol was protocol; thus, on a slightly dreary Tuesday evening, Hitoshi guides Aizawa and his homeroom teacher, coincidentally Present Mic, toward his house.
“Um.” Hitoshi nervously fidgets with his fingers as they get closer to his neighborhood. “They might . . . not be home.”
Aizawa raises an eyebrow. “You told them we’d be coming, correct?”
“I did.”
Hitoshi pretends he doesn’t see the shared glance between his teachers. Plausible deniability. His heart flutters in his ribcage when they round the corner and his house appears. “Well,” he mutters as he fishes out his keys from his pocket. “Here we are.”
Predictably, there are no cars in the driveway.
“What time do your parents get home, listener?” Yamada questions as Hitoshi lets them inside.
Hitoshi gives an absentminded shrug. “It changes, depending on the day.” There’s another shared look, a silence that makes Hitoshi’s muscles tense and coil, so he clears his throat and adds, “I’ll, um, make some tea.”
Aizawa hums.
“Sounds like a plan, Shinsou-kun,” says Yamada.
As Hitoshi putters around the kitchen, he’s aware that his teachers—well, technically, only Mic-sensei is his teacher—are observing his house. He knows what they see: a sort of clinical detachment and lack of life in the décor and atmosphere. Little photos, family or otherwise, line the walls. Hitoshi hasn’t taken a picture with his family since he was two.
Tea takes little time to make, so Hitoshi busies himself by making something to eat. He isn’t that hungry, but if there’s anything he learned from his mother, it’s how to be a good host to guests.
“You have a lovely home, Shinsou-kun,” Yamada tells him kindly. Hitoshi almost wants to say you don’t have to lie, you know, but stops himself before the words can drip out of his mouth.
“Thanks,” he says, instead, and sets the table with teacups and saucers. When the table is set, he chews on his bottom lip. “Sorry . . ..”
It’s Aizawa who answers, dark gaze cutting through Hitoshi’s lungs. “About what?”
Hitoshi rubs the back of his neck. He doesn’t look at them. “Um. My parents.”
“I don’t think you should be held accountable for your parents’ actions, listener,” Yamada informs him quietly. There’s something – sharp in his gaze; Hitoshi feels like he should recognize it. He doesn’t want to.
Before they can sit down and enjoy the refreshments Hitoshi prepared, the front door opens. Hitoshi hears his mothers’ tired voice float down the hall and blinks, surprised, that she’s back before eleven. When she enters the kitchen, phone perched close to her ear, she stares at the two men.
“Hitoshi,” she frowns as she pressed the red icon on her phone screen. “Who are these men?”
Hitoshi resists his usual sarcastic response. “Teachers from school—I told you they’d want to do a home visit because of my transfer into the heroics course.”
“Oh,” his mother blinks, looking and sounding surprised. “I . . . thought that was a joke.”
Hitoshi takes a sip of tea. He’s used to the lack of trust.
“A joke,” Yamada echoes flatly.
His mother laughs. “Ah, well, children like to tell tales, you know.”
Aizawa hums in a way that shows how unimpressed he is about the entire situation. “We apologize for interrupting any plans you may’ve had, but essentially this will be a discussion of Hitoshi’s transfer into Class 1-A. I’m their homeroom teacher.”
“And I’m Hitoshi’s homeroom teacher,” Yamada adds with a wide smile that somehow looks friendly and intimidating. “We’ll be answering any questions you may have about the transfer, the dormitories, and, of course, the paperwork you’ll need to sign as Shinsou-kun’s legal guardian.”
“Are you sure you want Hitoshi in that class?” His mother says after a pause, and Hitoshi sinks into his seat because he just knows what’s going to come out of her mouth— “He’s not very social, you know.” Hitoshi is, thank you very much, but just not when his peers bully and antagonize him. “And his quirk is . . . you know.”
“No,” Aizawa says, quieter than Hitoshi has ever heard him. Hitoshi pours himself another cup of tea. “I don’t think I do.”
His mother flushes, realizing her potential faux pass in the presence of two teachers from a prestigious high school, and quickly signs the forms needed for Hitoshi to live on campus. “When will he move in?”
“As soon as possible,” Aizawa informs and then, after a considering look, adds, “Over the weekend would be best.”
“Perfect,” his mother smiles. Hitoshi stares at the way it softens her features. When her phone buzzes with a call, she rises with a distant, “Sorry, I need to take this. Hitoshi, don’t burn the house down with dinner.”
Hitoshi hums and tries not to feel annoyed. He hasn’t set off the fire alarm since he was eleven. When his mother disappears upstairs, answering her business call, Hitoshi tries not to look at his teachers. He doesn’t want to see their expressions; see their pity.
“Do I . . . need to sign anything?” He asks quietly. He wants to drink another cup, but he knows if he does then he won’t eat much dinner.
“Nope!” Yamada sounds a bit more cheerful than before, reaching over to ruffle Hitoshi’s hair. “All you need to do is pack your things—.”
“Will your parents help you move in?” Aizawa questions, blunt and unforgiving. Hitoshi grips his cup tight. “Or will they expect you to handle it by yourself?”
