Chapter Text
Izuku smiled as they wandered along, their legs hurrying as fast as possible so that they could see Shinso and Hatsume as quickly as possible. They weren’t sure what had happened, but they were finding themself trying to interact with the pair even more than they had with any of the other kids their age, like Himiko, Shoto, and even Tenya. Okay that was a lie, they knew exactly why, and it was still the same reason they’d given their parents for not wanting them to get involved, Shinso and Hatsume were normal kids, well, as normal as their friends would ever get they supposed. Yeah, they loved their life, and they’d never want to go back to normal. No, they’d fought too hard to just give up on their dreams, and besides, they still had something to prove, even if it wasn’t to themself or their family anymore. It was just that, well, Shoto and Tenya were heroes in training too, and Himiko was Granny Chiyo’s assistant, and none of them had ever had anything close to a normal social life, so it was kinda fun talking to kids who did know what normal, or something close to that, was like.
A familiar stream of chatter interrupted their thoughts as they spotted Hatsume and Shinso just exiting their apartment building. Izuku gave a sharp whistle and waved them over, no surprise training today, they wanted Shinso to have his guard dropped.
“Izuku!!!” Hatsume sprinted up to them, pulling them into a hug which was quickly reciprocated, “you are not going to believe what I saw last night!”
Shinso just sighed and shook his head, “she’s been talking about it since I saw her.”
Izuku giggled, so that was what the random ‘kill me now’ text they got from him was for, “so what is it?”
Hatsume’s eyes lit up, “oh, okay, I think I understood that!” She grinned, and Izuku tilted their head in question, to which she answered, “oh, I asked Shinso to teach me some JSL, you know, so that he doesn’t have to translate for you all the time!”
Izuku smiled, “aww, thanks”
“No need to thank me!” Hatsume shook her head, “kinda the bare minimum really, at least, that’s what my ma says.”
“Your parents know you’re friends with us then,” Shinso said.
“Eh, kinda?” Hatsume shrugged, “they know I’ve got some friends I met while digging around the factory. Doesn’t your dad know about Izuku?”
Shinso winced, “well, yes, he knows about them, but not so much about the training, he, kinda thinks I’ve picked up a hobby of running.”
Hatsume frowned at that, “why don’t you tell him? He’d be glad that his son isn’t going to get pushed around anymore, right?”
“He’s got enough to worry about without knowing that I get bullied,” Shinso seemed to shrink in on himself.
Hatsume opened her mouth to argue but Izuku put a hand on her shoulder, shaking their head, they’d tried to talk sense into him before, but he was stubborn, and it really wasn’t worth the battle. Instead, Hatsume just pivoted to the experience she had, “okay, so, last night, I was testing one of my babies, right? It’s nothing too special, just some new lenses for my goggles, like night vision so that I can dig through the stuff deeper in the factory without needing to like, bring a torch. So I was doing that, and then while I’m working, I notice there’s this bright light nearby, and I see someone running across the rooftops and suddenly stop and double over laughing! And then someone else, who I think was a hero, ‘cause they handcuffed the first person and had a weird costume on. But, get this, I’ve never seen a hero like that before, and I like to keep track you know, ‘cause if I’m gonna do support gear I’ve gotta know my customer base, so I think that’s some kind of, secret hero!”
Izuku hoped the flash of recognition didn’t show on their face, that would be Ms Joke, another undergrounder and one of their dad’s, well, friends would be pushing it, but friendly co-workers, so Hatsume really wasn’t off when she said ‘secret hero’ but they weren’t going to let her know that. Instead they just hummed along, thanking every power of the universe that they were good enough at acting that they could be confident in fooling their new friends.
“Couldn’t this have been a text or something?” Shinso huffed, clearly having heard this several times before, but, if Izuku wasn’t mistaken, his eyes seemed brighter than normal, they wondered what that was about, and also felt slightly bad that they were about to crush whatever good mood he was in.
“Well it would have been,” Hatsume said, “but I don’t have either of your numbers, so...”
