Chapter Text
It starts off small.
To be honest, at these early stages, Aizawa had brushed off most of the obvious signs. It’s only in hindsight that he’s able to look back and recognize that this had all begun much, much sooner than anyone could have predicted.
Hitoshi, by nature, has a stoic personality. Although introverted, he has no problem speaking his mind, even to those he doesn’t know. Whether he’s goading someone in a fight or having a normal conversation, his expression remains under control, never giving too much away. It takes quite a lot for him to become visibly affected by his emotions.
Annoyance in particular is not a look that Aizawa has seen appear on Hitoshi’s face very often, so he’s surprised when he catches a glimpse of it on a Friday morning, right as Bakugou is in the middle of giving his usual, angry rant to the self-proclaimed “Bakusquad”.
To his credit, Hitoshi doesn’t give much of a reaction other than the crease in his eyebrows and the way his mouth pulls slightly downward, gaze still focused on the textbook set out in front of him. It’s only his second week in Class 1-A, after having transferred from General Studies, so it’s understandable that the purple-haired teenager isn’t exactly used to Bakugou’s particular… energy, yet.
Aizawa knows, outside of those in Class 1-A, that there are few who have a positive perception of Bakugou Katsuki. People see a loud, brash, violent student with a cocky attitude and automatically think, that’s not how a hero should be.
At first, only Midoriya seemed to be capable of looking past that. Then Kirishima managed to break Bakugou’s shell, and everyone else began to realize that there was something more to their resident gremlin after all.
He may not be liked by everyone in their class, but they can all see that there’s a quality within Bakugou to be respected: the unrelenting dedication of a hero.
Hitoshi, however, seems to remain skeptical, which Aizawa can’t exactly blame him for. Much like the purple-haired teen himself, Bakugou’s character is hard to dissect, and while the loud blond doesn’t hold back with his words, it’s often difficult to understand what he means by them.
Add all of this to the fact that Hitoshi appears to be especially exhausted today- his eyebags darker than usual- and it’s reasonable for the purple-haired teen to be openly irritable.
“We’ve known about this test for two fucking weeks, shitheads, and you’re telling me all you did was cram for three fucking hours last night?” Bakugou roars, smacking Kaminari, Ashido, Kirishima and Sero over the head with his textbook in quick succession.
“It’s not our fault!” Kaminari whines, clutching at his newly-acquired wound with a miserable pout. “It’s hard to study when you’re tired, man!”
“Don’t give me those shitty excuses!” Bakugou yells, and Aizawa sees Hitoshi wince at the volume, his tired eyes narrowing slightly in the blond’s direction. As if he can sense the stare, Bakugou turns his head to meet Hitoshi’s gaze, his scowl deepening in indignation.
“You got a fucking problem with me, Eggplant?” Bakugou barks out, and Hitoshi immediately schools his expression, face falling back into set neutrality.
The entire class turns their attention to the pair, observing with a mix of curiosity and vague amusement. Hitoshi and Bakugou haven’t exactly interacted much ever since the former joined 1-A, and it’s clear that the other students are interested in seeing how their initial encounters play out. Unsurprisingly, Midoriya is glancing between the two of them like he’s viewing an intense tennis match, waiting for one of them to make a move against the other.
On the other hand, Kirishima- upholding his title as the certified Bakugou Wrangler and Translator- watches them both carefully, ready to intervene and deescalate the situation if need be.
“No problem here,” Hitoshi drawls out, cheek resting against his palm. “Just wondering when you’ll quiet down so I can continue studying in peace.”
Bakugou snarls out something at that, red eyes flickering down to where Hitoshi’s English textbook rests upon his desk.
With a small tch, the blond turns away, focusing his attention back on the Bakusquad.
“See, fuckmunches? Instead of taking the opportunity to study right now you’re all just wasting time complaining your asses off!” Bakugou snaps, voice still unnecessarily loud but noticeably not as ear-splitting as before.
Hitoshi blinks, eyebrows scrunching up. In contrast, the rest of the class, unsurprised by the outcome, returns to what they were doing without comment.
