What the Heart Longs for

Hitoshi Shinso had recognized the person across from him during his last match. How could he have not? The same older face had stood next to him in the hospital, sipping a juice box, after rescuing him. He almost felt bad for winning against the guys' probably younger brother, but Iida had proven himself to spectators twice already, so he'd be fine. That, and there was nothing that could stop Hitoshi from achieving his dream.

-So as Midnight had been counting down, Hitoshi had asked him a simple question.-

-"Do you use grape juice like your brother to fuel your quirk?"-

-"How did you kn-" Iida's shocked eyes had gone blank. -

-Hitoshi had shaken his head, "That's it. I win."-

-As his opponent ran out of bounds for him, Hitoshi had breathed out in relief.-

Not because it had worked. No, his quirk worked too well nowadays. Simply because he had finally been able to show the world why they made a mistake. Why he could be a great hero. Why his quirk could be used for good, like it had for Olivia. He had shown how it can help him. He showed how it could help others. And now… how it could stop villains.

-It had been silent for a moment, before the crowd started shouting words of encouragement to the fast hero that had been beaten so quickly.-

Hitoshi understood why. It was hard feeling like you never stood a chance. Like it was unfair, or the odds were stacked against you. He knew the feeling all too well.

-So after the match, he had walked up to his opponent and shook his hand, apologizing.

Hitoshi hadn't missed the hesitation on the man's face before he had responded. It was something he had become used to over the years.-

As Hitoshi Shinso walked up to the stage for his next match, he thought about how people had treated him that way his whole life. All because of the quirk he was born with.

-"Promise not to make us your slaves okay?"-

-"It's the perfect power for a villain to have."-

-"Sounds criminal, Shinso."-

Hitoshi was used to people looking at him like he was the bad guy. And when he was taken… When his quirk was used for him to do evil… He started to believe them.

It wasn't until a rainy night, 9 days after the incident, that he believed otherwise.

-He had heard a gentle knock at his door. He almost didn't answer it, paranoid it was another villain, when a voice had spoken up.-

-"I-it's me, Hitoshi. It's S-star."-

-He could barely hear her over the pouring rain, but he did. As he carefully opened the door, he was relieved to see it was in fact her, and not a villain using her to get in. His relief was short lived though when he took a closer look at her. She was soaking wet, her tiny frame shaking. Her teeth were chattering as she admitted that his mind was like an expanse of calm and tiredness.-

-He had looked at her emotionlessly, but inside he felt the tug of familiarity at the words. She had told him the same thing when they had been captured. He watched helplessly as her quirk was overexerted from the drug and the scientist. As it took toll after toll on her. How could he ever be a hero if he couldn't save someone who was suffering? If he couldn't even save himself? He had questioned everything. He had given up. Until… she reached out to him. Shivering from the concrete and the overuse of her quirk, her hand shook as it reached out, but he let her. When she reached him, she sighed in relief. She looked less pained than he had seen since he got there. ...Maybe… he could help save someone after all.-

-As she stood there in front of his apartment door that night, he had listened. For the woman who heard and felt everything, she was drained and emotionless when she asked if she could just stay a while in his presence. And for the man who felt nothing and erased other people's everything, he acknowledged that maybe he didn't want to be alone anymore either, and he had let her in.-

She was the first person to ever ask him to use his quirk on them. Despite understanding all too well the pain and horror that could come from it, she still trusted him to put her under. She had been the first to show him that even though it could hurt, it was a quirk that could also heal.

-So, he had agreed. He had pushed away the feeling of anxiety, and let a feeling of hope spread through him as he watched her troubled face turn peaceful under his quirk. She had slept soundly on the couch as he went to his room after releasing her. And for the first time since the incident… He could finally, really, sleep.-