Yamada’s eyes widen and he hisses a quiet, “Shouta, have some tact!”
Hitoshi’s first instinct is to lie; say that his parents would, in fact, help him move his entire room into U.A.’s dorms. The truth of the matter, however, is that Hitoshi would have no choice but to lug his entire life onto a train and then the ten-minute walk to U.A. by himself.
“By myself,” he replies, perhaps quieter than Aizawa had been. From the corner of his eye, he sees Yamada’s expression flicker. Aizawa’s frown deepens. “Um. It’ll be alright—.”
“You’re not going to drag your belongings through the entire prefecture,” Aizawa tells him, tone brooking no arguments. Hitoshi almost swallows his tongue. “We’ll come pick you up and help you move in.”
“Don’t worry about space,” Yamada assures him, possibly sensing a counterargument bubbling forth. “My car has the room!”
“Thanks.” Hitoshi swallows around a dry throat. “What, um, time?”
“Does eleven sound reasonable?” Yamada offers and smiles warmly when Hitoshi nods. “Wonderful. We’ll do the heavy lifting, too, kiddo.”
“You don’t have to,” Hitoshi says into his teacup.
“We don’t,” Aizawa agrees. “But we want to.”
From the phone records of Shinsou Hitoshi.
DM @dekiru [idle]
dekiru
ahhhh
you’re my classmate!!!!
nyazawa
[confetti emoji][confetti emoji]
got the docs signed today
dekiru
SO EXCITING!!!
TIME TO ADD YOU TO THE GC
nyazawa
i have one (1) regret
dekiru
it’s too late now
nyazawa
f.
<>
Server:
A STANDS FOR PROBLEM CHILDREN
UA Class 2A Group Chat!
JOIN | CANCEL
<>
#gengengen
raichu
ONE OF US
ALIEN QUEEN IS A GREAT NAME
ONE OF US
kids baking champion
ONE OF US
A wild @nyazawa appears. Approach quietly.
nyazawa
pls do
bronchitis
yes shinsou is fragile
nyazawa
m
midoriya??
bronchitis
hi!!
he run
welcome to class a, shinsou-kun! if you have any problems or questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me or @full time alchemist
nyazawa
thanks
---
DM @shouto [DO NOT DISTURB]
shouto
So.
Your handle.
nyazawa
what about it.
also who is this?
shouto
todoroki shouto
nyazawa
um
im sorry im really bad w names
shouto
it’s fine.
i have the half-fire, half-ice quirk
- dual-toned hair n heterochromia
nyazawa
oh!!!! okokok
i remember you.
what’s up
shouto
are you related to Aizawa-sensei
nyazawa
sadly
no
shouto
I see
Sorry for bothering you
nyazawa
it’s fine
also i guess we’re neighbors
shouto
nice
let me know if you need any help
Hitoshi faces little problems when he moves into the 2A dorms. His parents hadn’t seen him off, but given the note Hitoshi found on the fridge, they were on their way overseas. He’s pretty sure his teachers saw the note, given the slight tension in their shoulders, but thankfully neither of them asked him about it.
Hitoshi isn’t sure what he’d say if they did.
Although he’s certain they have better things to do, Aizawa and Yamada even help him get settled into his dorm. Hitoshi wasn’t sure what to pack or what he’d need, as he’s never lived in a dorm before, and while his classmates parents’ would probably send them things if they forgot it, Hitoshi is well-aware his parents wouldn’t lift a finger for him besides the bare necessities.
He waits until he’s by himself to unpack his art supplies. While Hitoshi feels a bit more prepared if his identity as Hitocchi were revealed, he’s still hesitant to take the risk.
For the first few days in 2A, Hitoshi keeps to himself. He isn’t rude or impolite to those who talk to him—which, to his surprise, is a lot—but he doesn’t start conversations or reach out to anyone. When he’s not in class or training, he’s in his room. Most of the time, he’s studying, but as he reaches the second month of being in 2A, he decides to post something.
He’d gone on a short hiatus to get accustomed to the Heroics Department way of academics and training. Most nights, Hitoshi dragged himself back to his room in exhausted and didn’t have the energy left to think outside of an academic setting.
Once he’s brought a few snacks to his room, he sets up his desk with all the supplies he wants to use. He opens up a blank file on his drawing tablet and falls into the familiar mechanics of drawing characters from TSOU.
He doesn’t know how long time has passed, but when his door opens, Hitoshi almost violently jolts at the sound.
“Shinsou?”
It’s Todoroki.
Hitoshi blinks, almost owlishly, at his classmate. “Um. Yes?”
There’s a brief stretch of silence, and Hitoshi’s about to ask what’s wrong when he realizes that his tablet isn’t covered and displays a nearly complete sketch of Emote. The only thing Hitoshi has left to do is color.
Todoroki blinks down at Hitoshi’s sketch. “Oh.”
Oh? Hitoshi wants to scream. What does that mean?
“It looks nice,” Todoroki informs him, and Hitoshi gives a shaky smile. “I didn’t know you liked to draw.”