“I left my textbook back in my dorm,” Sero confesses, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. The rest of the Bakusquad nod in agreement, as though they’ll be saved from Bakugou’s wrath if they all take the fall together.
They should know better by now.
“You fucking idiots!” Bakugou seethes. “This is why you’re all at the bottom of our fucking class rankings!”
“We’re just not as good at schoolwork, Bakubro!” Kirishima confesses easily, his shark-teeth glinting along with the rest of his smile. “But you’ll help us out, won’t you?”
“Like fuck I am!” Bakugou hisses, chucking his textbook directly at Kirshima’s suddenly hardened face.
“Thanks, bro!”
“You’re a lifesaver!”
“We love you, Bakugou!”
“You’re the best, dude!”
“Shut the fuck up!” Bakugou snarls, stomping back to his seat and pulling his notebook out with a huff. The Bakusquad, in comparison, all crowd around Bakugou’s vanquished textbook, frantically flipping through pages as they argue over what they think is important enough to show up on the test.
Interestingly, after all that commotion, it’s the Bakusquad who are now making the most noise in the classroom, with Bakugou quietly sitting at his desk as he reviews his notes for one last time.
And Aizawa, slumped over the podium in his sleeping bag, watches Hitoshi take it all in, thinking to himself, Yup, this is your new normal now, kid.
Hitoshi shakes his head and ducks his head down to focus on his textbook, but his eyes stray every once in a while, darting up to the back of Bakugou’s head with careful, measured consideration.
It’s a look that has been directed at Bakugou many times in the past by Class 1-A, and is usually a precursor to a begrudging acceptance or even an uncertain friendship with the blond.
Ultimately, Aizawa dismisses this event, filing it away as just another instance of Hitoshi getting used to his new classmates.
Over the course of the month, Hitoshi slowly acclimates to life in the hero course, both academically and socially- (Aizawa had been worried about the former, while Hizashi still frets about the latter). The purple-haired teen’s presence is now seen as normal rather than refreshingly new and intriguing, and barring some hang-ups between Ojirou and Hitoshi after what had occurred in the Sports Festival, he seems to fit right in with everybody else.
Fortunately, having both his parents as his teachers has helped with getting Hitoshi caught up with the curriculum. Although he’s still behind the rest of his classmates, he’s showing steady progress, fueled by the determination to prove that he can handle the additional workload.
Aizawa doesn’t know why he was ever concerned in the first place- he had gone through the same transfer from General Studies back when he was a student, so he knows it’s certainly doable. Perhaps this is just one of those parental anxieties that have no logical basis and simply exist whenever a parent’s child is confronted with possible hardship.
The rest of Class 1-A are doing their best to make the transition seamless by being as supportive and friendly as they can. Although most of the students have been vocally welcoming of his companionship, Hitoshi seems to spend the majority of his time around the more quiet and collected students, such as Tokoyami, Shouji, and Jirou, though he’s been seen hanging around Midoriya and his group as well.
And Kaminari, strangely enough, has been intensely focused on getting Hitoshi to hang out with the Bakuquad, but the purple-haired teenager always refuses his invitations.
“I hear enough of your antics living next to Bakugou, thanks,” Hitoshi had said at one point, voice dry and unamused. Kaminari simply pouted at him in response.
Nevertheless, as much as Hitoshi tries to avoid the Bakusquad and their general… chaos, it’s difficult for him to do so during training.
Eventually, during one class session, Hitoshi and Bakugou are paired together for partner duels. Neither of them look too pleased about being stuck with each other, but they don’t complain, either, reluctantly accepting the hand that fate has dealt them.
Unfortunately for them, partner duels hinge upon cooperation and the ability to effectively strategize together. In this case, the first team to subdue one of their opponents with the provided capture tape wins the match, and thus, it’s important for each partner to maintain a certain awareness of their teammate.
Before their first match even begins, Aizawa expects there to be a communication barrier between the two, simply because they’re both fundamentally different in how they approach their fights- but their duel against Ojiro and Tokoyami turns out much, much worse than he originally predicted.
It’s an absolute train wreck.
