Freeze Frame

Chapter 85

Third person pov

Hitoshi all but flew home, feet pounding against the sidewalk as he mentally thanked the heavens above for Aizawa's strict training regimen. He wondered if they could get back on that after internships were done for. It had certainly paid off. As much as he hated cardio, he was glad he'd gone through it all, just for this very moment. Running was hellish, but this time it was worth it. Neito had been missing for days now, and they'd all been worrying endlessly for him.

Neito was somewhat of a social butterfly, but only when it came to his close friends. He never reached out to anyone in 1-B, or 1-A, or any of the other courses for that matter. His interests remained solely on those around him. Neito was someone who derived off of attention. Hitoshi and Lillian suspected he was affection starved due to his neglectful parents who didn't seem to care too much about him. He also wasn't the best at making friends, coming off as condescending. It's why he was so attached to the people he did have. Nobody could blame him, and received him with open arms.

But it had just been... odd that he hadn't contacted them while he was away. At all. There was no evidence that he even tried. And hey, maybe it was nothing. But even Shoto thought it was suspicious and off, and his social skills were below sea level at this point. He had manners, but when it actually came to interacting with people on more than a formal level? He bottomed out.

Hitoshi's mom had texted him the moment she found out. From what she could tell, Neito's phone was broken, and he'd come home from his internship early. She wasn't too sure why, but she theorized it was because he was sick. Apparently the teen hadn't come down from his bunk since Mihoko got back, curled up under the blankets and giving short, weak answers. The texts were certainly worrying, but Hitoshi hoped maybe it wasn't as bad as his mother was making it out to be, and that Neito simply had a really bad cold and hadn't bothered to memorize anyone's phone number to call and let them know is device was broken.

Hitoshi basically skidded into the house, dropping his bag while ripping off his shoes and taking off to go find his blonde friend. His mother had simply decided to leave the teen be and give him space, but Hitoshi was pushier than that. That, and he and Neito were closer than his mother and Neito were. They were a part of the original meme three! They were dude-bros! Madlads! Amigos! Whatever other various words Neito looked up using urban dictionary! If Lillian were here, all would be perfect. If Shoto were too, well, that seemed like it could be better than perfect.

If his mother welcomed him home from her place at the dining room table, he didn't notice. He almost slid right into a wall thanks to his socks. It was a miracle he didn't knock any pictures off the walls in the process. For some reason he simply felt like he needed to see Neito. It wasn't that he necessarily felt something was horribly wrong, but he and Lillian had just been so distraught with worry these past few days. Again, Neito was an avid texter. Not hearing from him had been more startling than either would willingly admit.

The lights were off when he all but slammed the door open. His eyes flew to lump on the top bunk. Neito mostly slept on his stomach or dead flat on his back. Both positions were signs that he was comfortable, Hitoshi had quickly learned. There were exceptions to this, of course. There were several times when Neito, himself, and Lillian had all fallen asleep lying on one another after watching vines for four hours straight. Add Todoroki into the mix, and they were practically a dog pile.

Only Neito wasn't on his back, and he wasn't on his stomach. He was without a doubt curled up in a ball and shaking. Maybe it was something he did when he was sick, but Hitoshi had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't the case. That something was really wrong here, and that scared him. His mother had already contacted Lillian and Shoto both, forwarding the texts she sent to him their way. He'd promised to the both of them that they could relax, and that he could deal with this. So deal with it he would.