Chapter Text
Hitoshi Shinsou crouched down on the dimly lit catwalk, balancing his weight on the balls of his feet. He wore black, loose fitting cargo pants that were tucked into tall, gray athletic boots, secured with orange velcro straps. The boots were chosen for their flexibility and support but the choice had resulted in his mentor, Shouta Aizawa, teasing him for choosing “baby shoes”.
But Shinsou liked the quickness and security of the velcro, babyish or not. On top, he wore a simple dark gray t-shirt and his father’s old motorcycle jacket. The old leather made for good but comfortable protection from scrapes and scratches.
His black knee pads cushioned his knees as he lie in wait, like a wolf waiting for the right moment to pounce on its prey. The comparison of him to a wolf might be typical, but he felt a kinship with the creatures. Like them, he had faced prejudice and hatred because of what he was capable of.
Fingerless gloves protected his hands and he turned the knob on his mask. The mask gave him the ability to mimic the voices of others, which aided in the activation of his quirk; Brainwashing. Whoever responds to him verbally gives him the power to take control of them, to dictate what their bodies can do, while the brainwashed person watches on, powerless to stop him. The power that he held often caused others to mistrust, dislike or even hate him. And many times he was powerless to change their perception of him.
The metal walkway creaked as Shinsou shifted his weight. He peered over the railing to look out at the vast gray space below him. It had been Aizawa’s idea to rid the large warehouse of its “roaches”. After a couple of days of surveillance, he had determined that a drug running organization had set up camp there. And several days later, on Saturday, he decided that’s when they would be taken down.
Aizawa called operations like these “collecting the garbage”. Shinsou nodded to himself, that was a good way of putting it. His mentor, pro hero Eraserhead, often focused on crime like this. He was more than capable of taking on more dangerous foes but illegal and often lethal drugs were just as bad as super villains in his mind.
“Besides, if everyone’s focusing on the large and noticeable villains, it allows other crime to run free,” he had told his student. But Shinsou also believed he chose this work as it mostly kept him out of the spotlight. Take down a flashy super villain and the press wants to interview you, but if you take down a drug operation in a gross warehouse that everyone forgot about? Nah, it just doesn’t sell as well.
Shinsou’s gloved hand gripped the railing. The sound of running feet pounding against the concrete met his ear. It was time. He pulled himself up and balanced on the edge of the railing. He tugged on one end of his binding cloth, loosening it. Aizawa had taken out most of the operatives down in one blow but he had radioed Shinsou to let him know that one had escaped. His plan was to chase him out into the open, where his student could take him down. And so far, it looked like it was working. Soon, he could hear a man’s frantic breathing. He pulled out a long length of cloth from around his neck and drew his arm back.
Glancing down, he saw the man’s shadow appear. In a few seconds the man would be directly below him.
He threw the cloth forward and it launched into the air. The end of it wrapped around one of the building’s many support beams. Gripping the cloth tightly and ignoring the potential risk, he jumped off of the railing. His stomach dropped as he soared through the air and his hair blew around his face. It was exhilarating. The speed and falling sensation reminded him of a roller coaster, but unlike the amusement park ride, there were no safety features. No straps or harnesses. If he miscalculated his trajectory he could find himself as a splat on the cold, hard ground. Adjusting his grip, he stretched his right foot out ahead of him, preparing himself to knock the man out with a single blow. The beam groaned under his weight and shifted. The cloth’s grip came loose, causing him to miss his target’s head by just a few inches.
“Huh?!” The man exclaimed and stumbled to the side.
Shinsou swore under his breath and released the cloth. He positioned his feet in front of him, to prepare himself for the landing. Just after making contact with the floor, he rolled himself forward and stopped in a crouched position, throwing an arm out for balance. He whipped his head around to see the drug dealer staring at him in confusion.
“Wha— You’re just a kid! Did you take the others down?”
A wide, malicious grin broke out on Shinsou’s face. Now, it was time to unleash his power. He lifted a purple eyebrow, “That’s right. Got a problem with that?”
The skin around the man’s hands pulled back to reveal metal clad fists. “Doesn’t matter if you are one or not, you’re going down.”
The man charged forward, his fists at the ready. Suddenly, pitch black tendrils clouded his vision and then complete darkness slammed into him, engulfing him; smothering him. All of his senses faded to the point of not knowing if he was even still standing. He wanted to scream, to lash out, but the darkness surround him and filled him, preventing it. Then like being tossed around in a wave, a falling sensation came next, causing a sickly feeling to form in his stomach. Not being able to make sense of any of it, he silently begged for it to stop.
Then the next thing he knew, his legs froze and he fell on his face. His senses had returned but the control over his own body hadn't.
The boy snickered and stood up. “I think you just went down.”
He tried to respond, to move, to fight back, but still his body didn’t listen to his commands. His body obeyed the tall, purple haired boy’s orders.
“Sit up and put your hands behind your back.” His opposer strode up to him.
To the man's horror, his body complied. The boy knelt down on one knee and and fastened the man’s hands with an orange zip tie.
“Stand up.”
The man’s body slowly got to his feet.
“Walk towards the door and honor the police with your presence.”
Flashing red lights shone through the dirty and broken glass windows. His body walked towards the large bay door and soon afterwards, an officer arrested him.
With the same speed that they had attacked him, the black tendrils pulled away and the man realized he could move of his own accord. But it was too late for that now.
Rage coursed through him as he turned to look at the kid. “Damn you!”
Shinso felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Aizawa. His mentor wore his signature black jump suit, gray utility belt and tall black boots. His long, loose hair covered most of his face.
“Good work. We got them all.”
Shinsou kept his expression neutral, but inwardly he relished the praise. His teacher did not give it out freely.
“What do you feel like needed improving on?” Aizawa asked as he reeled his binding cloth up.
“Well . . . I forgot to test the strength of a beam that I had used to swing on,” he sheepishly admitted and tugged on his cloth. It released its grip and fell to the floor in a pile. He should have remembered to do that but the excitement had gotten to him. He wrapped it back around his neck. “And it shifted, causing me to miss. I brainwashed him after my first plan failed.”
“Hmm,” his teacher replied.
“I know, that was a major oversight,” Shinsou sighed. It disappointed him that he had made such a rookie mistake.
“Don’t beat yourself up about it. Just remember to do that next time,” Aizawa replied and patted his student’s back. “Let’s get out of here.”
Shinsou made it back to his apartment around 3:00 am and quietly walked through the living room. He lived with his mother in a small, one bedroom apartment. She had opted to give him the room and as a result, she slept on the couch. She snored quietly as he snuck past. Her metallic silver hair caught the light from the building across from them and it glowed, acting as a guiding light for him.
Quietly, he closed his bedroom door behind him and kicked off his boots. He was satisfied with the mission but it had left him exhausted. Who knew that running around on endless catwalks to find out where people were hidden would be so tiring? Suppressing a yawn, he shrugged off his jacket. He was supposed to meet someone tomorrow but luckily it would be in the afternoon, so he had time to sleep in. Without another thought, he collapsed onto his bed.