“Th-Thanks,” Hitoshi manages to say. “Um. P-Please don’t . . ..”
“I won’t,” Todoroki finishes, thankfully, because Hitoshi’s not sure he can choke out full sentences. At the panic still grasping Hitoshi’s expression, Todoroki considerably softens. “Your secret is safe with me. I won’t betray your trust like that.”
Hitoshi’s breath scatters between them. “I . . . thanks, Todoroki.”
“No problem.” Then, a pause. “Sorry for . . . barging in.”
“It’s alright.” Hitoshi should’ve locked the door so, really, it’s his fault. “Um . . . did you need anything?”
“Ah. The others wanted to know if you’d like to join us to a cat café.”
Hitoshi brightens. “A cat café?”
Todoroki nods, humming. “It’s okay if you’re busy, though. No one wanted to make you feel . . . excluded or anything like that.”
Hitoshi bites hit bottom lip. While he would love to go to a cat café, he hasn’t really updated much. Though he was pretty open about taking breaks from the webcomic if it ever compromised his physical and mental health, he always felt guilty when he was on hiatus for too long.
“I . . . I think I’ll stay in today,” Hitoshi says after a moment. “But, um, I’ll join next time.”
Todoroki nods and gives him a quiet smile. “Good luck with your work.”
Hitoshi drops his gaze to Emote. “Thank you.”
His first two posts in a few weeks are of Emote and a new character; someone who is distant and a little standoffish, but their smile brings a sense of peace. They aren’t a hero or a hero-in-training, but, rather, a bystander who has (technically) appeared in most of the chapters. Hitoshi has kept them in the background for the most part, because his drafts for their name, and quirk, and overall purpose in the story felt lackluster.
But the story—a florist who never fails to have Sasada’s favorite flowers—feels a little bit more complete now; full circle and all that.
DM @strawberry milk [INVISIBLE]
strawberry milk
wait
is this you?
[Screenshot: An uncolored sketch of the Pros and Sidekicks in Strength of Us, decorating for the holidays and having a cheerful time. Written above them is “Happy Holidays” in festive script. The authors’ signature is in the bottom corner of the sketch. This was originally posted on the authors’ official twitter.]
your famous?
adopt me erasermic
yes the artist is me
i mean i like to think im popular n all
wait
did u not know?
strawberry milk
no
i just thought your drawings were pretty
n you were embarrassed about people seeing your art
adopt me erasermic
i mean .
ur not wrong but
i thought you knew!!!
LMAO THIS IS SO FUNNY
strawberry milk
is it
is it really
adopt me erasermic
yeah
i kinda panicked bc u saw me draw emote
im just uncomfy w people knowing im hitocchi-sensei rn
but you really?? didn’t know who i was??
strawberry milk
nope
just thought you were talented
how was i supposed to know you’re famous
adopt me erasermic
im gonna scream
can i post this on twitter pls
strawberry milk
sure
just black out my icon pls
adopt me erasermic
[thumbs up emoji]
on hiatus @HITOCCHI • 4s
im LOSING MY MIND!!
[Attached Image: A series of Discord screenshots displaying a conversation between @strawberry milk and @adopt me erasermic wherein @strawberry milk was unaware of @adopt me erasermic’s identity as HITOCCHI. Icons are blacked out.]
10 Retweets 5 Likes
Album Is: Out @PresentMicOfficial
Replying to @HITOCCHI
your handle . . . [eye emoji][eye emoji]
on hiatus @HITOCCHI
Replying to @HITOCCHI, @PresentMicOfficial
:’)
shouto has followed you . . .
. . . you have 321 new notifications from shouto . . .
His mother texts him that they won’t be home for the holidays, but his allowance would be placed in his account like normal, so when Aizawa comes around the dorms to see who’s going home and who’s not, Hitoshi jots his name down under the staying list. He feigns nonchalance at Aizawa’s quirked eyebrow.
“Your parents are still overseas?” There’s a tone in Aizawa’s voice that Hitoshi deliberately remains oblivious to.
“Yup.” Hitoshi tries not to think about being the first person, so far, to stay at U.A. during the break. “They’re, uh, working on a pretty big deal.”
They weren’t. Hitoshi’s pretty sure they either moved out of Japan or decided to take an elongated vacation.
Aizawa hums and Hitoshi tries not to feel unsettled by his stare. He’s not sure if it works. In the end, only Hitoshi and Todoroki stay in the dorms. A few of their classmates offer their homes to them during the break, but Hitoshi is barely comfortable in his own house, so he knows he won’t feel comfortable living with strangers. Todoroki also declines those invitations, and soon the dorm settles into a relative quiet.
He does a quick twenty-minute stream where he sketches expressions and the like. He hears Todoroki puttering about in his own room when he uploads the sketches online. When he starts plotting out the next chapter, debating whether to drag the suspense he’s created or not, there’s a knock on his bedroom door.
Once he’s successfully hidden his drawings, he calls out, “Come in!”