As soon as the starting timer goes off, Bakugou springs upon Tokoyami, leaving Hitoshi with an opponent who is still very bitter after being brainwashed during the Sports Festival. Ojirou keeps his mouth firmly closed, despite Hitoshi’s efforts to goad him into responding, and with the purple-haired teen’s quirk essentially rendered useless, Hitoshi is put at a discernible disadvantage. Although he has been improving with his fighting techniques, Ojirou’s mobility and experience with martial arts guarantees his win, and it doesn't take long for him to securely wrap Hitoshi up in tape, officially ending the match a mere forty-five seconds after it began.
Needless to say, the ensuing argument after their defeat does not go well.
“What the fuck was that? You were supposed to hold your own against Tails with no problem!” Bakugou shouts, stomping over to Hitoshi with fire raging in his eyes.
“You can’t just run off at the beginning and expect things to go well,” Hitoshi snaps, meeting Bakugou’s angry gaze head-on as he forcefully tears away the tape stuck to his body. “This is supposed to be a partner fight, not two individual fights that happen to be taking place in the same arena.”
“Then fucking tell me next time if you can’t handle it! How am I supposed to know if you won’t say anything?”
“Maybe if you actually had some awareness of your surroundings, instead of only paying attention to yourself-”
“Enough,” Aizawa calls out, and both of them immediately fall silent, glaring at each other. Bakugou bares his teeth, palms crackling in frustration, while Hitoshi simply stares with a dead-eyed gaze, mouth set into a firm line. “Fix your issues before your next match. You won’t get anywhere without being able to properly analyze your mistakes and figure out how you can improve.”
Bakugou grits his teeth, looking away, and Hitoshi presses his lips together tightly. Aizawa resists the urge to let out an exhausted sigh.
Their next match against Kaminari and Uraraka is better, but it’s no less of an embarrassing mess.
Bakugou predictably heads straight towards Uraraka as soon as the match begins, but at least this time, Hitoshi is confidently able to use his quirk. It’s almost pitiful how easily Hitoshi manages to trick Kaminari into speaking- all it takes is for the purple-haired teen to ask, “Hey, does that offer to play Mario Kart today still stand?” and Kaminari’s face instantly lights up with glee, barely able to get out a “Hell yeah-” before he’s under Hitoshi’s control.
The purple-haired teen directs Kaminari to walk towards him, capture tape held at the ready, but that’s when things go wrong.
Bakugou, who had been focusing on his fight with Uraraka, blasts himself backwards to get out of reach from her outstretched hands.
And as he’s backing away, his body happens to fly right into Kaminari.
Bakugou tumbles ungracefully in the air, managing to right himself with a couple of well-timed blasts of his quirk, while Kaminari- who was thrown onto the ground upon impact- sits up as though coming out of a daze, blinking in quick succession as he frowns down at his now cooperative limbs.
“The fuck-?” Bakugou says, twisting his body around in confusion to search for the source of the collision, and Kaminari’s eyes go wide in realization when their gazes meet.
He instantly readies himself for a huge discharge of electricity, yellow pulses crackling around him.
With a curse, Bakugou quickly flies himself out of range, and Hitoshi is far enough to only be hit by stray sparks as Kaminari releases his quirk, the power shooting off around him in large arcs.
Unfortunately, after this fruitless attack, the teen seems to have reached his limit, eyes going familiarly blank as his thumbs extend with empty enthusiasm. He doesn’t react to Bakugou swooping down to wrap him up in capture tape, and has to be guided out of the arena once the match is over.
So- Bakugou and Hitoshi technically won, but only because of Kaminari’s poor judgment.
Looking at the sour expression on Bakugou’s face, it seems the other teen would have rather taken a loss.
“I had him,” Hitoshi huffs out in annoyance, rounding on his partner as soon as Aizawa calls for the four students to take a break. “This should have been easy, if you would have just let me do my thing without getting in the way-”
“My back was fucking turned! You should’ve directed Kaminari out of the line of fire if it’s that fucking easy to break people out of your quirk!” Bakugou yells, clearly not willing to take any of the blame.
The purple-haired teen crosses his arms. “Everything doesn’t revolve around you. How am I supposed to predict your erratic movements?”
