#obviously not long for a fic

[bakusquadup]

Hello!!! I hope u r having a lovely day and feel well enough to write something for shinsou? Some serious angst with a happy ending? Maybe it starting with a misunderstanding and having the reader becoming so devastated from the complete cut off of any communication from their crush and best friend that they practically become a zombie? Shinsou confronts them about their self care and everything gets sorted out from there with why reader stopped caring? I would really appreciate it!!!

Hello, love! I am here for my boy Hitoshi getting some attention! I took a little bit of liberty with the interpretation of your ask, including using a gender-neutral reader because you didn’t specify one way or the other. It also became pretty long because I got too into it. Oh well. Hopefully, this lives up to your expectations! Enjoy!

-Shelley

Shinsou Hitoshi

“You have got to be kidding me!” Kaminari yelled, gesticulating excessively. “There is no way a guy with such a scary quirk could be a hero!” A few members of the class nodded and muttered words of agreement, while others gave puzzled expressions, internally conflicted. You were shocked by the complacency of the group. No one was refuting his words.

“Yeah,” Sero added. “He also kind of gives off a creepy vibe. He’s got those huge bags under his eyes.” He paused, touching a finger under his right eye. More heads nodded. “He looks like he would be a villain.” You were slowly growing more and more enraged. Glancing around the classroom, you prayed that someone would speak up on behalf of him. A few students look incredulous or upset, but no one said anything. You were the only one who would defend Shinsou.

“Shut up!” You burst out, louder than intended. Fifteen heads all whipped in your direction, faces painted with a variety of expressions. You blushed brightly, realizing the scene you were creating. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.” You let out a long breath, collecting yourself. “I just meant that you guys are judging him too harshly based on something he has no control over! None of you decided to be born with the quirk you have, yet here you are! Hitoshi wants to be a hero just as much, if not more than anybody else in this class!” Chattering between students washed over the class, everyone considering your words. “Sure, I mean, his quirk is kind of scary, I get it. But you can’t just-”

Slam! Everyone’s eyes shot to the doorway. Shinsou stood in the doorway, displaying a complex expression you had a hard time reading. You smiled brightly at him, walking to stand at his side. Now that he was there, he’d have a chance to defend himself.

“Hitoshi!” You called, reaching out to touch his arm. To your surprise, he yanked it away and glared down at you. His violet eyes were cold and hard, the antithesis of his normal affect around you. “Hitoshi?” Your hand fell. “What’s wrong?”

“I have a scary quirk, huh?” He huffed. “If you were afraid of me, you could have told me so and I would have stop bothering you.” You widened your eyes at the statement, visibly distressed. He started to walk by you and you fumbled out words in a vain attempt to have him hear you out.

“Wait, no, no!” You flashed desperate eyes to the rest of the class, pleading for help. “I was defending you! I just said that because, um, I-”

“They were saying that your quirk is scary in the wrong hands, but powerful in the right ones!” Yaoyorozu chimed in.

“Yeah, that! I was just telling them that they shouldn’t judge you!” You clambered for something he would listen to.

“It’s okay, [Y/N],” Shinsou said, voice flat and unfeeling. “You don’t have to spend time with me if you’re scared of me.” He shouldered past you, sliding into his chair and throwing his bag across his desk. You turned, eyes wide and watering, to your other friends in the class. Midoriya, Iida, and Uraraka gave you pained looks, their eyebrows scrunched together. Uraraka walked over to you and gently touched your shoulder.

“[Y/N]…” she murmured. You rolled your shoulder backward, pushing her hand off.

“Um, Shinsou!” Midoriya burst out. You turned toward him, pleading eyes watering. “Don’t you think you should hear them out? They really didn’t mean anything by it.” He paused, glancing at you. “They just wanted to defend you when no one else would.”

Shinsou looked up and for a brief moment you were hopeful that everything would turn out fine. He would give you a small smile and say that of course he would hear you out. That he wouldn’t just toss you aside. But your hopes were dashed when his face went sour. He didn’t reply, opting to simply look back down at his desk, the wood grain suddenly interesting. Midoriya stood in front of him for a second, waiting for a response, but when it was clear one wasn’t coming, he walked over to you.

“I’m sorry, [Y/N],” he said softly.

“Nothing to worry about!” Iida cut in. “I say simply wait until he has cooled off somewhat and then try again!”

You nodded slowly, mumbling an agreement. A moment later, Aizawa-sensei walked through the door and you meandered your way to your seat, movements stiff. Wait until later, you thought. Everything will be fine.

