Down The Orange Rabbit Hole

It’s the first Friday of the second year in middle school, and already he wants to bury himself in a pillow fort and never see the light of day again, for the comforts of sleep are good as hell and he wouldn’t trade it for anything else, except for food and maybe a position in the Hero course at Yuuei, but who wouldn’t.

That’s all Shinsou Hitoshi wants. Really.

...okay, maybe also cats. A lot of them. He’s not even fourteen yet and he already knows what he wants the most in the world, even more than his dreams of becoming a hero – cats.

He thinks all of this as he wanders home from school and wades through the city – wait, who the hell wanders home? No, he’s walking home with his two legs in a middle school uniform, carrying his shitty Cancer backpack, and a maxed out bullshit capacity like any other proper human being that’s suffered an entire day of school.

In no way is he wandering, because wandering is reserved only for those who daydream and have stars in their eyes. The only thing starry or remotely special about Hitoshi is his creepy tallness and strewn about hair (that kinda looks like a star – hair gel works wonders) that’s just as purple as his dead-inside eyes. There’s also his Quirk, Brainwashing, but he’d rather not put that under ‘Special Things About Me’, because of course society judges him for it and thinks he’s an oh-so-perfect candidate for a villain! No. No, he’s not going to be a villain, thank you very much, he’s going to be a hero and anyone who says otherwise can have forty two cosmic shits the size of the Pacific Ocean. And not just any hero, he’s going to be the No. 1 Hero-

In his stupidity, his eyes were closed the entire time he was thinking all of that ‘reach for your dreams and fuck everything else’ bullshit, so he ends up bumping into a crowd. Way to go, Hitoshi, you’re a PERFECT candidate for the Hero Course! Just fucking perfect, you don’t even have spacial awareness.

God, he could just die right now.

After rubbing his temples and flushing out any noise that he’s only just become aware of, he looks towards what seemed to have drawn all the people there in the first place.

On a bridge in front of them, a hero and villain fight takes place. What he presumes to be the hero wearing a fire hydrant and firefighter outfit with a ...water tank, on his backside is shooting water from the sleeves of their wrists at a menacingly large shark-like villain. Then the water forms into a whip and lashes at them, eliciting a pissed off roar in response.

Ah, hydrokinesis. A lovely Quirk. He’s never heard or seen this guy, though – maybe it’s because he doesn’t bother much with new Pro heroes and whatnot or even keeping up with the status of some.

(Except for All Might and Eraserhead, of course. Those are his personal favorites.)

The fight seems to be pretty tame at the moment, with the hero using his Quirk to try and detain the villain. Water splashes around as they continuously slash away the hero’s attacks with their huge clawed hands.

The next few moments are repetitive. The audience gasps, shrieks, and mutter among themselves as the battle continues. It’s not... going well, in Hitoshi’s eyes. The hero’s doing their best to minimize the damage and trap the villain, but...

Maybe the hero’s just being careful. Maybe the hero’s trying to find some sort of opening – maybe Hitoshi’s not putting as much focus into watching the battle as he should. Maybe they were new, and this was their first battle. It would make sense, although what would mean that they were new but not very battle oriented. Probably means this debut might not be fun to watch.

Just as he’s about to turn away and decide to go home and continue on his regular life that would probably only get interesting once he gets into Yuuei and then being manhandled and flipped over a shoulder and onto a floor, he hears someone muttering. Loudly. Right beside him.

(At that moment, Hitoshi deviates from the path he’s taking and is forced into another one, whether he likes it or not.)

When he turns his head to find the culprit, he sees half the face of a middle schooler just like him, but shorter. There are wide staring into a notebook and large locks of curly green hair and freckles and oh my god, freckles? Freckles. That’s a rare sight. Meanwhile, the boy continues muttering and begins writing into the notebook. He’s probably writing something on the battle and the heroes... maybe even on the villain. It’s sort of odd, Hitoshi thinks, but this kid might be some sort of analyst? It IS a useful skill, analyzing Quirks... now that he thinks about it, it might be a good thing to have in the middle of a battle, too.

Then, though the boy looks to be just around his age and perhaps even the same grade, Hitoshi’s eyes look down and see it.

Okay. What the fuck.