This time, Aizawa doesn’t even bother to intervene, deciding to let the petty squabbling run its course as he keeps an eye on the students who are still battling their respective match-ups. Maybe making more mistakes will finally teach these two how to cooperate with each other.
Meanwhile, Uraraka stares at the pair with wide eyes, crouched down next to brain-dead Kaminari, but Bakugou and Hitoshi don’t even seem to be aware of the attention, too absorbed with their argument.
Bakugou inhales roughly, jaw clenched in an effort to reign down his temper. It’s becoming an increasingly familiar expression on his face these days. “Look, I’m fucking trusting you to do your job while I do mine. How fucking hard is that?”
“And what, your job is to fight people and capture them while I just sit back and watch?” Hitoshi bites out, eyes dark with displeasure.
Bakugou stares at him with a look that perfectly reads, are you stupid?
“No, you shitty dumbass eggplant! Your job is to fucking win against your opponent while I win against my opponent!”
“They’re both our opponents. This is a team battle, dipshit!” Hitoshi says heatedly, nearly shouting at this point.
Aizawa feels his eyebrows lift- he rarely ever hears Hitoshi raise his voice, and never with such blatant irritation dripping from his words.
“Yeah, well there’s no fucking way we’re ever going to work as a team when you fucking have it out for me, so it’s better to just do this individually!”
“Huh?” Hitoshi’s eyebrows scrunch up in confusion, all the defensiveness draining from his body as he regards the blond with a bewildered look. “What are you talking about?”
Bakugou sneers, lip curling upwards as his tone settles into something calmer but equally harsh. “Do you think I’m a fucking idiot? You hate my guts,” the blond says, eyes narrowed. “I don’t really give a fuck about what you think of me, but like hell am I going to let you ruin my training because of it, so just shut up and stick to your opponent, asshole.”
“I’d actually have to care about you to hate you, Bakugou,” Hitoshi says dismissively, eyes continuing to scrutinize the blond as he seems to think over what Bakugou has said. Even though Hitoshi isn’t showing it, Aizawa can tell that the teen is genuinely caught off guard by the blond’s statement. “What makes you think I do? We’ve hardly even interacted.”
Bakugou rolls his eyes at that. “Fuck, maybe it’s the fact that you always stare like you’ve got a problem with my existence but can’t be bothered to say shit about it? Or that Pikachu keeps bugging me about how you won’t ‘hang out’ because I’m too loud for you? Take your fucking pick, Eggplant.”
Hitoshi stares. Bakugou glares back pointedly, chin jutted out.
After a few moments of tense silence, the purple-haired teem shakes his head with a disbelieving sigh. “Bakugou, out of your entire friend group, you’re the one who yells the least, which is saying something. My refusal has nothing to do with you, I just don’t have enough energy to deal with Kaminari.”
Really, the idea that Hitoshi would ever refuse to hang out with someone simply because they’re loud is entirely ridiculous. Present Mic is one of his parents, after all- not that the rest of his classmates are aware of this. By this point, the teen has surely worked up a substantial immunity to pterodactyl-like screeches and other deafening noises.
Bakugou scowls. “Then why don’t you tell him that so he finally stops getting on my damn nerves?”
“That’s really not the point I’m trying to make right now,” Hitoshi says, deadpan. “I don’t have a problem working with you. I’m not the type to hold grudges when it comes to training.”
The blond gives him a side-eyed glower at that, as if he doesn’t really believe him, but the resolution to win likely convinces Bakugou to put the matter aside for now. He rolls his shoulders back, chin tilted up in a challenging manner. “Tch. I don’t give a fuck about your shitty reasons, Eyebags. Are we gonna fucking do this or what?”
Hitoshi takes a moment to study the blond, and then he nods.
What comes next is the most bewildering strategizing session Aizawa has ever witnessed.
In the past, when forced to work with other people, Hitoshi refrained from getting too involved in planning, preferring to fill in the gaps with his own strategies when the time came to put them into action. Now, however, he seems to have pulled a one-eighty, openly contributing to the discussion as if to prove his earlier statement of being willing to work with the blond.