Izuku and Shinso looked at each other with an expression of ‘oh.’ Izuku quickly held out their hand and Hatsume grinned, handing her phone over as they put their and Shinso’s numbers in. Meanwhile Shinso chuckled, “man, I can’t believe we forgot to do that.”
Hatsume laughed as well, “I mean it is kinda weird, don’t you two talk over the phone at all?”
Shinso shook his head as Izuku handed the phone back, “not really, we just text meetup times, and, I mean, phone calls are kinda useless to us.”
Hatsume tilted her head at that, before looking at Izuku and realizing, “oh, right.”
Izuku giggled at that, leading the other two down the alley and into the storage unit as they set their backpack down on the counter, passing a little note to Hatsume before hopping to the middle and going through some stretches. Shinso looked at them oddly, before hesitantly going through the same, he was probably wondering why they were doing a warmup now since they didn’t used to. They grinned to themself, time for some fun.
“Shinso! Try and hit me!” They signed, as they mentally apologized for what they were about to make him do, but he needed this.
“Uh, we’re doing this first today I guess.” He looked befuddled as he glanced at Hatsume, who just shrugged.
“I dunno, but,” she held out the note, “apparently I’m not gonna be talking this time?”
Shinso looked even more confused at that, “o-kay then,” he muttered, dropping into a fighting stance, good timing as usual, before launching a punch at Izuku, fast, precise.
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Hitoshi wasn’t even sure what had happened in that second, because suddenly he was on his back with a knee pressed into his chest and his arms pinned beside him. He coughed in a weak attempt to regain some of the breath that had been knocked from his chest as he stared up at Izuku, who was pinning him with a strength he didn’t know they possessed.
“Uh...”
Izuku giggled, hopping out of reach as they allowed Hitoshi to get back to his feet, “okay,” he muttered, looking at Izuku with a certain apprehensiveness, they’d never done that before, and now he was starting to get worried, “that’s, that was different.”
“Well, since you’ve improved so fast,” they gave him a feral grin, clearly holding back laughter at the shudder that ran through him, “I thought we could do some proper sparring now, you know, no holding back!”
Hitoshi’s expression dropped as a horrified look crossed his face, “you were holding back.” The realisation hit him like a bag of bricks as he just started at them, and then over at Hatsume, who was suddenly very interested in their training instead of the blueprints she’d brought with her.
“Of course I have, I didn’t want to just kick your ass over and over, you weren’t confident enough for that kind of hit to your ego!” They bounced on their heels, not an impatient gesture anymore, now a preparedness, a sign that they were ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. And that was when Hitoshi realised one thing about today’s training.
He was screwed.
Hitoshi tried his best to dodge the sudden green blur barrelling at him, but ended up getting knocked flat on his ass yet again. It almost felt like his first day of training all over again as he tried desperately to dodge Izuku, and yet, this time, there was an element of fear to it as he used everything he’d learned to barely escape.
He realised at some point that he was probably expected to try and hit back at them somehow, which was kind of terrifying considering he was pretty sure they could toss him across the room. He glanced around as he ran, frantically trying to recall what kind of advice they’d given him about actual fights. First thing’s first, always be aware of your surroundings, well, he certainly had that covered, considering the little demon that was currently chasing him, pinning him frequently before letting him get up to keep going. He wondered briefly if this is what it felt like to be hunted for sport.
After a while, he decided to bite the bullet and tried punching them back, only for the result to be the same as last time, though now that he was expecting it, he realised they’d dodged under him and threw him over their shoulder. He landed with a thud as he tried to catch his breath.
He managed to scramble to his feet in time to avoid a light kick, but he was definitely going to be exhausted if this kept up. He glanced at Izuku, who was grinning, the sadistic little bastard was waiting for him to start running. He huffed, “okay, I assume there’s a win condition here.” He stated, though frankly he had no idea, he just needed to know what the hell they wanted from him.
“I’ll stop the training if you pin me,” they answered, to which Hitoshi’s mind reeled. He had to pin them!? How the hell was he supposed to lay a finger on them let alone pin them!?
