Work Text:
To say the day started out great, was an understatement. Honestly, Hitoshi couldn’t think of any morning better. He had awoken to find Hizashi cooking breakfast, and didn’t miss a single alarm. He had managed to get a somewhat-acceptable amount of sleep that night, and didn’t dream of anything. His Capture Weapon hadn’t put up even a slight fight when being folded up and placed into his schoolbag. His Persona Chords didn’t prompt any unwanted memories as he plopped those in as well.
It was a genuinely good morning- and that… set him on edge. There weren’t just… good mornings, no matter how much he wanted there to be. It was always; being unable to sleep, unable to eat, unable to get himself together- but this morning- this day had been amazing.
Hitoshi should have listened to his gut, he would later realise, as he reached the afternoon, and learned of his classes exercises.
Hitoshi and the rest of his class- Class 2-A, he was so happy he had cried when he found out the news of his transfer -would be sparring in Ground Beta, the urban-training course area. Sparring with Class 2-A was always difficult, it usually took half of his skillset away, as the group already knew so much about his quirk and his ‘Chords. He was getting better at his accuracy, though. Hitoshi was learning to identify the qualities of voices around him quickly, and applying different settings to his Persona Chords in turn.
The Class was to be grouped into pairs at random, everyone taking a card with a certain letter on them. To help randomise the exercise, and allow for on-the-spot-planning, each team wouldn’t know who they were up against, or who they were up with until the moment the exercise began. Hitoshi didn’t mind working with any of his new classmates, and he hadn’t yet found anyone he worked particularly well with, so he could only hope he went up against some particularly conversational opponents, like Kaminari, Ashido, Aoyama, and possibly Bakugou- though he wasn’t keen on the last option, as he had seen himself the explosion-user’s skill in both combat and intellect.
Hitoshi was lucky it was not his turn to go first, as he watched his options for both opponents and partners shrink. All Might was allowing them to observe the battle, in one of the basement’s of a building, a giant monitor, and of course, a dramatic timer present.
Bakugou and Tokoyami paired against Kirishima and Aoyama. It was a rage-inducing battle for Bakugou, clearly. He had been pitted against all odds, his powers would weaken his partner’s, Kirishima’s quirk was resistant to his explosions, and Aoyama’s light would further push Dark Shadow back to his master.
The battle had been a draw, somehow. Something about Aoyama not wanting his cape to be burned, and running instead of fighting, and Dark Shadow refusing to come out in the light of the explosions, leaving Bakugou and Kirishima to a particularly rough brawl in the center of Ground Beta.
The next groups hadn’t been nearly as enterta- informative to Hitoshi, narrowing down his opponents. Those unavailable opponents being Asui, Yaoyorozu, Ojiro, Sato, Sero, Todoroki, (Thank whatever gods were left in charge of Hitoshi’s life…) Hagakure, and Iida. That left only seven people, not including him. Midoriya, Kaminari, Uraraka, Ashido, Jirou, Koda, and Shouji. Hitoshi could see how his quirk might fall short against opponents such as Jirou or Shouji, who specialised in identification and surveillance, but he was certain his Capture Weapon would render at least one of them immobile if the need arose.
There wasn’t much time to ponder, as Hitoshi ended up being chosen for the next group. He gave a short nod to All Might, before ducking away to head to his team’s meetup point.
It was eerie, how quiet the training grounds were. It wouldn’t have bothered Hitoshi if they had been training somewhere like Ground Omega or Ground Gamma, but the fact that this town-like simulation was so… silent did nothing to put his nerves at ease.
“Shinsou!” A gasp alerted him he had reached the team’s base, and his partner had clearly gotten there first.
“Uraraka.” He gave a light nod, filing away the information on what she could do as an asset, and what remaining opponents would weaken her capabilities.
“This is amazing! I never get a chance to train with you!” She hopped onto her tippy-toes, grinning at the prospect.