“Shinsou.” It’s Aizawa. “I’d like to discuss something with you. We can have it here if you’re more comfortable or we can head downstairs.”
Something cold settles deep in his veins. Hitoshi knows what this conversation will be about. It’s one he’s had with countless teachers before, those who saw the quiet and withdrawn child before they learned of his quirk, those who made comments and the like in his school file that pressed against Hitoshi’s shoulders wherever he went. A file he knows U.A. would look at even before his transfer to heroics.
He takes a deep, steadying breath. He’s aware that Todoroki’s movements have ceased. “We can talk here,” he says quietly.
Aizawa nods and takes a seat on the edge of Hitoshi’s bed.
Hitoshi thinks he should feel uncomfortable; boxed in and cornered. But this is Aizawa—not just his childhood hero, but an adult who looked at Hitoshi and said you are worth it and didn’t mock his dream; an adult who helped him flourish against the odds—and Hitoshi isn’t scared.
“How often do your parents leave you by yourself like this?” Aizawa starts his questions with an easy uphill. Easier questions so that Hitoshi won’t clam up and choke.
“. . . Pretty often,” Hitoshi replies after a careful pause.
Aizawa hums, wholly unimpressed.
Hitoshi knows what child neglect is. He knows what it does, and what it looks like. He’s lived with it his entire life, and understands it takes place in various forms. He’s written story plots about it, read peoples’ comments and tweets about how they related to it, how it made them aware of the issue. Saw the speculation that he experienced such a childhood.
The ensuing conversation is emotionally draining and long. Hitoshi’s aware that Aizawa takes notes while he talks about his home life, about all the things his parents do that, technically, they shouldn’t—like having their five-year-old make his own meals even though he can’t safely reach the stove, like neglecting his emotional and physical needs until the school threatens to involve the authorities, and that’s when they become even more distant (“You’re just so much trouble, Hitoshi.”) but at least, they’re more financially supportive and Hitoshi no longer has to prick himself with needles trying to sew the holes in his uniform pants.
He doesn’t know what Aizawa will do with this information—well, he thinks he knows, but that’s more of a rising hope in his chest than actual fact—but he looks . . . solemn enough that it makes Hitoshi think his teacher might get into a fist fight with his parents.
After a good three hours, Hitoshi trails off and has nothing else to say about his homelife. He twists his fingers nervously, silently combating the rising anxiety in the curve of his throat, and startles when Aizawa rests a hand on Hitoshi’s head and crouches down until they’re eye level.
Hitoshi wants to look away from Aizawa’s intense gaze, but he finds that he can’t.
“I’m sorry,” Aizawa says quietly. “You don’t deserve to be treated like this.”
“It’s . . . It’s okay, Sensei.”
“No,” Aizawa replies. “It’s not okay.”
If anyone asks, Hitoshi’s tears were caused by the stress of exams, but he’s aware he’s fooling absolutely no one.
DM @hand crusher [ONLINE]
hand crusher
k
but is emote laive
*alive
depresso machine
lol
hand crusher
don’t do this to me
pls
depresso machine
LOL
hand crusher
HITOCCHI SENSEI PLS
depresso machine
[Attached Image: A gif of a woman saying “Honey, you’ve got a big storm coming.”]
beanie is best girl @HITOCCHI • 5h
im being scolded help
[Attached Image: A screenshot of a DM conversation on Discord. Icons are blacked out, but usernames aren’t.
hand crusher: u kill emote n i will tell everyone your allergic to strawberry ice cream.
hand crusher: n [BLANK] will never let u eat it ever again
depresso machine: ur so mean to me :(
hand crusher: iwonthesitaterebecca.gif]
3.6k Retweets 11k Likes
BUY HAWKS MERCH @midori • 5h
Replying to @HITOCCHI
PLEASE DON’T KILL EMOTE SENSEI
1.5k Retweets 2k Likes
Revolution! @mangooo • 4h
Replying to @HITOCCHI, @midori
pull the trigger #handcrusher
2k Retweets 3k Likes
He thinks he should be surprised when his parents, confronted with the rage of U.A. and the impending threat of ‘bad business’ that would come with word of their treatment, sign off their parental rights. They didn’t really want to be parents, because Hitoshi’s well-aware he wasn’t in their plans.
He is surprised, however, when he becomes Aizawa’s ward instead of U.A.’s. Hitoshi’s pretty sure that this would probably take a longer than a week, but Nezu has made a few calls and streamlined the process.
Todoroki is the first person Hitoshi tells and laughs when Todoroki says, “I guess this means you are Aizawa-sensei’s child, now.”
To celebrate, he posts a chapter where he reveals that Highkey and KatKall are married, and they adopt a character who is suspiciously similar to Hitoshi. When he tweets a link to the update, he adds just got adopted so here’s a celebratory chapter impulsively, knowing very well that Aizawa and Yamada would connect the dots.
Yamada texts him a series of exclamation marks followed by a HITOCCHI-SENSEI!!!!!!!!!! and Hitoshi laughs.