He glanced at Hatsume, a pleading look in his eyes, but she shrugged and said, “I’m not the trainer here.”
Hitoshi grumbled and yelped as apparently Izuku got tired of waiting and lunged at him, starting the chase all over again as he tried desperately to avoid them. He was left scrambling continuously as he tried again and again, only to be bested, it wasn’t his fault that they were stronger and faster and logically, would beat him in every kind of fight they could possibly set up.
At some point, they thankfully allowed him to take a break before his legs gave out under him, and he flopped onto one of the boxes, uncaring of how stiff it was, he just needed to rest. Izuku nudged his water bottle at him, and he gave them a half-hearted glare for the shit they were putting him through as he took it and drained about half of it. He heard Hatsume giggling nearby and he sent her a glare as well, which was about as effective as it was with Izuku, which is to say, it wasn’t in the slightest.
As soon as he wasn’t gasping for air, he turned to Izuku, “you seem awfully confident that I can win against you.”
Izuku just laughed, giggling so loudly and uncontrollably that Hitoshi was worried he’d said something weird, but when they collected themself, they shook their head and gave him a grin, “yeah, for you of all people it should be a piece of cake!”
Hitoshi just stared at them with a confused expression, what the fuck did that mean!? But before he could figure it out, it was back onto the mats for him and the hell of being chased after by someone as frenetic as a bat out of hell.
He tried and failed again and again to pin them, but to no avail as they just kept dodging or counterattacking, all while not giving him any room to think as they kept the pressure to keep running. What did they want from him!?
During the few moments when he managed to gain a lead, he tried to figure it out, they wanted him to pin them, which was probably impossible. But they seemed to think he could manage it! Why on earth would they think that?
Hitoshi leapt over one of the boxes, looping behind and back onto the mats in an attempt to get some breathing room.
They’d also laughed at him when he pointed out the impossibility, saying that for him of all people it would be easy.
He couldn’t figure out what that meant, what did he have that was uniquely suited to winning fights? Was it just because he’d trained with them for so long?
Izuku pinned him again, and he dashed off the moment they loosened their grip.
No, they wouldn’t say it like that if it was just a matter of training. So what did Hitoshi have that was completely unique to him, out of everyone else in the world?
They pinned him again, and he grabbed their arm in a desperate attempt to fight back, but that just caused them to let go, and instead of being irritated, they had an approving look in their eyes quickly overshadowed by something that could only be described as being a wayward step away from bloodlust.
Right, they wanted him to not play fair, attacking even though they’d already pinned him was fine. He was supposed to use every advantage he had, but what more could he do that he hadn’t tried a dozen times already?
He stumbled backwards accidentally knocking Izuku’s notebook off of the box it was on, he glanced at it as the chase was paused so that Izuku could put it somewhere safer. It was their notebook on quirks, not that he’d ever be able to read what he learned was a code of some kind. In Izuku’s own words they liked to figure out quirks because those made people special.
Oh.
Hitoshi’s eyes widened as he began to fit the puzzle pieces together, unable to fully form the thought before Izuku was back on him like a hound. But, he had enough of a picture to realise the truth.
They wanted him to use his quirk on them.
It would make the fight ‘easy as pie,’ after all, the moment they were under his control he could just walk over and pin them without a fuss. But on the other hand, that, would mean using his quirk on them. Sure, he’d done it once at the park, but he’d only done it for a second, not enough time to pin someone, and, the way his quirk felt on other people, it was horrible according to an old classmate of his, people just became puppets on strings, without any control over their bodies no matter what they did. He didn’t want to do that, he, he didn’t want to get hurt for it.
But, a small voice in his head whispered, this was Izuku, they wouldn’t do anything to him, they wouldn’t hurt him, they wanted this.
So, with his heart beating faster, he turned and called out to them with what little breath he could spare in a voice that wavered and wobbled showing the terror he felt as the words left his lips, “hey Izuku! What’s the goal again?”
Izuku grinned sharply, “you have to win.”