Everything was not fine. You texted Shinsou later that night, hoping that he may respond to a small gesture.

No such luck. After 4 hours, you were anxiously waiting at your phone, checking it every time you got an arbitrary notification from Facebook or Twitter. The vibrations didn’t even sound the same, but you still reacted as soon as the screen lit up.

You fell asleep crookedly across your bed, phone in hand and homework unfinished. This had resulted in you waking up with a sore back and broken phone (it had fallen from your hand and cracked), then panickedly scurrying to get some answers down first thing in the morning. All in all, not the best way to wake up in the morning.

You groaned getting out of bed, clutching at the small of your back as it creaked like an old wood floor. Fatigue washed over you along with a suddenly blackness from standing up too quickly, but you stumbled your way across the room to your closet. Clutching at the fabric, you pulled on your uniform, not bothering to smooth out the creases formed on the shirt. Class was in 20 minutes and you were far too exhausted to bother.

15 minutes later you stumbled into class, a little sweaty from the run. You spotted Shinsou sitting at his desk, quietly flipping through a notebook, eyes low. Determined to make-up with him immediately, you sauntered over to him, stopping to stand directly in front of him. As he noticed you, he gently closed his notebook and looked up to meet your eyes.

“Hitoshi,” you started warily. “I just wanted to say…”

“If this is about yesterday, don’t worry about it,” Shinsou interrupted. Your eyes widened, confusion painted across your face. A part of you sighed in relief, happy to know that everything was back to normal. “I understand why you said what you did. So, really, you don’t have to mind me at all, [Y/L/N]-san.” The name dug into you like a knife. It had been months since you and Shinsou were on a first name basis and the fact that he dropped it in such a moment shattered your heart. You pushed on your right eye with the heel of your hand, forcing down the oncoming tears and gasping out a heavy breath. Knowing you weren’t going to sway him any further, you trudged back to your desk, falling into the seat gracelessly. You had absolutely no motivation for class in that moment, but you had no idea as to what you should be doing otherwise.

Two weeks went by and you health started to deteriorate, both mental and physical. You were sleeping too much or too little, fluctuating between 3 hours and 14 hours a night. Your meals were small and irregular, consisting of the cheapest meal sets at school or junk food at home. You struggled with homework. You seemed depressed and vacant most of the time, things that would normally excite you leaving no visible reaction. Your friends were worried and the teachers were starting to notice.

“[Y/N], you need to take better care of yourself,” Asui declared one day. “If this keeps up, you aren’t going to be able to keep training, ribbit.”

“Yeah, we’re all worried about you,” Midoriya added.

You gazed around at your friends, eyes blank and glassy. They all wore expressions of worry and sympathy, devastated to see their friend crumble in such a way.

“I’ll try,” you said. “I just-I just can’t focus when I can’t talk to Hito-um, I mean, Shinsou-san.” The group nodded knowingly.

“We know, [Y/N],” Uraraka added. “We’ll do anything we can to help you.” She paused, glancing around at the rest of the group. “For now, though, we were thinking that maybe we could have group dinners? Down in the dorm common area?” You let a small creep up your face.

“Yeah, that sounds nice.”

Uraraka smiled brightly in return. “Great! Then we’ll see you there tonight at 7!”

That night, you rushed down the stairs at 7, a little happy to be having a meal with your friends. You had been down on yourself and it was nice to have others looking out for you. A few minutes late, you burst through the kitchen door, apologies geared and ready.

“Sorry, I was-” You froze. In front of you stood Shinsou in an empty kitchen. No one else in sight. “Hitoshi?” The name was barely a whisper on your lips, a ghost.

“[Y/N]…” It was your first name. “Uraraka-san and Midoriya told me what you’ve been doing to yourself.” He took a single step toward you, but you were completely locked in place, a statue glued to the very ground you stood on. “And I-” He paused, collecting his thoughts. “I saw the effect it’s been having on you.” Another step. Still statuesque. “I couldn’t bare to see someone I’m friends with and…” Another pause. “Someone I like, do such a thing to themself.”

And just like that, a single word released you from your trance. You took two steps forward, meeting him halfway and falling into his arms. His hug was warm and gentle, causing tears to fall before you could stop them.

The two of you stood there in the quiet, the only sound your soft hiccups after each sob, and in that moment you could feel that you would be okay. Everything would be just fine.

And it would be.