Not so stupid
Hitoshi goes down with a pained yell when a fist catches him at the side of the head. Tanaka looms over him, sneering down at Hitoshi and when he dares to peek up between his tears Tanaka moves as if to pummel him into the ground.
Hitoshi flinches, curling up more tightly and protecting his head with his arms, but no impact comes. There's no more pain except for the hot throbbing in his cheek and Tanaka laughs at him.
"Fucking weakling," he sneers and crouches next to Hitoshi, painfully dragging Hitoshi up by his hair. "Useless waste of space."
It's said almost conversationally, as if Tanaka is commenting on the weather and Hitoshi thought he was over it, that he's used to treatment like this, but at those words something small curdles up in Hitoshi's chest and dies a silent death.
Because he is. He is a useless waste of space, he can't do anything right, no one wants him around and he never learns, he's stupid and slow and—
"One more mistake like that and you're dead," Tanaka calmly tells him and Hitoshi's eyes fall to the broken glass on the floor.
It was an accident. Hitoshi dropped one glass and he didn't even do it on purpose but—of course. Useless waste of space who can't do anything right.
He guesses he's lucky Tanaka didn't grind his face into the shards.
"I mean it, freak. I'm sick and tired of you, so fuck up one more time and I'll see to it that you disappear. Forever."
Hitoshi goes cold at those words, because he knows Tanaka means them. And he has the connections to make it happen, too. If he wants him gone—dead—then it's easy for Tanaka to achieve that.
Fuck, all of the people currently staring at Hitoshi as if he's a disgusting bug can make it happen and should Tanaka ask them to, they will.
Which basically means Hitoshi's life is over, because he can never get it right. It doesn't matter what he does, doesn't matter how hard he tries, because he always fucks up. Because he's stupid and slow and the rules around him keep changing and he can't keep up with anything and he'll probably be dead before the day is over.
Hitoshi is yanked out of his thoughts when Tanaka's phone hits him in the face.
"Get us some pizza here, freak. Or is that too much for you, too?" Tanaka snarls out and Hitoshi curls into himself again.
"I can handle that," he mutters when Tanaka continues to stare at him expectantly and Tanaka klicks his tongue before he turns around and leaves Hitoshi right there on the floor.
It takes Hitoshi a moment to gather himself to at least sit up and by the time he manages it, it feels as if his face is on fire. He's pretty sure there's blood dribbling down from the corner of his mouth, too, but he's too scared too touch and too scared to be doing something Tanaka will probably take offense to.
So he takes the phone and googles the nearest pizza place.
He's just about to press on their number when he hesitates.
Hitoshi doesn't mean to, but Aizawa's face springs up in his mind, closely followed by a memory of him telling Hitoshi to call him should he ever need help, should he ever be in trouble or danger or hurt.
To call him if he needs him.
Aizawa even made him memorise his number, because it's not as if Hitoshi has his own phone to save it in and it's right there.
It would be so easy to simply call Aizawa instead of the pizza place but—then what?
He can't really call for help with Tanaka right there, Hitoshi is going to be dead before Aizawa can even get moving, but maybe—maybe Hitoshi can do it.
Maybe he can manage it; he just needs to play a part, he just needs to pretend that everything is fine and he might be stupid and slow and dumb, but pretending is something Hitoshi is exceptionally good at.
He briefly glances up but Tanaka is deep in conversation with one of his henchmen and Hitoshi doesn't even want to know what they are planning because it's nothing good.
Hitoshi isn't certain just how bad Tanaka is, how much of a villain, really, but he knows it's not good. He knows Tanaka had people disappear for daring to speak back at him, and Hitoshi is going to be next.
And he thinks he would prefer it if he could go out knowing he at least tried to put a stop to him.
His fingers dial Aizawa's number with little input from his own mind but when Hitoshi presses the phone to his ear, his hand is shaking.
"Aizawa speaking."
He picked up after the second ring, despite this being an unknown number and Hitoshi could cry just because of that.
"Hello, I would like to order some pizza for delivery," Hitoshi says and prays that his voice doesn't shake as much as the rest of his body.
"Wrong number," Aizawa snaps out and Hitoshi fights the urge to close his eyes in his panic.
"I need some family pizzas delivered," Hitoshi goes on as if nothing at all is wrong and Aizawa's sudden confusion on the other end is almost palpable.
"Shinsou, is that you?"
"Yes," Hitoshi replies because that seems like a safe answer, no matter if Tanaka is listening in or not.
"Are you in trouble?"
"Yeah, that would be great."
"Okay, you can't speak freely, understood. How many people?"
"I would need five family pizzas, please," Hitoshi gives back, hoping that Aizawa understands him.