And just like that, their eyes went blank, their hands dropped, and Hitoshi felt the connection pull at the back of his mind.
He stood still for a moment, panting as he caught his breath, and staring at Izuku’s frozen body. He glanced over at Hatsume, whose eyebrows had shot up upon seeing his quirk in action for the first time. “Woah, that’s what it does!?” She exclaimed.
Hitoshi nodded, his mouth feeling like it was glued shut as he shakily approached Izuku and pushed them to the floor, pinning them the same way they’d pinned him hundreds of times before.
“Wake up.”
As soon as the command left his mouth, spat out like it was poison, he watched as the green returned to Izuku’s eyes, shining in bright admiration, Hitoshi felt sick, he didn’t deserve that kind of look for what he just did.
They must have noticed the way his hands were shaking, because they caught him as he collapsed forward, tears in his eyes as he screwed them shut.
Instantly, he was lifted off the ground and held tight as Izuku made their way somewhere.
He felt a solid surface underneath him and heard some shuffling and the sound of someone dropping to the floor as another pair of arms joined Izuku’s in this odd impromptu hug.
He blinked and looked over his shoulder at Hatsume, who looked scared as she took in the state of him, “Shinso, are you alright?” She asked, tightening her grip.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I’m sorry.”
A hand, he couldn’t tell whose, carded through his hair as Hatsume made eye contact with Izuku, they must have communicated something because she just sighed, “they want you to know that they’re fine, and that you did exactly what they wanted you to do.” She said, pressing herself closer as if trying to act like a weighted blanket.
Hitoshi sniffled and shuffled a bit so that he could see both of his friends at once, “I know, I, I just,” he looked away, “I haven’t used it like that in a long time and it kinda freaks me out,” he admitted.
Izuku moved their arms so that they were free to sign, “I’m sorry,” they sighed, “I just wanted you to use it without feeling bad about it, I mean, I was asking, so I thought, you wouldn’t feel as guilty about it.”
Hitoshi sighed, “it’s fine, you’re right, it didn’t feel as awful as it could have,” he sat up, leaning back against one of the boxes, “I just, for a long time now, I’ve been avoiding using my quirk because, well the last time I used it to stop a fight nearly killed me.”
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Izuku felt really bad about what they did now, “oh,” was all they could offer in condolence without allowing the rage slowly boiling up to flow out.
Hatsume, meanwhile, looked furious, “what!?” She hissed, “who the fuck was it, I’ll go kick their ass myself,” she looked like she wanted to murder someone, and frankly so did Izuku.
Shinso smiled at her, “you’re a bit late to the party on that one Hatsume, mum’s in jail for what she did.”
Izuku gasped and, tentatively because they didn’t want to force him, they signed, “you don’t have to answer, but, your own mother?”
He sighed, “yeah, to cut a long story short, she was fighting with my dad about, something, I dunno, I was six and way too young to understand what the hell was going on, it was, like, two years since my quirk had come in. I think she didn’t like it from the moment we figured out what it was.”
Izuku couldn’t help the rage they felt as they leaned against the same box as Shinso, wrapping their arms around him in comfort. Hatsume quickly shuffled to his other side, leaning against him.
He smiled gratefully at the two of them as he continued, “she tried to slap dad, I asked her why she was doing it, and, I thought I was doing something good, I put my quirk into the question and got her to back off. And then, the moment I released it,” Shinso shuddered, bringing his knees to his chest, “she turned on me.”
Hatsume let out a quiet growl at that, “bitch.”
Shinso laughed, “yeah, she was, it was the middle of the night, but she was petty enough to drag me by the hair and tried to drown me in the nearby river, this was back when we lived in Esuha so there were a few around.”
Izuku carefully let out a shaky breath, willing themself not to show the rage they were feeling on their face, that was the last thing Shinso needed right now, and besides, Hatsume seemed to have the righteous anger covered.
“Yeah, so, that’s why my dad’s the one raising me,” Shinso sighed, relaxing into the hug a bit as he trailed off.
