CROSSING CHASM - ShinKami AU

O' Mighty Hitoshi, O' Mightier Raccoon

If there was one thing that Hitoshi Shinsou was good at, it was isolating himself from the world around him. It didn't matter if he was shutting himself in his room in order to avoid his father or spending all day training just to avoid his classmates, he was a total pro at this kind of stuff. I'm sure it seemed strange that someone with a quirk focused on communication avoided confrontation at most costs. Here's the thing, it wasn't like Hitoshi was scared of it or anything. He was just surrounded by spoiled idiot brats all the time at UA and being around them made him unfairly irritable. Trust him, it's for the best that he's so antisocial.

That's not to say he wouldn't occasionally spend time with his new classmates in 2A. He obviously sat with them for most meals and joined a few study sessions at Yaoyorozu's house--although, that was also because he genuinely needed help from someone who knew the hero course like the back of their hand already.

Some days, though, Hitoshi just didn't feel like socializing. Much like the day his life was uprooted and effectively destroyed. That day, he sat between Yaoyorozu and Iida for dinner, quickly ate his food, and excused himself from the table.

"Oh, Shinsou, we were actually thinking about hanging out after we ate as a class--" Someone chimed in from across the table as he stood and pushed his chair in.

He coldly cut them off, not even bothering to glance in their direction and acknowledge them, "I do not want to participate. Apologies."

His room was the best escape for these kinds of situations--it was quiet and under Hitoshi's control indefinitely. He didn't have to worry about anyone coming in and messing around with his things. But he couldn't stay in there forever. It was his night to take out the garbage and help with dishes, so after a short break from his classmates, it was back to the grind.

He trudged downstairs, unfolded the edges of the garbage bag from the can, and went out the back door to go search for the dumpster. It was never in the same spot as the nights prior due to the sporadic movements of UA's garbage team, so Hitoshi often had to traverse a half-mile radius looking for the damn thing.

That night he found the dumpster with little trouble. Yet as he approached it, he couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. Like he was being watched from the general area of the dump. He stopped in his tracks a few feet away and stayed perfectly still, listening and watching. Eraserhead had taught him an invaluable technique to this kind of stuff: Move only your eyes, look up, down, left, right, forward, and feel the space behind you.

Nothing. There was nothing.

But then he heard it: A quiet scuttling sound from inside of the garbage unit.

"A rodent..." Hitoshi breathed a sigh of relief and quietly approached the dumpster. If there was an animal in there, it was probably hungry and deserving of whatever food it could find. As long as it wasn't bothering anyone, Hitoshi had no problem with leaving it be.

But you see, he hadn't taken into account the notion that this animal could have a problem with him. And so when he tossed the trash for that day into the dumpster, a massive, fatass raccoon hurled itself out of the bin and launched itself straight at Hitoshi's face. He didn't have enough time to react, so there was nothing he could have done to stop that rabid raccoon from biting and clawing at his face, arms and neck.

"Shit–shit–! HEY–!" Hitoshi shouted, desperately trying to pry the squirmy animal off of his face. The damn thing had an insane grip. It didn't matter how much he flailed or swatted, nothing was gonna get it away from him.

Hitoshi fell back against the dumpster, unable to see past the fat little thief that was desperate to murder the shit out of him. The battle went on for several minutes while Hitoshi yelled and pried until someone heard the ruckus and ran out to see what was happening. Denki Kaminari hurried out from the alley and took action as soon as he could, catching the animal by surprise and pulling it off of Hitoshi's face. Before the raccoon could start attacking him, too, Kaminari acted fast. He sparked and chucked the poor thing over the wall that protected the UA campus.

"Holy shit–Jesus Christ, Shinsou–!? Dude, are you okay?" Kaminari squatted in front of Shinsou and covered his mouth with his hand. Hitoshi watched his pupils dilate. It must have looked pretty awful–probably as awful as Hitoshi felt. All of the scratch and bite marks were definitely bleeding. His entire neck and face felt raw and throbbed with white-hot pain. And worst of all, Hitoshi felt lightheaded, as if he were about to pass out.

"That–wasn't a normal raccoon..." Hitoshi murmured, squinting his eyes closed to try and stay coherent.

"No shit, man—I'll—I'll call Recovery Girl over and—shit, man—" Kaminari pulled his phone out and started typing in a number. Before he could look up after the dial tone ended, Hitoshi slumped to the side and slipped away into a deep slumber.