This kid’s face and irritating muttering doesn’t match at all with-with-whatever the hell is THAT.

There’s only one word to describe what he’s seeing right now, and that word is ripped as hell. Fine, three words, but what the hell, this guy’s a fucking bodybuilder.

... okay, maybe he’s exaggerating, but the fact that he can just muscle on this kid’s arm is unnerving yet deserving of some extent of a reaction. Namely, a gay one - correction, a shocked one. And with that, he continues to stare.

He’s not even aware that the boy starts to stare back a second later.

Upon noticing the eyes on him, Hitoshi tries to sputter out an apology, but the only things that come out of his mouth is a wave of ‘um’s. Then the boy turns his head to face him, and he finally sees him in full detail.

Stars in his eyes. A deep sea of cosmos, all full of stars.

“S-sorry, was I muttering too loud?” the green haired boy asks.

... oh. Hitoshi only realizes the boy’s asked a question a moment too late. Embarrassed, he looks back to the fight (which doesn’t seem to be getting any better, if worse) and rubs his nape.

“Uh. Yeah, a little,” he blurts out, unsure if they even heard him.

The boy chuckles nervously. “Oh, o...kay. I’ll tone it down.”

And with that, awkward silence ensues. Way to go, Hitoshi. Way to fucking go. There’s a cool ripped analyst kid who’s, well, ripped, and possibly interesting, and you failed to even say “hello, what’s your name”. What a bummer.

Hitoshi bites his lip in self-disappointment.

...he sneaks a glance at the other boy’s build again, just for a moment.

Meanwhile, the battle continues. The hero’s looking a little exhausted, and... maybe nervous? They look tense with their shoulders up and constant quick glances at the crowd. They probably noticed them all and the time it’s taking for them to take the villain down. Yeah, that’s a good assumption. The villain takes their pauses as a chance to-

“-slash forward, but the hero’s guard is still up and counters with another water whip. If it keeps up at this pace, their stamina will run out, and leave them vulnerable to attack – then the villain might run free... oh, but there are other heroes on the scene, then they should take over for them... wait, why aren’t they even trying to help in the first place...?”

The green-haired boy’s muttering again, once more taking Hitoshi’s attention. He puts a pencil to his lip and opens it slightly, and looks up in contemplation. (Wow, such detail. Hitoshi, you’re gay. It’s official.) It’s growing a little irritating. Sighing, Hitoshi decides to not bother and ignore it instead. He turns his head back to the fight, and – oh shit.

“O-oh no, everyone, step back...!” another hero calls out, and people around him start slowly backing away.

Except, of course, for the person beside him. He continues muttering and writing, unaware of just how fucked up things have gotten fucked up in the past few seconds. Maybe it’s because people haven’t gotten to full blown screaming yet, but whatever, they all need to get away right now.

The reason for all of this, of course, is that the villain had just smashed the hero they were fighting into the bridge.

He’s supposed to have run away by now, but.

But that kid... he hasn’t even noticed yet.

The villain makes a leap down the bridge, and the ground shakes from the impact. The boy snaps out of his muttering and quickly realizes the situation, if his wide eyes are anything to go by.

He tries to run, but the villain makes another jump, this time at him.

Hitoshi has no idea what he’s doing, but his body moves on its own. In the next few moments, he pushes the boy out of the way. The villain grabs him by the neck and next thing he knows, his body is dangling off the ground. Choking at the grip, he futilely grasps for air.

Goddamn, this is really fucked up. This is a really fucked up start to a school year.

His legs swing around to try and stand on some sort of foothold, but there’s really nothing he can do in this situation. Except for his Quirk, but his throat’s being tightly clamped at the moment and he’s starting to feel dizzy, tears prickling the sides of his face, the sides of his vision going black, fucking god fucking dammit...

The grip on his neck loosens, allowing Hitoshi to breathe. It’s only a momentary relief, however, as when his eyes regain focus, he’s looking right at the villain’s murderous eyes.

“You look like a fun meal.”

Gosh, stereotype much?

Their grip tightens, and Hitoshi does everything he can to not fall unconscious. Okay, this situation’s like, really bad, so WHERE THE HELL ARE THE FUCKING HEROES?!

Ugh, all this for a cute boy. Hitoshi really was cut out for the Hero Course.