“We should make a plan.” Hitoshi drawled, though allowed a small amused smile to make its way onto his face, purely due to the fact that his Persona Chords entirely covered his mouth and nose. It had been… difficult to even get himself to look at the objects, when first presented them, reminding him far too deeply of his past. Old scars burned along the sides of his jaw, teasing with the idea of a muzzle being strapped around his face. Through almost a full year, Hitoshi had been working hard alongside Shouta and Hizashi to build up the courage and techniques to even face putting the object on. It didn’t bother him that much any more, Persona Chords were designed to be easily unclasped, when the latches on the back were pulled in a certain way, and with how his quirk worked, it was light and breathable, if sometimes a bit hot from the sun.
“Sure! So, I can make stuff float- remove the gravity, but I don’t like using it on myself. Oh- I really hope we get some good opponents!” Uraraka tapped her hands together, as if miming her ‘release’ move.
Hitoshi only nodded, thinking things over. He already knew the basics of everyone’s quirk, as they did about his own.
“We don’t know our opponent’s or their quirks. The best bet would be to immobilise them, or use your anti-gravity to move quickly around, disrupting communications. Your martial arts would pair well with any non hand-to-hand fighters.” He hummed, clicking his Persona Chords until they settled.
“Let’s do this!” Uraraka cheered, thrusting a fist up towards the sky, a tamer version of the famous; ‘ Plus Ultra!’ All Might was so fond of.
Hitoshi flung through the urban setting along his Capture Weapon, finding a stomach-dropping feeling at every movement, he had never personally experienced Uraraka’s quirk, and now that he was using it in combat, he completely understood her dislike of using it on herself. Hitoshi was used to being flung around in all directions due to his Binding-Cloth fighting style, but even this was making him a little dizzy, the way he slingshotted through the buildings, searching for signs of their opponents.
He couldn’t begin adjusting his ‘Chords until he knew who they were up against, it was in his best interest to locate the opponents as quickly as possible.
Hitoshi felt the danger before he saw it.
The hair on his neck and arms prickled even beneath his gym uniform, like static electricity had filled the air. He was given only a moment of confusion.
The sky of Ground Beta lit up in a blinding yellow light, the wiring of houses sizzling, and the light bulbs popping with a sickening electrical crackling. Hitoshi’s hands whipped up to cover his burning, blinded eyes, dropping his Capture Weapon with a cut-off screech of surprise. Wind rushed past him, he had been in the air before the attack, and without a single clue of where his Capture Weapon had attached itself to, he needed his sight back. He needed to land.
It’s Kaminari’s quirk… Get a hold of yourself, it isn’t close enough to burn. You can’t fail this!
Hitoshi blinked rapidly, willing his sight to return. His gut dropped, this was clearly their plan, whoever Kaminari’s partner was, they weren’t betting on a ranged attack. They were blinding him and likely had a move to get him up close- He had only a moment to adjust his eyesight to the blinding lightning, before a different colour appeared, hurtling towards him.
One blink, green streaks of energy whipped towards him as Midoriya rocketed towards his target. A second blink, he could see where Midoriya was aiming, as he whipped around, legs aimed directly at Hitoshi’s head. They wanted to break his Persona Chords, to restore all possible communication, a smart move, really- it was just bad luck that the support item was currently strapped directly to Hitoshi’s face.
CRUNCH
Metal doesn’t crunch.
Midoriya’s metal boots connected with Hitoshi’s face, or more accurately, his Persona Chords. The impact sent Hitoshi straight into the concrete beneath them, forcing him to let out a choked cough as his back made contact with the ground. Metal bent inward in one sharp motion, a screeching click that caused Hitoshi’s entire mouth and nose to burn, in just a bit more agony than the rest of his head. His lungs felt like someone had buried them beneath cinder blocks, and a piercing pain cut into the back of his neck, like a jagged hot knife.
If that wasn’t enough, Midoriya’s boots clicked forward, whipping against his ‘Chords again almost immediately after the first strike. Hitoshi could only hope that Midoriya had meant to knock the ‘Chords off and hadn’t actually wanted to strike Hitoshi directly- because, well, if Hitoshi was being honest, he felt like he was dying.