Aizawa even hears Hitoshi share details of his quirk- information that he doesn’t tend to give up easily- and Bakugou doesn’t even blink at the implications of Hitoshi’s power. They shoot down each other’s tactical ideas, often brutally and with no hesitation, yet this only makes their planning efficient rather than counterproductive.
It’s certainly odd, watching the two of them cooperate despite Bakugou’s occasional outbursts and Hitoshi’s passive-aggressive digs. Each one seems to serve their own purpose in their deranged form of communication.
When the time comes for the pair to face their last opponents, Bakugou and Hitoshi’s attitudes towards teamwork have taken a noticeable shift. The two of them stroll confidently over to their starting positions, the blond flashing a maniacal grin while purple-haired teen unconsciously presents a matching, derisive smirk.
Midoriya and Yaoyorozu stand on the other side of the arena, looking slightly apprehensive.
As they wait for the timer to go off, Hitoshi pointedly pulls up his voice modifier to cover the bottom half of his face, and Bakugou’s grin widens.
Aizawa narrows his eyes at them in consideration, watching Hitoshi fiddle with his device as though making sure it fits comfortably around his jaw. For all intents and purposes, it looks like he is actually planning on using the modifier during this next match, which is… surprising, to say the least.
Although Hitoshi had gotten the device sent in by the support department about a week ago, he had ultimately decided that he wasn’t going to use it in class sessions until he grew more familiar with how it worked. Since then, he’s been experimenting, trying to figure out how to articulate himself in different voices and match the speech patterns of those he knows well. He still wears it as part of his current hero costume, but he hasn’t really drawn attention to it- most of the students have likely assumed it’s an aesthetic choice, and up until this point, Hitoshi had been content to let them.
In fact, he’d only just recently begun pairing the support item with fighting during his private sparring sessions with Aizawa. Even then, he made it clear that he had no intention of openly training with it during class yet.
Which is why Aizawa finds it so interesting that Hitoshi would finally decide to use the modifier now, during the third and final round. Aizawa had originally predicted that the purple-haired teen wouldn’t feel comfortable showing it off for another month- but it seems like that’s not the case.
Suddenly hit with a suspicion, Aizawa wonders if Bakugou had a hand in lowering Hitoshi’s inhibitions towards using the device. The blond does have a tendency to bring the best out of others- often completely unintentionally- and inspire them to give each battle their all.
With that being said, he has a feeling this is going to be a good fight.
Aizawa settles back as the starting alarm goes off, and the match begins.
It becomes clear from the beginning that Hitoshi and Bakugou’s ultimate strategy is to unsettle and throw off their opponents.
Bakugou darts around the arena sporadically, changing targets swiftly and with no warning, never straying too far from Hitoshi’s side as the purple-haired teen throws out alternating attacks with his capture weapon.
Midoriya and Yaoyorozu seem to be holding their own fairly well after their initial confusion, both of their mouths covered in medical tape lest they feel tempted to respond to Hitoshi. Neither of them are given the opportunity to go on the offensive, but they’re both concentrating hard, eyes darting around to look for openings to spring their own assault.
This goes on for quite a while- a bit surprising considering Bakugou is usually not much for waiting around in a fight. He always goes in for the figurative kill as soon as he gets a chance, and he never hesitates when he’s up against Midoriya. Like two opposite ends of a magnet, they can never resist clashing together- but the blond is proving to be uncharacteristically patient this time around.
It seems like Hitoshi must have had an impact on Bakugou as well. How intriguing.
Nevertheless, it’s only a matter of time before the fight begins to pick up the pace. Bakugou’s explosions grow in intensity, his attacks becoming more aggressive and increasingly harder to predict. Hitoshi matches this with his own hostility, advancing upon Midoriya with narrowed eyes as the blond hones in on Yaoyorozu.
The girl is flustered under the sudden attention, trying to keep up with the bombardment and struggling to defend herself. Midoriya, too, fumbles a bit under the pressure, but his analyzing gaze is already sweeping over Hitoshi, searching for weak points.
This, of course, is when Hitoshi decides to bring his new support item into play.