As he continues struggling against the villain’s grip, the villain starts laughing and turns to run away, taking Hitoshi with him. Fuck. Not only was he fighting against asphyxiation, but now he’s going to deal with nausea too? To hell with all of this. And he says he was going to eat them. Well, fucking shit. Fucking fuck fuck motherFUCKER-

Before the villain can even begin running, someone uppercuts them in the jaw, and Hitoshi falls to the ground.

Oh, a hero’s finally come to save him. But it isn’t, Hitoshi realizes as he coughs and gasps for air on the hard ground, because instead of some person in ridiculous tights, it’s the very same boy he pushed away earlier.

So those muscles weren’t just for show.

The villain’s eyes bulge in surprise then rage, and claws at his green-haired middleschooling savior. He cleanly sidesteps away from the attack and counters by using the villain’s arm as support for his arm to jump and fucking strikes them with the palm of his hand in the face. The shark villain stumbles a few steps back and the boy takes the chance to run and pulls Hitoshi up by the arm.

Holy shit.

He looks into his eyes and says, tensely cheerful, “Hi! My name’s Midoriya Izuku. Awkward way to meet, but uh, nice to meet you.”

Holy... shit.

Hitoshi can’t help but think god, that’s fucking relatable. “Hitoshi Shinsou, happy to uh... same.”

“Happy to uh, same” Hitoshi what the hell is wrong with you.

He doesn’t have any more time to self-berate, however, because the villain starts to charge at them, screaming: “YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!”

In that instant, an idea pops into Hitoshi’s head, and he smirks.

“Cash, or credit?”

The villain, painfully and obviously caught off guard by such a silly question when he’s right about to kill them, stops. “WHAT?!”

His eyes go blank, and Hitoshi can barely contain his laughter.

Cash, or credit – that’s the best that he’s come up with in weeks.

Hitoshi continues laughing in the arms of Midoriya, who looks simultaneously terrified and confused on what the hell just happened.

(Even the heroes who were rushing to help them takes a moment to step back and wonder why that purple-headed kid’s laughing – maybe it has something to do with the villain suddenly freezing.)

Once Hitoshi’s laughter dies down, the smirk is back on his face. “Okay,” he starts, “thanks for the choke, but I’m not into that. Now, why don’t you do us all a favor and knock yourself the fuck out?”

The villain responds by clasping their huge meaty claws together and bashing their own head. They unceremoniously fall to the ground.

Hitoshi notices Midoriya’s expression shifting, and something in his face just screams click. “Mind control,” Midoriya breathes out, the awe visible in his voice. Ah, great, Hitoshi’s going to get another person he just met, who’s really cool, by the way, into being weirded out by his oh-so-villainous-quirk. But no, that doesn’t happen. That doesn’t happen at all, and it’s going to be completely different from what the boy expects.

“That’s amazing...” Midoriya lets go when Hitoshi moves away from his arm, the latter of which is hunched back and limping.

He’s... tired, all of a sudden.

Hitoshi, breathing harshly and standing over the unconscious form of the villain, turns back to the green-haired boy. “Midoriya, right?”

“Uh... yeah.”

“Thanks for saving my life.”

“Y-you saved mine, so...”

“You have really pretty eyes.”

Midoriya blinks, and a blush appears over his cheeks. “Um-“

“Shit, uh.“ Hitoshi turns and sees a few heroes running to them. “Sorry. You’re ripped.”

He must’ve said something weird again, because they were still looking like someone proposed to them out of nowhere. Did he overuse his Quirk? Yep, he didn’t focus well enough. Yeah. FUCK.

“So, uhhh... can you... catch me?” Hitoshi requests as he walks back to Midoriya, who has a confused look on his face. “Because I think I’m about to faint.”

And not half a second after saying that, his vision goes black and the last thing he feels are strong arms holding his limp body.

*

He wakes up later on a sidewalk with his head on someone’s lap. Hitoshi’s eyes flutter open, and he looks up.

And he sees Midoriya, staring right back at him.

Hitoshi quickly sits straight up, embarrassed.

“You’re awake!” Midoriya exclaims with a huge (pure) smile. Pretending to ignore him, Hitoshi takes a quick survey of their surroundings.