Hitoshi let out a gargled scream, hands whipping up to pull at his Persona Chords, arms stopped short due to being tangled into his Capture Weapon. He needed to tell Midoriya to stop he needed the battle to be called off- because he couldn’t do this he was drowning in blood he couldn’t breathe he couldn’t see he couldn’t hear it hurt- it hurt- it hurt- he was dying- couldn’t Midoriya see that?
He screamed again, unaware of the fact that he could see, he could breathe, it just felt like utter agony. Midoriya was standing in front of him, reaching out to tear the Persona Chords from his face, a small roll of capture tape in one of his other hands.
Hands reached forward, black rubber and metal in their hands. Uncaring for his pleas, whispers, his promises. “I won’t ask- I won’t I promise! I’m sorry- I’m sorry- I didn’t mean it!” The sensation of being forced into silence.
“-nsou-?”
“Useless. Get a grip, can’t handle the consequences of your actions? Typical villain.”
“Why can’t you just shut up?”
The pinch of buckles he couldn’t reach behind his neck, digging into his skin- leaving traces behind. Scars that would never disappear, only fade. The smell of vomit, the sickening air.
“It’s made a mess.”
“Just get rid of it!”
“-n’t mean to hit-”
Bruises and wheezing lungs, nights so cold spent underneath the sky, locked out on a balcony far too high to descend.
“Why do you make everything so difficult?
“-minari’s goin-”
“Get out. Just get out! Live with the other strays, for all I care!”
Weeks spent starving, unable to get anything more than a sip of water under his muzzle, choking even then at the sensation. The clatter of trash cans as he wandered through alleyways, training along with the citycats.
“Hizashi. I’ve found something.” A gruff voice. It scared him, back then. The familiarity. He remembered hearing about how he had gone missing. Why did they have to tell him that? He knew he had been missing… He had missed classes at UA, forgotten about General Studies in his hunger. He was an idiot. A fool. A villain.
Soft, yet firm voices refuted these ideas.
His world had been shifted on its axis.
“-ll Might’s comi-” The voice of Midoriya drifted in through his forced retelling of life. Hitoshi realised he was breathing heavily. He didn’t want to stop, he had to get air. Each inhale felt like a razorblade across his sides. He tugged his hands back up to his face, feeling it- the muzzle on his face. Shouta had promised he wouldn’t have to wear one ever again- why was it back who put it there… His hands moved without resistance, and he grappled them around the muzzle, tugging, gasping when he felt them slip, the surface of the muzzle slick with blood.
He tried to scream, turning into a keening groan as his chest and neck and everything protested. He could feel metal digging into his neck, into his face, just like the muzzle always had.
He lurched upward, hearing a yell of dismay from someone nearby. Midoriya. Right. It didn’t matter because Hitoshi was going to throw up- He scrabbled desperately at the muzzle secured around his nose and mouth, breathing quickly as he felt the bile rising in the back of his throat. He couldn’t breathe-
Pain lit up Hitoshi’s entire universe as his body lurched, heaving up the food he had eaten during the day. So much for having a good eating day. The sickly scent of vomit filled his muzzle, spilling out the opening- wait- opening? The muzzle didn’t have an opening. He knew. He had thrown up once in the muzzle before, he had almost died.
Someone was supporting him, holding him upright, and suddenly the metal around his face was ripped apart with a screech, allowing him to heave once more as the smell of blood filled his nose. He was so tired- but the muzzle was gone- he only wanted…
“...Dh-…” He wheezed out a sound, finding it impossible to gather his senses. “...Dad..” He blinked harshly, finding it easier to see now that the muzzle had been removed.
“Aizawa’s coming.” A steady, deep voice assured him. Hitoshi’s eyes drifted upwards to see the grim look on All Might’s face. When had All Might gotten there?
Hitoshi remained in that spot for a long while, fully limp, held up only by All Might’s arm. He didn’t dare close his eyes, scared of what lay in the world of sleep. If this wasn’t a nightmare.
He only allowed himself to fall into unconsciousness when familiar dark grey, tired eyes came into view, followed by obnoxious golden-blond hair.
Hitoshi knew he wouldn’t be ignoring any gut feelings for the rest of his life.