TRENDING
- #StrengthofUs
- #handcrusher
- #HandsUpAlbum
HeroCon Tickets On Sale!!! @mochimochi • 2m
k but who is #handcrusher
1k Retweets 12k Likes
roomba is the future @WHOMST • 13m
did @HITOCCHI finally get an assistant?? or is #handcrusher just a friend?? i want answers,,
500 Retweets 1k Likes
best boy highkey @HighKat • 1h
kadfgjdkfg i just finished the latest ch of #StrengthofUs PLS TELL ME EMOTE IS OK
891 Retweets 2k Likes
beanie is best girl @HITOCCHI
Replying to @HighKat
:)
best boy highkey @HighKat
Replying to @HITOCCHI, @HighKat
I DONT TRUST THAT SMILE SENSEI
After the holidays, Hitoshi gets a bit closer to his classmates. He accepts their invitations to hang out in the common room for impromptu game nights and movie nights. He studies with Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, and Todoroki, though he prefers to study by himself in the library. It’s quieter than the dorms, after all.
But he also gets closer to Todoroki.
They share an inside joke, if you will; a secret literally no one else is privy to because Hitoshi still has an ironclad grip on his identity as Hitocchi.
It feels a little freeing, having someone else share the weight of Hitoshi’s secret. While he isn’t doing anything wrong, holding such an important piece of him so close to his heart has left a toll he hadn’t realized until now.
No one else has really noticed their newfound closeness—except for Midoriya, maybe—because Hitoshi is still shy in the face of their enthusiasm and friendliness. But sometimes Todoroki sits with him when he does a stream, though Hitoshi makes sure that no one can see Todoroki, and sometimes, when Hitoshi finds himself at a block, he bounces ideas off Todoroki, who brings a fresh perspective to the table and information about the hero world that Hitoshi hadn’t known before.
It’s nearly spring when he gets an alert that tickets to his favorite con have gone on sale.
If there’s one thing Hitoshi likes more than his webcomic, it’s attending conventions. He likes to cosplay either characters or heroes who have masks whenever he decides to have a table. He’s been offered to join a panel, but his anxiety over saying the wrong thing and embarrassing himself in a room of people has always made him deny those requests. He tries to attend the ones he can, mostly the big ones that pop up in Musutafu, though he did attend a few in Tokyo.
He stares at the ticket purchasing screen with pursed lips. There’s a cheaper deal for a ticket bundle and he could afford it—but he didn’t have inattentive parents anymore. He’s certain Aizawa and Yamada would have problems with Hitoshi going off in the prefecture with little prior knowledge, especially since Hitoshi, more often than naught, attended conventions alone.
“Is everything alright?”
Hitoshi blinks at Yamada’s concerned gaze. Even Aizawa, who was previously grading some essays, is looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “I . . . yeah.”
His parents would’ve left the conversation at that, satisfied by some invisible parenting quota, but if there’s anything Hitoshi knows, it’s that Yamada and Aizawa are not his parents.
“Are people on the internet bothering you about your identity?” Yamada asks, lips pulled into a frown, as he sits straighter. Well-aware of all the times Yamada ranted on Twitter and his radio show about invading peoples’ privacy when they’ve established boundaries, Hitoshi has no doubt that the man would begin another thread if he hinted at it.
“No.” Hitoshi bites his bottom lip before he pulls up the convention website. “I, um, like to attend conventions . . . and this is one of the, um, bigger ones?”
Aizawa tilts his head. “Is that what you’re worried about?”
Hitoshi shakes his head. “No . . . um, well, I typically go to these . . . by myself.” His guardians grimace at that, and Hitoshi chuckles. “Yeah, I thought you wouldn’t be comfortable with that . . ..”
“Do you think we won’t let you go?” It’s Yamada who asks the question, and Hitoshi draws his shoulders up to his ears once it’s in the air.
He really doesn’t know what to say. He’s never – really had parents who cared about his wellbeing, who listened to him, who were actively engaged in his life, when not being threatened by a visit from a social worker.
“I dunno.” Hitoshi’s voice is small when he speaks. “I’m not . . . really used to adults, um, caring . . . about me.” Or what I do.
The silence makes Hitoshi think, for a brief moment, that he said the wrong thing. He offended them. He—
“. . . Hitoshi.” When he manages to look at Yamada, the man is reaching for him and Hitoshi isn’t surprised when he’s tucked against Yamada’s side—or when Aizawa settles beside Hitoshi, having him in between them. They were very tactile with Hitoshi, once they became aware of how touch-starved he is. “I know it’ll take a bit for you to realize this, but . . . we do care about you and whatever you do.”
“You can attend the convention if you want,” Aizawa adds, settling a hand in Hitoshi’s curls. He almost melts at their touch; it’s so gentle and kind. His parents never really touched him, not since his quirk developed. “Though we would be comfortable if you didn’t go by yourself.”
“That’s right, listener!”
A smile tugs Hitoshi’s lips. “Well . . . they have ticket deals for groups,” he starts slowly, but he doesn’t look at them or else the words will dry up immediately. “And I was, um, gonna ask Todoroki if he wanted to come with but . . . I also wanted to know if . . .,” He falls silent for a moment and continues, quieter: “if you wanted to come, too?”