The only thing noticeable are a few people, presumably some heroes by the looks of their outfits, and an ambulance parked beside them. A few paramedics are tending to some unconscious hero. The one from earlier, it seems...

Hitoshi’s eyes go back to Midoriya, who apparently was still looking at him. His face strains not to visibly look nervous.

“You don’t have a concussion or anything,” Midoriya answers the question not even asked yet. “So, don’t worry about it.”

Hitoshi turns away and tugs at the cuffs of his sleeves. “How... long have I been in yo- I mean, asleep?” he asks.

“... a-an hour.”

FUCK. He’s been in this guy’s lap, asleep for an hour. Is this some shitty romance novel or is the world purposely trying to make him feel like he’s about to explode into a hundred pieces!?

Not that he didn’t MIND being in Midoriya’s probably built thighs-

Ahem.

“So.”

“S-s-so.”

“Midoriya. It’s nice to meet you. Properly.”

“N-nice to meet you too, Shinsou.”

Rubbing his nape, Hitoshi’s lips twitch to the side. What to say, he wonders. What on earth to say. This was a chance to have a conversation, right? This is how one makes... friends. But before that, he needed to know if that was a good decision to make.

What’s his impression of Midoriya? Well, at first, he was this muttering mess. He basically met him when he was being annoyingly loud and writing into that notebook – it’s probably safely tucked away in their bag. Midoriya was just some slight annoyance... Then Hitoshi saw his built arms, and then the villain attacked and Midoriya did an uppercut and showed himself to be pretty athletic AND strong. He’s – hero material. That’s all Hitoshi can say about him, even without knowing his Quirk.

Midoriya is hero material.

Though, he’s a bit, er, shy? Maybe? He doesn’t exactly know, per se, just... assumption. He looks a little closed off. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut from muttering all that blabber outloud. But then there was that confidence earlier, when he saved him, and – oh god, that confidence. That smile.

Hitoshi still doesn’t know what to make of the green-haired boy, but maybe he’s worth trying to befriend. A conversation wouldn’t hurt, would it?

He shifts his focus back to Midoriya and tries to start a conversation. “Hey, Midoriya?”

“U-um, yeah?” He uncomfortably twiddles his fingers. Cute.

“Where’d you learn to do all that, uh, punching?” Hitoshi makes a boxing motion with his fists, eliciting a little laugh from Midoriya’s mouth. “Hey, I’m being serious here.”

“I know, I know, it’s just a little funny, you doing that,” he replies, still having a smile on his face. “It’s, um, a mix of martial arts I’ve been practicing since I was a kid.” Midoriya starts to list off a few with his fingers. “Judo, Aikido, Karate... but there are a few from other countries that I’ve also learned like Muay Thai and, um, Arnis...”

The first three he was familiar with, but “Muay Thai” and... “Arnis”... safe to say, he’s never heard of those before.

“B-but I’m no master, of course! I’m still learning,” Midoriya reasons and shakes his hands in a waving motion. He looks down. “I put too much force when I struck his face...”

“Hey.” Midoriya looks up at Hitoshi. “You were still pretty cool. You saved me.”

At that, the boy’s face flushes red. “Th-thanks! B-but you were the real cool one, back there! Your Quirk saved us both, when it really counted!”

Ah, right. “Huh, yeah, I guess.” ...come on Hitoshi, give yourself some more credit...

“But you exhausted yourself, somehow. Does your Quirk usually do that to you? I guess there are always drawbacks to one as powerful as yours...”

...huh, he isn’t... calling my Quirk perfect for a villain’s or anything...

That’s nice. Really nice.

“Oh, no, not usually. It’s done that before. If I’m not focusing well enough, I accidentally strain my brain and I faint,” Hitoshi clarifies. “But, uh, powerful? Yeah, sure, but it’s not practical, especially not in a fight.”

“Because your Quirk only works when someone verbally responds to you?”

Hitoshi’s eyebrows raise in mild amusement. “Huh. You noticed?”

“It was kinda obvious earlier, when you got that villain – oh, also, that was a really witty one-liner!”

“Oh, that one? That was just basic.” Secretly, though, he’s flattered. But he’ll never admit it.

“... so it’s response based, and your brain’s the main source of your power...” Midoriya muses. “Ah, do you control people using your brain waves?”