"So at least seven. All male? Criminals?"
"Yes, salami is fine. One margherita and one with vegetables and two specials, that sounds good."
"You're doing great, Shinsou," Aizawa almost soothingly says and Hitoshi bites back the urge to cry.
"I need them delivered as fast as possible."
He doesn't know how long this meeting will last—how long he will last—so he really hopes Aizawa hurries it up once they hang up.
"Tell me the address," Aizawa says and there's rustling in the background as if he's already getting ready.
Hitoshi rattles it off and Aizawa hums.
"I need to get some back up and the police. Twenty minutes."
"Oh, you can't deliver here today? Alright, thank you anyway," Hitoshi says and hangs up without waiting for Aizawa's reply and when a foot connects with his side, he lets out a pained groan.
"The fuck is taking so long?" Tanaka spits out and Hitoshi is just glad that he didn't drop the phone.
That would have meant his immediate demise.
"They are short on drivers today and we're too far out. I need to call another place," he gives back and hopes that Tanaka doesn't blow up in his face for it, but Hitoshi needs to make the real call now.
Because if Aizawa doesn't come or if he takes too long then Hitoshi is dead. Tanaka might be an asshole and he might be a villain, but he's not stupid. He has been avoiding the police for far longer than Hitoshi has been staying with him and if no pizza shows up he's going to get suspicious.
And then he's going to make it hurt.
"Come on, let the kid order, I'm hungry," one of Tanaka's henchmen calls over and Hitoshi almost wants to weep in gratitude but he only clutches the phone tighter and looks up at Tanaka to gauge his reaction.
Tanaka stares at him as if he's nothing more than dirt he tracked into the apartment but in the end, he turns away.
"Get to it, stupid mutt," he mutters and Hitoshi rushes to call the real pizza place.
Placing the delivery takes even less time than talking to Aizawa somehow and soon enough Hitoshi is left with nothing to do but stew in his pain.
His face is still throbbing and his side is hurting and his heart is hammering away in his chest and Hitoshi thinks he's going to die of a fucking heart attack.
Twenty minutes have never felt that long in his entire life before, especially when he realises just what Tanaka and his people are planning and it's almost enough to make Hitoshi throw up right there in the living-room.
They are trafficking kids out of the country and before Hitoshi can even wonder why the fuck he's allowed to listen in on this Tanaka turns towards him.
"You're finally going to earn your keep," he almost cheerfully says but the look in his eyes makes Hitoshi freeze right where he sits.
It doesn't take a genius to know what Tanaka means and Hitoshi is too shocked to even protest. They want him to take control of the kids to move them more easily and Hitoshi can imagine just what is going to happen should he say no.
"You sure it's a good idea to bring him into this?" someone asks and Tanaka's gaze goes a little bit crazy.
"He knows what's going to happen if he fucks us over."
It's stated with such surety that Hitoshi knows Tanaka has already planned out his death. He probably expects him to resist, to throw a fit, to refuse but Hitoshi is too shell-shocked to even think about doing any of that.
"Just look at him. He knows."
Everyone in the room laughs at that and Hitoshi feels as if he can't breathe.
They are going to make him an accomplice. And they are going to kill him—painfully—if he resists.
It's every single one of Hitoshi's nightmares come true and for a moment the entire room spins.
And then the doorbell rings.
Hitoshi flinches so hard he almost falls out of his chair, but Tanaka only laughs as he throws some money at him.
"Drop the pizza and I'll speed up the plan," he conversationally says and Hitoshi almost stumbles over his own feet on the way to the door.
He no longer knows if it's been twenty minutes or if this is going to be the real pizza but he has to open the door either way anyway.
Hitoshi yanks it open, intent to get this horrible moment behind him and he almost faints on the spot when it's Aizawa.
He really came for him.
"Living-room?" Aizawa asks, his gaze getting caught on Hitoshi's throbbing cheek.
"Yeah." He points down the hallway and then to the left.
"Mutant quirks?"
"No."
"Good. Get out," Aizawa says and carefully pulls Hitoshi out of the house and his head spins when Hitoshi realises how many people Aizawa brought.
Aizawa moves in, the rest following right after him and Hitoshi is left standing out on the sidewalk, alone and shivering, panicked and confused and still hurting and he has no idea how long it takes, but it feels as if no time at all has passed before Tanaka and his people are being brought outside, hand-cuffed and each one accompanied by a hero or police officer, Hitoshi can't tell.
He didn't even hear a scuffle take place, let alone a fight, but he spots a few injuries and just in that moment Tanaka sees him.
He lets out an enraged yell before he throws himself towards Hitoshi who can do nothing but stumble backwards, raising his hands in a helpless gesture to protect himself but before Tanaka can even take another step, the capture weapon winds itself around him.
