Atsuhiro Family Issues

New Friend

The halls of the school buzzed with chatter and energetic teens. The atmosphere was uplifting but at the same time, the crowded halls seemed to dampen down his excitement. An unsettling feeling of anxiety settled in the pit of his stomach, but Denji shook his head as he made his way down the hall and towards the stairwell.

As he walked down the hall, a few conversations hushed to whispers, which only made Denji's anxiety feel heavier.

"Is that the Atsuhiro kid?"

"I think it is."

"Why would they let him in here, he's the son of villains."

The hushed conversations filled his ears, and it took all of his patience to ignore them as he continued down the hall. Denji hated it but he just walked on, tuning out the chattering with thoughts of his own, wondering what the teachers were like and how the classes would be. When he got to the stairs, he was quick to step into the stairway, not wanting anymore attention on himself.

The stairway shut out the noise of the chatter and gave Denji some relief. He sighed a bit and leant against the wall for a moment as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Maybe I should just turn back."

Denji cursed himself the moment he spoke the words, shaking his head. Instead of arguing with himself, he pushed away from the wall and continued forward up the stairs.

He counted the steps as he went. Sure, he preferred silence, but it was too quiet in the stairwell, only the sounds of his footsteps and whispering could be heard within the space. Thoughts swarmed his mind but he shook them away, startled by the sound of someone bumping into a wall. With a raised eyebrow, he turned to walk up the next flight of steps. He had to pause for a moment, seeing a boy leant against the wall and rubbing his arm a little.

"Are you okay?" Denji called out, worried for a moment as he saw a bruise form on the other boy's arm.

The other tensed a little, his head tilting at the sound of Denji's voice and footsteps. "I'm fine," he answered back after a moment, "just tripped and hit my arm on the wall."

Denji stepped up to the other, tilting his head a bit, "Alright," he said. The other boy's head snapped in his direction and the unfocused eyes of the other caught him off guard. Before he could stop himself, he spoke again, "Are you sure? You're eyes are unfocused. Did you you hit your head?"

The other chortled as he heard the worry in Denji's voice, confusing the boy further. "No, I didn't hit my head, just my arm. I'm sorry, I should have warned you, I'm blind." The words hung in the air for a moment before the kid spoke up again. "Thank you for worrying though, I should be a bit more careful."

Denji nodded after a moment, collecting his thoughts and smiling a little. "No problem, uh.."

"Tokoyami. Tokoyami Shitsumei."

The name made him freeze up a moment. Tokoyami? This kid was the son of the number four hero!

A laugh brought Denji out of his thoughts once more, his eyes gazing at the other. "You're surprised aren't you? I get that a lot, don't worry. What's your name?"

He became hesitant once asked the question, almost tempted to lie and use Raijin's last name instead of Senjo's. He shook his head at even considering that and forced himself to take a deep breath.

Might as well use my real name. It's not like he isn't going to find out anyway.

The thought dampened his mood but Denji ignored that as the other waited for an answer.

"My name is Atsuhiro. Atsuhiro Denji."

There was a short pause before Shitsumei smiled a bit, chuckling once more. "My mom complains about your dad, you know. Says he's an annoying little shit."

The comment caught him off guard and he couldn't help the slight smile that came to his lips. "Which one? Honestly, I think both of my dads are little shits, but they say the same about me."

Shitsumei shook his head, amused by the response he got from Denji. "Raijin. I think..maybe it was Senjo, but who knows."

Both of the boys laughed and Denji relaxed a little. After a moment though, he paused. "Wait, you know both of my dads' names?" questioned Denji, now confused.

He got a nod in response from the other, as well as a smile. "Yeah. My mama is Aizawa Kagami, surely you've heard of her." The comment caught Denji off guard and he had to think for a moment. Then it came to him.

"The quirk stealing villain!" exclaimed Denji before he paused and covered his mouth. "Sorry, didn't mean to shout." The words were laced with embarrassment, the boy moving his hands away from his mouth and rubbing his neck awkwardly. "But yeah, I have heard of her. She's an underground villain, like Papa."

Shitsumei nodded as he spoked. "Yeah, she is. I know they pulled a couple things off together because of aunty Chi, but I haven't actually met Senjo or Raijin. I just hear Mama constantly complaining about them."

Denji laughed a bit, shaking his head. "I'm not surprised. Papa doesn't really complain about Kagami though, mostly just Aunt Chi."

The two share a small laugh and then fell into silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable one, and Denji was glad. It was a couple moments before Denji spoke up. "Well, we should probably continue up the stairs, classes start soon." Shitsumei nodded in agreement, smiling a bit.

"Mind guiding me? I don't know this school as well as I do home. I need to get to class 1-B for the hero course."

Denji paused a moment and nodded, "You're in 1-B?" he asked after a moment. Shitsumei nodded a bit and Denji smiled a little, "So am I."

With that comment, the two boys started up the stairs, Shitsumei holding onto Denji's shoulder as they made their way up to their classroom.