Hitoshi nods.

“Okay, okay, um-“ Midoriya makes a ‘hmm’ noise and grabs his schoolbag, and takes out his notebook and pencil- “d-do you mind if I-?”

Hitoshi mulls it over for a second, and shakes his head. “Eh, sure thing,” he replies, though he thinks he might regret it. But whatever. He wants to see what this guy can come up with. For curiosity’s sake.

Not a moment later, that Midoriya is busily scribbling into his notes on a new page of his notebook titled “QUIRK ANALYSIS: EDITION 13”, this time featuring him. It’s sort of flattering, but also a little embarrassing. He’s starting to mutter, and driven by some force of curiosity, he looks over.

And then he sees a somewhat okay drawing of himself – himself! - in a weird costume, surrounded by bullet points. The next page is full of “Quirk Theory”, if he can make sense of all the question marks. He wasn’t messing around.

“So!” Midoriya starts abruptly, surprising Hitoshi a little. “I have a few questions about the capabilities and limits of your Quirk, is it okay if I ask them?”

He decides, why the fuck not. “Go crazy.”

At that, a grin appears on Midoriya’s face and Hitoshi can’t help but think it looks perfect on him. But then the thought that he might regret saying yes occurs to him.

“So, first question!”

*

Ten minutes later, Hitoshi concludes that Midoriya is by no means a regular human because no regular human can ask, listen, and write down that FUCKING FAST. While Midoriya seems exhilarant, Hitoshi feels like he doesn’t have any more energy to even talk. Damn. Maybe this kid has some sort of analysis Quirk.

“I think that’s all I’ll ask for now, thank you!” Midoriya cheerfully gives his thanks.

“Y-yeah...” Hitoshi breathes out, still a little in awe over how many papers Midoriya stapled onto his notebook in the duration of their ‘interview’. “You’re not going to use that for some sort of villain recruiting thing, are you?”

Midoriya, who’s in the process of reading over his recently-made notes, quickly shoots his head up. “What? What do you mean?”

“I mean, you have all of those Quirks written down, and my Quirk’s... perfect for a villain’s, right?” It’s probably not right for him to dump that on someone who doesn’t seem to have much of a stance on the moral nature of his Quirk, but... he wants to know what Midoriya thinks.

Something glosses over Midoriya’s expression, almost like fog. Unease rises in Hitoshi’s stomach. Shit, was that a bad thing to ask? Then the green haired boy looks up at him, a most serious look on his face.

“You shouldn’t say that,” Midoriya starts, “because Quirks are inherently good or bad. They aren’t defined by morality.

“They’re extensions of our body, and it’s up to the user how they use their Quirk. If you think about it, even our No. 1 Hero, All Might, could just as easily become a villain with his Quirk, yeah?” Midoriya asks, and Hitoshi has to do a double take. It’s a good point, but-

“Quirks aren’t something that define people’s immediate status in life based on what they can do. What that person does with that Quirk does, however, so take that as you will. Sure, some Quirks give people more potential and power over others, maybe even making them godlike. But are they immediately any better than another person just because of their Quirk? Thinking such would be discrimination, especially to those without any.

“Another thing to think about is the society back then, without Quirks, may be just as well similar to the society now, it’s just we have Quirks this time. And we have heroes and villains, public personas, controlled Quirk usage, licenses, and all that. But that’s kind of, um, touching on deeper thinking, like the ideas of heroes and villains in concept and whether it’s really necessary for such in a society...

“But.” Midoriya looks at him right in the eyes. “In the end, Shinsou, Quirks aren’t good or bad and they don’t suddenly decide if someone could be a good hero or villain.”

Okay, Hitoshi’s a little speechless. Those were all... really good points, and... he might need to think about that. All of that.

God, this guy. He really is hero material. Wait, speaking of heroes, what’s Midoriya’s Quirk-

“Oh,” Midoriya mutters, “my mom’s coming home soon...” He grabs his bag and stands up. Shit, how long have they been talking?

“Er, sure, umm... see ya?” Hitoshi gives Midoriya a small wave goodbye.

“No, before that uh, can we exchange numbers and emails?”

He hadn’t thought of that. “Sure.”

With their numbers and emails exchanged, Midoriya starts walking away. But Hitoshi goes over and stops him for a bit.