"You will not fucking touch him again," Aizawa growls out, squeezing Tanaka so tightly that he lets out a breathless groan and it's only when two other people come over to personally lead Tanaka away, that Aizawa lets go of him.
It's quiet, for a moment, Aizawa just looking at him and then Hitoshi's knees give out. He's too tired to even brace himself, but Aizawa is there and he makes sure that Hitoshi's descend to the ground is painless.
"You're okay, you did good, kid," Aizawa mutters as he bends Hitoshi over, so his head is between his knees. "Breathe."
Hitoshi opens his mouth to take in a gasping breath and that's all it takes for the dam to break.
He has never cried like this before, loud and ugly and wailing, but Aizawa simply keeps a soothing hand on him, telling him to breathe, to let it out, that he's safe.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Hitoshi cries out once he finds his voice for something else than sobbing and Aizawa hums.
"Nothing to be sorry for, you did really well."
Hitoshi cries some more at that, until he no longer can, until he's spent and exhausted and his everything hurts and when Aizawa puts a hand under his chin to raise his head, he doesn't put up a fight.
"How badly are you injured?" he wants to know and Hitoshi shrugs.
"Face and side. Not bad," he admits, because yes, it hurts, but it's hardly anything new for him.
He went through training with worse.
"Do you know what they were planning?" Aizawa asks him next, but Hitoshi is pretty certain he doesn't believe him one bit in the assessment of his injuries.
Hitoshi can only nod his head because he thinks if he has to say it out loud he's going to throw up right on Aizawa and he must sense that because he drops it.
"I'm glad you called me," Aizawa tells him, instead of berating him for not taking action sooner and Hitoshi drops his head again. "What you did was really smart."
It sounds—fake. No one has ever called Hitoshi smart and he was so close to panicking the entire time. It doesn't feel as if he's been smart. What he did was reckless and dangerous and it's going to bite him in the ass one way or another.
"Sure," Hitoshi still tonelessly replies and doesn't meet Aizawa's eyes when he searchingly looks at him.
Hitoshi wasn't really thinking about what comes after, was too busy trying to make sure that Tanaka couldn't kill him, but now that he has some time it slams into him.
How stupid he has been.
"They are going to take me out of UA," he croaks out, because his caseworker was pretty clear about that.
Tanaka was his last chance in the area and that's gone now. They'll ship him off, and Hitoshi might have saved a bunch of kids, but he didn't save himself.
He can't even hold on to his dream.
"Why?"
"No fosters around. Thanks for believing me," Hitoshi mutters because he thinks he didn't say it yet.
The fact that Aizawa believed him almost immediately, that he listened and didn't accuse Hitoshi of playing a stupid prank shouldn't be taken for granted, especially not when it comes to Hitoshi.
He's been accused of doing worse and the fact that Aizawa didn't even hesitate means more to Hitoshi than he can ever put into words, so thanking him is really the least he needs to do.
"Hitoshi," Aizawa gently says and Hitoshi jerks at the use of his given name. "Of course I believe you. You're a good kid, you wouldn't just do this for the fun of it, I know that."
Hitoshi is too surprised to find his voice, because no one has ever called him a good kid before and he has no idea how to respond to that.
"Come on, you need to get your injuries looked at, and Tsukauchi will want your statement and then we're going to figure out your living situation, alright?"
Hitoshi thinks that his injuries are not really bad enough to need checking out and he has no idea who this Tsukauchi is but he sure as hell knows that the last part isn't alright.
"Nothing to figure out. My caseworker will take me off your hands soon enough," he mutters but still follows Aizawa when he leads him over to an ambulance.
"Not gonna happen," Aizawa promises him and then doesn't elaborate at all and Hitoshi blinks for a moment before he lets it go.
He's too tired and still too panicked to care about Aizawa's cryptic words. He's just glad that there is one adult in his life who trusted Hitoshi, at least once, and he'll take that memory with him, no matter where they send him next.
Maybe he'll even be allowed to call Aizawa again, if only just to talk but before he can ask that, the paramedics are there, and then they move to a police station and then—inexplicably—to Aizawa's home.
Where Hitoshi is allowed to stay. Because Aizawa did not allow anyone to whisk Hitoshi away and instead applied to foster him himself, together with his husband, and when Hitoshi falls into bed that evening, he's still convinced that this is just a dream and tomorrow, the world will be bleak and dark and painful again.
Sleep still claims him, for once, and when Hitoshi wakes up again, things are still soft and colourful and safe because he’s still at Aizawa’s place.
And they stay that way because Hitoshi is not leaving.
