One More Step (Would It Make Me Free?)

Caught in a Memory

In hindsight, Hitoshi should've known this would be a bad idea.

The only person anywhere near his age he'd interacted with in over a decade was Mei. And they had been friends ever since they were little. In his excitement over training with hero students, he forgot one little detail.

They were all his age. And he had no idea how to interact with people his age.

That wasn't entirely his isolation's fault, he knew. His social skills had always left much to be desired. Mei tried to reassure him that it'd be fine. "They're nice!" she insisted. "Well, most of 'em, anyway! I'm friends with a couple of them! I promise you'll be fine!"

Hitoshi was not convinced. Of the two of them, Mei had always been the best with people. She was outgoing, energetic, and friendly, the kind of person you couldn't help but like. Hitoshi, on the other hand, was quiet, reserved, and a little standoffish. He wasn't the easiest to get along with; certainly no one who was friends with Mei would get along with someone like him.

Just another obstacle he'd have to face to become a hero, he supposed. How was he supposed to face villains if he couldn't even face his peers? He'd been through plenty of worse situations before. This was nothing. He was fine.

God, this was a huge mistake.

Nineteen people seemed like a whole lot more in person than it did on paper. And it had already seemed like a lot when Aizawa told him how many people were in his class. Now that he was standing there in front of them all, he was definitely freaking out.

"This is Shinsou Hitoshi," Aizawa introduced him, to Hitoshi's relief. Words seemed to have escaped thanks to his internal panic. "He'll be joining you all for training." Much of the class erupted into chatter, a few of the clearly more extroverted ones trying to ask Aizawa why a non-hero student was joining them. One with pink skin and hair and another who was blonde with a black streak through it seemed particularly insistent.

"Enough," and with that simple word, the class fell silent. It was almost scary how quickly he could get them all quiet. He's definitely more intimidating as a teacher than at home. "Go get changed into your hero costumes and meet up at the usual training grounds in five minutes." With that, the students quickly clambered out of their seats, chattering loudly about Hitoshi's presence as they rushed to get changed.

Hitoshi knew they weren't saying anything bad about him. Why would they? They didn't know he had a villain's quirk yet. They were just curious about the new guy joining them for training. But Hitoshi couldn't ignore the little voice in his head insisting that they already hated him. That's how it always was before whenever he was the subject of conversation.

Aizawa snapped him out of his racing thoughts by shoving something soft in his hand. Hitoshi frowned in confusion. "A gym uniform," he explained. "Can't make you an actual hero costume until you're in the hero course, unfortunately, but you still need something you can train in."

Hitoshi blinked back tears that were threatening to spill over. "Thank you." His voice was almost a whisper. If he were any louder, he was afraid he might actually start crying. Again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

He wasn't even entirely sure why the uniform of all things was setting him off. It was just gym clothes, issued to every UA student - not just the hero ones. He supposed it just meant he was that much closer to becoming a hero.

Aizawa's lips quirked into a tiny smile. "Go get changed. I assume you know where the locker room is?" Hitoshi nodded. Nedzu had made sure he knew where everything in the school was. Including things he was pretty sure weren't part of a normal school tour. He was weirdly insistent on Hitoshi being able to find his way through the vents as well as through the halls. "Good. And don't forget you can use your capture scarf if you want." He nodded, turning around and heading out the door.