“We’d love to,” Yamada agrees almost instantly, a wide smile stretching his lips. When Hitoshi risks a glance toward Aizawa, he’s smiling too, though considerably softer than Yamada’s. “And don’t worry about ticket prices—we’ll foot the bill.”
“You—you don’t have to,” Hitoshi protests because, really, he has the funds. “I have money . . ..”
“Save it for the things you’d want to buy,” Aizawa says, as easily as breathing, and a part of Hitoshi wants to cry. “You don’t need to worry about supporting yourself anymore.”
“That’s right,” Yamada, soft like Beanie’s fur, like the sound of her purrs when Hitoshi scratches beneath her chin. “Let us take care of you.”
The tears are from stress, the tears are from stress . . . “Okay,” Hitoshi warbles out, a quiet laugh escaping when Yamada just plops an entire box of tissues in his lap.
He’s been a lot more emotional lately—well, Hitoshi has always been emotional, but he tucked his emotions away in a box until he was alone in his room. These past few weeks in Aizawa and Yamada’s custody have taught him that he doesn’t need to be impassive, that expressing his emotions was a healthy outlet for stress.
Once Hitoshi wrangles his emotions under control, he points out which ticket bundle he was looking at and talked about his hesitant plans to be a vendor for a day.
“That sounds exciting!” Yamada uses a bit of his quirk, voice floating to the ceiling, and mock-pouts when Aizawa reaches over Hitoshi’s head and flicks his nose. “Shouta!”
“Too loud,” Aizawa complains, but there’s little bite to his words. Then, to Hitoshi, he adds, “Let us know if there’s any paperwork and the like you’ll need filled out for being a vendor.”
Hitoshi nods and smiles. He’s always gone to a convention by himself, so he’s very curious to how it’ll go when he has other people with him.
DM @nihilism [ONLINE]
EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
todoroki
todoroki
todoroki
nihilism
you okay?
EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
ye
wanna go to hero con w me
nihilism
to what
EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
Link
Link
Link
it’s ok if you don’t want to
i know it’s not everyone’s ‘thing’
nihilism
no it sounds like fun
endeavor would get annoyed, too
EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
is
is that a good thing or
nihilism
it’s a great thing
im in
status: cosplaying @HITOCCHI • 15m
guess who’s going to #HeroConMusutafu
1.5k Retweets 3k Likes
OG Hitocchi Fan @spicychai
Replying to @HITOCCHI
are you tabling again?
status: cosplaying @HITOCCHI
Replying to @HITOCCHI, @spicychai
maybe [eye emoji]
Today at 4:23 A.M.
DM @nihilism [IDLE]
nihilism
i know ur sleeping but
u can call me shouto
if u want
EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
LKFJGLJFG
ok
u can call me hitoshi!!
nihilism
nice
PUT YOUR HANDS UP!! Radio Show Transcript [ONLINE VERSION]
12 October 2XX7
7:20 P.M.
Topic: Phone Interview w/ Hitocchi-sensei
P = Present Mic / H = Hitocchi-sensei
P: Alright, listeners—we have a very special guest on our show today! If you tuned in to our show a week ago, you already have an idea . . . but for those listeners just popping in, we have the author of a hero-favorite webcomic, the Strength of Us. Welcome, Hitocchi-sensei. How’re you DOING TODAY, LISTENER?
H: Um . . . Hi, Present Mic-san, I’m doing okay.
P: You can just call me Present Mic, listener—and WOAH, you sound young over the phone.
H [nervous laughter]: Yeah, I get told that a lot.
P: It’s the same way with my partner—they sound like a baby over the phone, it’s hilarious. But! That’s not what we’re here to discuss! Before we begin, is there anything you do not want me to touch upon?
H: . . . Um, anything, like, about my age, gender, quirk . . . identity questions and all that, please. If . . . If I don’t want to answer something, is it, like, okay if I say that?
P: Of course! Can you tell me what made you decide to write your webcomic?
H: . . . Hmm, well, I will say that my quirk is psychological and . . . rare, and I experienced quirk discrimination from my peers, teachers . . . so I found an outlet through art, since I always liked to draw and my counselor, uh . . . wanted me to consider . . . other career options than what I wanted, so, honestly, the Strength of Us was kind of a rant?
P: Well, I’m sorry you had to experience that, listener; people can be cruel.
H: [noncommittal hum]
P: Did you think your webcomic would become so . . . big?
H [laughing]: Absolutely not. Honestly, when I posted it, I was new to social media so I didn’t really . . . understand what was going on, but it’s surreal how many people like my content.
>> Next Page
All You Need To Know About Hitocchi
by HeroFeed
10 Things About the Strength of Us
by Popular Pros Network
Recent TSOU Update Leaves Fans Reeling
by Entertainment
you and shouto have liked:
currently screaming @HighKall • 6m
if emote dies, we riot
150 Retweets 600 Likes
You have followed shouto back.
Shouto has shared three tweets with you.