The sound of Bakugou’s voice rings out clearly across the arena, a guttural “DEKU!” piercing through the air, and Midoriya’s head snaps to the side, already moving to block or dodge an incoming attack-
Only, the green-haired teen is met with the scene of Yaoyorozu and Bakugou in the midst of their fight, neither of them even looking over in their direction. He frowns in confusion, feet stuttering across the floor, and Hitoshi takes advantage of this moment of indecision, snapping out his capture weapon, just barely missing due to Midoriya’s sharp reflexes.
As soon as Midoriya seems to get his bearings back, however, another “DEKU!” echoes out, and once again the green-haired teen reacts, head whipping around and greeted to the same situation with Bakugou and Yaoyorozu as before.
Suspicion creeps up on Midoriya’s expression.
The realization dawns on him shortly after that, his eyes squinting at Hitoshi’s face right as the purple-haired teen tilts his head, lowering the mask-like device to level the other boy with a shit-eating grin.
Aizawa mentally sighs. This child.
After that, Hitoshi doesn’t bother to restrain himself, calling out provoking statements with his own voice, Bakugou’s, and sometimes inexplicably switching into Yaoyorozu’s just to make things more confusing. Midoriya attempts to compose himself, but his performance visibly worsens, punches being thrown wide and legs stumbling as his body wrestles in an internal battle of instincts versus rational thought.
What makes Hitoshi’s voice modifier particularly tricky is that people rely heavily on sound during a fight, and it’s very difficult to filter out the sound of a person’s voice, even if one knows that it’s fabricated. Humans are wired to pay attention to these things, and heroes are especially sensitive to such noises because speech is often used to locate possible victims or identify incoming threats.
And when Hitoshi makes a point to yell out ‘helpful’ tips such as, “To your right, Midoriya,” and “I’M COMING FOR YOUR ASS, DEKU! HOWITZER IMPACT!”, well, it’s understandable why the green-haired teen is not holding up very well.
With Midoriya being given the runaround, it’s only a matter of time before Hitoshi manages to snag his opponent with his capture weapon. From there, all it takes is a few tugs and a roll of tape before Midoriya is finally subdued and the duel is finished.
After all that meticulous planning, it looks like Bakugou and Hitoshi have managed to redeem themselves.
Barring the previous matches, the pair did much better than expected for people who seem to be complete opposites. Hitoshi has always been more of a stealthy and deceiving type, relying on schemes and his ability to outwit others, while Bakugou prefers to fight head-on, relentlessly and brutally attacking his opponents to take them down efficiently.
Both, however, are extremely intelligent, so maybe their success isn’t such a shock after all. The two managed to combine both styles of combat quite uniquely, presenting a plan that utilized equal involvement and both teenagers stretching a little bit out of their comfort zones.
Funny how this all occurred between the two who are arguably the least cooperative out of their entire class.
Of course, the element of surprise from Hitoshi’s sudden reveal of his voice modifier also improved their odds of winning. With their opponents not given time to prepare themselves against the device, it was much more likely that they would mess up during the fight.
Luckily, Midoriya doesn’t seem to be too broken up about the loss- in fact, he looks like he wants to ask Hitoshi about a million questions, but he directs his attention to Yaoyorozu first, walking over to make sure she’s alright after facing Bakugou.
Meanwhile, Hitoshi and Bakugou turn to each other with matching grins, the thrill of victory plainly stamped all over their faces, and Aizawa absentmindedly considers whether this is going to be a problem.
The strange part is, he’s not entirely sure which one has the more concerning influence over the other.
Later that day, after classes are over and Aizawa passes by the common room, he spots Hitoshi on the couch next to Bakugou, playing Mario Kart with the rest of the Bakusquad.
The two of them are taking turns insulting everybody else- Hitoshi with his dry snark and Bakugou with his raging, creative trash talk- while Kaminari wails about being ganged up on. He’s so busy pouting he doesn’t even notice his character flying off of Rainbow Road for the seventh time.
Bakugou laughs maniacally at this, and even Hitoshi lets loose a small, amused smirk.
Yes, Aizawa thinks. This is definitely going to be a problem.