“What is it?” Midoriya asks.

“I just wanted to say... thanks. For saving my life. And for the talking. I mean, I don’t really do much socializing, so talking with you was really nice. You said a lot of things, and I’m still processing them, but they were good things and I don’t regret talking to you. Are we, uh, friends?”

A blush appears over Midoriya again, and Hitoshi can’t help but still think it’s fucking adorable. “Sure! I’d glad to be your friend, Shinsou!”

“Hah... thanks. See you around, Midoriya.” And with that, Midoriya runs back home, and Hitoshi is left on a sidewalk.

Though by the end of the day he’s alone again, while he prepares dinner for himself in his apartment, Hitoshi thinks that maybe it’s not such a bad start to a year after all.

But yeah, he really needs to get a grip on his Quirk and maybe start working out for once. Hitoshi groans just thinking about it.

...wait, shit, he still doesn’t know what Midoriya’s Quirk is, he realizes while in bed. Eh, he’ll ask him later.

*

He remembers. He remembers a lot of things, but he has forgotten a lot more.

There’s a girl, with brown hair and a bob cut, and she’s smiling, and his chest is full of happiness just looking at her, but then there’s blood pouring out of her mouth and a gaping hole in her chest, and all of that happiness is gone, and he’s screaming in the rain, and a boy with silver hair falls to the ground-

He remembers, but he also forgets.

He remembers a boy with hair as bright as the sun, a girl with hair as pink as cherry blossoms, and another boy with hair as dark as the night. He remembers a war, and he’s the one waging it – or is he the one ending it? He remembers the words “goddess” and “deity”, and then there’s something gray stuck in his stomach, and he’s crumbling into ash-

There’s not much but ancient feelings and dried tears after that.

He remembers seeing that girl again, and she’s giving him something, something that makes him cry so hard that he gives it to himself, too, and then the boy with silver hair is in front of him again, but instead of hatred in his heart, there is forgiveness and there is love. His feelings are inside of that boy now, his dreams too. And then that boy gives it to the boy with blonde hair, and somehow the world just looks a pinch brighter, and then the girl with brown hair is with him again, and they’re holding hands. He remembers the two of them running into an endless field of colors, and he’s so happy.

It’s almost an eternity later when the next thing he remembers comes up in his mind, and it’s a strange feeling. He’s somewhere else now, and he’s so sad but he’s also so happy.

“We’ll live on together in other worlds,” the girl says, “and I’ll always be with you. I’ll always be watching you, Ob---.”

... that’s his name. Yes, that’s his name. He remembers his name. He remembers his name, but not hers, and he’s screaming, but then he stops, and realizes that his time with her still continues on, and that names don’t matter. But yet her name and his last name feel important, but they’re gone now, he’s forgotten.

He remembers waking up, somewhere, and he’s nearly forgotten everything. But as he’s given a body and he starts to grow up, he remembers. He remembers the eyes of power, the eyes of sorrow, and that those are his eyes and nobody else’s, not in this world, not in any world but their own – and he remembers, oh god, he remembers.

He remembers, but he can never forget, not now, not with his new friend. His new friend has eyes just like his own, but they’re different, they’re not ones of sadness and power but eyes of hope, eyes into a time before their own.

But then.

He’s somewhere here. He’s somewhere now, and his eyes have been fully awakened. He remembers everything before, and he’s screaming and crying and a man with dark hair and freckles is prostrate on the ground, his body cut in half, and his eyes hurt and they’re changing, and all he sees are mountains of gray-

The masked man wakes up and falls out of bed.

Fuck, another one of those dreams... they were always so terrifying as a kid, though not as much now. There’s lesser details every time he dreams of them. While horrifying, they also seemed to provide him with some strange answers to even stranger questions.

Like, for example, how his eyes work. He’s always wondered about that. How he just knew.

Ah, well, he’ll think about that later. Again. He’ll think about it again later.

For now, though, he has to focus on his next task. Rubbing his eyes, he grabs a file from his messy floor and begins reading it.

HIROSHI AYUMU

AGE: 35

QUIRK: INNOVATIVE DREAMING

GAINS USEFUL + ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE IN HIS SLEEP.

Boy, All For One’s going to be pissed when he finds out his real name.