After a lunch filled with rambunctious, over-powered teenagers, Hitoshi wastes little time in a quick escape to his room. He declines offers to hang out in the common room, citing he wanted to study in quiet, and triple-checks he has everything he needs for his livestream. He hadn’t done one since he entered UA, as he’d been getting accustomed to the accelerated academic atmosphere and then, exhausted by training with Aizawa.
. . . Which still made him want to squeal into his pillow, never mind that months have passed since their initial meeting, because his favorite hero was mentoring him. And, you know, adopted him. Hitoshi’s comic predicted his future—literally!
He puts on his playlist labeled art time!! and sets it to a low volume. He didn’t want to distract anyone, but he wanted some background noise to work with so that he didn’t have to hear the sounds of his pen against his tablet and his own breathing.
Once he makes sure that the camera was not going to reveal his face, only showing the homepage of his drawing tablet, Hitoshi posts the link to the stream on his social media. He doesn’t mean to brag or sound overconfident, but he’s pleased when, barely a few seconds after he’s hit the ‘post’ button, the stream floods with people.
He plugs in his headphone set so they’d be able to hear him, though he keeps one ear out just in case he was needed, and greets, softly, “Hi, everyone. Give me a few minutes and we’ll officially start the stream.”
From the muffled sounds downstairs, he can hear his classmates become restless and excited. They’re probably having another mario kart tournament, Hitoshi thinks idly as he makes himself comfortable, draping a weighted blanket against his shoulders, and begins clicking around to find his saved draft.
“Sorry everyone,” Hitoshi grumbles out after a few moments. “I’m having a bit of difficulty—it’s a new tablet and system I’ve got set up, so please be patient.”
The stream erupts into comments of support and humor, and Hitoshi cracks a smile none of them will see.
“Aw, you’re all so kind,” Hitoshi replies, and then makes a triumphant noise as he locates his file labeled first_meeting. “Ah! Found it.”
He opens the file and is satisfied to see that nothing is out of place. He had gone ahead and sketched out what he wanted to do for the livestream beforehand as he wanted it to be quick and simple. A nap was his future, but he had to get through the stream first. He’d scheduled it beforehand and promised his various followers, and Hitoshi didn’t want to disappoint anyone by backing out.
It was of Emote and Sasada Yuna, two of his favorite characters even though Suncloud and Highkey had special places in his heart. But, really, Hitoshi was kidding no one. He loved all his characters, even the ones’ whose personalities were deliberately obnoxious.
Officially, Emote and Sasada hadn’t met yet. Hitoshi drafted out their first meeting and planned to introduce that chapter within a couple days, but he wanted to make a print for sale with the two of them. A little hint of the future to come, they’re on patrol; though, Sasada is a hero student.
“I guess this kinda counts as a spoiler,” Hitoshi informs the stream. “As they haven’t . . . met yet, in the comic at least, but, uh, I got inspired, I guess.”
erasercat: it’s fine
midori!: yes! im glad you got inspired!!!
Loudx2: ahh im so amazed at your art!!!
“Thanks.”
His playlist switches to a song from Present Mic’s recent album, and he hums along as he picks out his color palette for Sasada. Her hero costume was a mix of his costume, Aizawa’s, and Yamada’s, but there were a lot more changes so that it wasn’t obvious. If anything, people would say that he got inspired by Yamada’s voice amplifier.
As he starts coloring, he takes the time to answer a few questions from the chat. He doesn’t respond to questions about his age or his name or where he was, though he did remind everyone that “no matter how many times you ask, I’m not going to give away personal information.” He didn’t mind that people knew he attended UA (and, to an extent, his age). He had gone through so much that he physically couldn’t hold back from announcing his acceptance to the world.
He had a group of loyal moderators that kept the chat as PG as possible. One stream Hitoshi had done was practically overrun by people who made . . . uncomfortable comments over Hitoshi’s probable age and gender and would ask him questions that basically made him shut down the stream after ten minutes and have a panic attack in the bathroom.
He apologized for the abrupt disappearance on social media but explained he wouldn’t do streams anymore if people kept infringing on his privacy. Thankfully, those incidences were few and far in between. Although he always felt a little guilty when he banned people from the chat, his relief overrode the guilt.
“Okay . . . hmm, let’s see if I can change this color to—.” Hitoshi blinks when the screen flickers. He doesn’t know what he touched, but he touched something he wasn’t supposed to and his print disappears. A pout forms on his face, and he’s expressive only because he knows no one can see him, and grumbles, “Ugh, I hate this new laptop . . . what am I even doing?”
There’s a distant rumble of noise coming from the common room, but he brushes it off. It’s probably Bakugou. Someone had, no doubt, thrown some sort of red shell at him during the game. He wondered if they were on rainbow road again.
He clicks around a few more, making disgruntled noises in the back of his throat. “Oh, god, what did I touch? Did I end the stream? I didn’t want to do that . . .” His pout deepens, as does the noise downstairs, when he notices his color palette is gone. “Where did my color palette go? That took me, like, two hours to figure out the colors—well. . . guess I’ll go cry in the closet.”