“You sound awfully casual about that,” Hatsume noted.
Shinso chuckled, “yeah, well, it’s not that bad of a memory for me, ‘cause that’s when I stopped thinking about my quirk as a curse.”
Izuku and Hatsume shared a look, “what?” She asked.
“Yeah, before my mum could actually throw me in the river, she was stopped by a hero, I guess the neighbours must have reported a disturbance or something.”
“Wait, which hero!?” Hatsume asked, now facing him and leaning even closer.
“I don’t know,” Shinso admitted, “I’ve never seen a hero like that ever again, and I never got their name,” he huffed, “I’ve searched everywhere and nobody has an answer for me.”
“Well, tell us anyways! Maybe we’ll find them sometime!” Hatsume looked at him expectantly, and Izuku nodded, they’d like to hear what happened, but it was sounding like Shinso had encountered an underground hero, and they didn’t hold out hope for recognising whoever it was.
Shinso’s eyes lit up with hope, though he tried to play it cool. “Well, they immobilised my mum with this grey scarf thing they had around their neck, asking what the hell she thought she was doing, and then when she yelled at them and called me a monster. They got up in her face, pulling me away from her and handing me to my dad as they said, in like the calmest scary voice I’ve ever heard, ‘that’s a child, the only monster I see here is you,’ and they turned to me and said, ‘don’t listen to people like that kid, they’re idiots,’ and that was when I kinda realised that maybe I wasn’t broken, ‘cause if a hero was saving me, was saying I wasn’t a monster, then, maybe I wasn’t.” He sighed, and Hatsume looked enthralled, but Izuku barely managed to focus on the story past those first few words.
A grey scarf.
That was their dad.
Shinso had met their dad.
Izuku did some quick maths, and it would have been back when Dad was a rookie hero, working wherever he was assigned to, though how he ended up in Esuha was a bit of a mystery. They wondered if they could ask him, if he even remembered after so long, rescues tended to blend together into just, work stuff after some time, they knew that from experience.
After a moment of silence, Shinso coughed conspicuously, “anyway, that’s why I don’t like asking questions anymore, better safe than sorry.”
“Well,” Hatsume said, “I think, if you asked me a question, I wouldn’t get mad at you, even if it was a mind control question.”
Shinso tilted his head at her, “um, o-okay-”
Hatsume shushed him, before continuing, “and I’m sure Izuku feels the same, so if you did want to drop that whole ‘asking questions without making them questions’ thing you’re doing, you could around us, right Izuku?”
Izuku nodded rapidly unable to sign anything due to their arms being occupied with the hug, but they tried to get their enthusiasm across despite their brain still very much being in the space of ‘what the fuck’ after that revelation.
Shinso looked at them for a moment before taking a deep breath, “if you’re sure you won’t mind.”
“We won’t.”
Izuku pulled their hands free just long enough to sign, “your quirk could stop you getting hurt, it would be good if you learned to use it, and besides,” they added, giving him a soft smile, “nobody deserves to be scared of their own quirk.”
Shinso smiled back, “thanks guys, you’re the best friends I’ve ever had.”
Hatsume hugged him tighter, “aww, thanks Shinso!” And then she giggled, “sorry, sorry, it’s just kinda weird calling you Shinso when we’re calling Izuku by their given name.”
Shinso huffed, “well that’s kind of all they gave us.”
“Still,” she said, “I wouldn’t mind if you two called me Mei, we are friends, and it feels less unfair.”
Shinso tilted his head, “well, if you’re both gonna use your given names I’m not gonna make you use my family one, call me Hitoshi.”
Izuku’s eyes brightened at that, hugging both of their friends tightly, causing dual yelps of surprise as the force of the hug made them fall onto the floor. The three of them were silent for a moment before they all burst into laughter.
“Watch your strength Izuku!” Mei exclaimed, wriggling her way out from the bottom of the pile.
“Yeah! You don’t want to break our bones,” Hitoshi paused before smiling, “do you?”
Izuku giggled, helping him up, “no, I’d rather not.” It was good to have friends.