His door opens. Todoroki slinks inside with a, “Hitoshi, you switched the camera.”
Hitoshi vaguely hears someone screech, “First names?!” It sounds like Ashido. “Huh? I what?”
“You changed the camera perspective,” Todoroki informs as he crosses the room to where Hitoshi sits.
Hitoshi blinks, slow and languid. “Shouto, I’m not even going to pretend I understand the words that just came out of your mouth.”
There’s a chorus of first names! from the common room. Todoroki snorts.
“Where did my color palette go?”
Todoroki points somewhere on the screen. “It’s right there.”
Hitoshi squints. “Where? I can’t see it?”
Todoroki sighs a bit before he plucks Hitoshi’s glasses off the desk and places it on his face. Although his glasses are very cute (wide rimmed and gold), Hitoshi often forgets to wear them. He doesn’t need them to see, but he, technically, has to wear them whenever he reads or draws something.
“Oh!” Hitoshi blinks at the sudden sharpness in his vision. “I can see now.”
“Obviously,” says Todoroki, but he sounds fonder than exasperated. He’s happened upon a squinting Hitoshi more often than most. “I dunno why you draw without your glasses on. I thought you needed to wear these?”
“I mean . . . technically,” Hitoshi admits after a pause and, when Todoroki quirks an eyebrow, adds, “It just gets in the way.”
“How.”
“It just does.” Hitoshi rolls his eyes. “It keeps slipping off my nose, and it gets smudged and dirty, and it’s just too much.”
Hitoshi would rather have contacts, but those are just expensive.
“Get new ones, then,” Todoroki says, like the rich scion that he is.
Despite himself, Hitoshi snorts. “Bold of you to assume my parents care enough to buy me new glasses. It was a fight just to get these.”
The only reason they did was because one of his homeroom teachers sent an uncomfortably stern letter that implied a home visit would be in their future if they didn’t “give Hitoshi the eye care he needed.”
Hitoshi comes back to the present to see Todoroki side-eyeing him. “I don’t know how to answer that,” he says, so blunt that Hitoshi can’t help but snicker. “But I thought . . . Sensei adopted you?”
“He did,” Hitoshi agrees even though he still can’t believe it himself. “But I don’t wanna, you know, be a burden.”
“I don’t think needing eye care will be a burden.”
Hitoshi grimaces when his gaze catches sight of a ok who else wants to throwdown w hitocchi-sensei’s bio parents comment and breathes around the ice in his throat. “Are we . . . is the live stream still . . .?”
“Yes.”
Hitoshi hums, attempting disinterest, before he squints at the screen again. “Wait, I lost the color palette.”
“Hitoshi.” Todoroki pinches the bridge of his nose. “Glasses.”
TRENDING
- #HitocchiReveal
- #Hitocchi
- #StrengthofUS
SHOOK @midori • 3m
cant believe @HITOCCHI has been my classmate this whole time
1.2k Retweets 3k Likes
hero con survivor @HITOCCHI
Replying to @midori
;)
zelda the scientist @linkie • 15m
im so SHOOK in the #HitocchiReveal
but if any of y’all wanna be creeps toward hitocchi-sensei
i will FIGHT
16k Retweets 12k Likes
OG Hitocchi Fan @spicychai • 50s
hitocchi-sensei is baby
[Screenshot: A screenshot of Hitocchi’s latest livestream where he flipped the camera perspective and accidentally revealed his face. The screenshot is of Hitocchi’s confusion; his eyebrows are furrowed together and he’s biting his lower lip.]
906 Retweets 1k Likes
hero con survivor @HITOCCHI • 2s
it’s true
[OG Hitocchi Fan @spicychai
hitocchi-sensei is baby]
600 Retweets 758 Likes
THE REVEAL OF A GENERATION
Hitocchi-sensei Accidentally Reveals Face During Livestream
By Nakamata Ren | Popular Pros Network
15 April 2XX9
The beloved author behind the generational favorite webcomic, Strength of Us, has accidentally revealed their face during a livestream. While it had been previously revealed that Hitocchi-sensei (real name unknown) attended U.A. High School, they had still released little information regarding other private details. When they decided to do a livestream, they used a new tablet and system, and their technical difficulties ended with a switched camera wherein the face reveal took place.
Because of their status as a minor, as well as a pupil of U.A. High, their name and other identifying information cannot be fully revealed in the public sphere for their safety. Therefore, don’t be surprised or confused as we continue to refer to them as “Hitocchi-sensei.”
[READ MORE]
you retweeted shouto’s tweet:
shouto @shouto •1h
lol i knew who @HITOCCHI was first
[Attached: A selfie of Todoroki and Hitocchi at the previous hero convention. Todoroki is dressed in a knockoff ERASERHEAD cap to hide his hair, and Hitocchi cosplays as the recent UA graduate, SUNEATER. They are sitting at Hitocchi’s table in the artists’ alley.]
15k Retweets 20k Likes
SHOOK @midori
Replying to @shouto
THAT WAS YOU
hero con survivor @HITOCCHI
Replying to @shouto, @midori
:’3