Archive of Our Own ^beta

Eraserhead is one of the homeroom teachers in the hero course. He's quiet, and not particularly social, and has a habit of expelling his students. That's about all Hitoshi really knows about him.

He is learning now, though, that he also makes a rather tall and imposing figure in the school halls.

The bell had just rung and Hitoshi was in the middle of leaving when he saw him, standing slouched with his hands in his pockets and hair in his face. He seems to be waiting for something. Or someone.

Eraser looks up and meets his eyes.

He raises a brow and Hitoshi flexes his fingers.

He isn't…waiting for me, is he?

Other students pass by him, walking around the hero. He lets them and does not stop looking at Hitoshi.

Of course he is.

Hitoshi sighs through his nose, adjusts the straps of his backpack, and walks over to him.

"Hello." Eraserhead says.

"Hey." Hitoshi says.

"You're Hitoshi Shinso." He states. It isn't a question, but Hitoshi nods anyway. "You made it pretty far in the sports festival."

Hitoshi's mouth tastes sour. He thinks bitterly of the chance that slipped between his fingers, of how Midoriya had snapped out of his quirk all by himself. His back still aches and he's still a little frustrated. His classmates' support and congratulations over the past few days since the sports festival did help soothe him, though.

"I guess." He glances away, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. He's not sure he succeeds.

"Don't sell yourself short." Eraser tells him. "You made it two thirds of the way through. That's a pretty big chunk, kid."

Hitoshi frowns, narrows his eyes, clenches his fists.

"I didn't make it far enough." He says flatly, bluntly. "I didn't…I was supposed to…" He grunts and shakes his head. "I was trying to earn a spot in the hero course. I was supposed to win. But I wasn't good enough."

"You were plenty good." Eraser tilts his head just slightly, studying him. "You know, winning the sports festival isn't the only way to change courses?"

Hitoshi blinks.

"What?"

"You don't have to win the sports festival to get in. There's other options, other routes to take."

"What do you mean?" Hitoshi asks, running a hand through his hair. It does nothing to make his purple locks flatten at all but he's far too distracted with this new information to care.

Eraser scratches his beard idly, staring unblinkingly down at Hitoshi with lidded eyes.

"There's a few different ways that students have been able to change courses over the years." The hero answers, almost nonchalantly except for the odd intense focus of his gaze. "One such way is a hero taking it upon themselves to train and mentor a student."

Hitoshi stares at him and Eraserhead moves on, apparently unbothered.

"Why are you so determined to join the hero course, anyway?" He questions.

Hitoshi stares at him for a moment longer until the man raises his eyebrows expectantly.

"Uh." He says brilliantly. Then, he winces. "It's- well…"

Eraser just…looks at him, not saying a word. It's a little uncomfortable.

"Ever since my quirk developed, people always talked about how easy it'd be for me to be a villain." He confesses. "Everyone seemed to just…expect me to use it to hurt people, or take advantage of people, or make people do my bidding or whatever. But I never… I'm just a guy. A normal guy, who doesn't want to hurt people just because I can. I want to help people, and I guess people always assuming the worst of me sort of pushed me towards putting in the work it took to actually help people instead of wanting to." He frowns and scratches the back of his neck. "Or, I tried. My quirk doesn't work well against giant robots, so I failed the exam to get into the hero course. And then I lost at the sports festival…"

"The sports festival isn't the only way to change courses." Eraserhead says again. "Do you plan to only use your quirk, as a hero?"

Hitoshi startles a little. Eraser's voice sounds a little different, a little more stern, a little more firm. It catches him off guard.

"I mean, logically, no, I guess, but I haven't really learned much else? I can throw a punch, I guess, but I'm not very good at fighting or using tools or whatever."

"Hm." Eraserhead studies him again. "That isn't gonna work. You need to train more."

"Well-"

"You lost at the sports festival because you relied solely on your quirk. Once Midoriya no longer let you use it on him, you had nothing else to show." He tells him bluntly. "You can't be a hero if all you have is your quirk."

"Hey," Hitoshi frowns, a little offended, "that's not-"

"So," Eraser interrupts, "you're going to have to start training more. We'll start simple, with just normal workouts and basic hand to hand combat. We can figure out more from there."

"I-" Hitoshi pauses, processing. "Wait. What?"

Eraser blinks at him, slowly. Waiting.

Something clicks.

Hitoshi's heart jumps into his throat and his eyes go wide.

"You're going to mentor me?" He asks. "You're going to mentor me? I can actually get into the hero course? Are you serious?"

"Do I not look serious?" Eraser asks, sounding a little amused. "It's not going to be easy, though. It is going to take a lot of hard work and effort to actually make it there. You're going to have to train every day, sometimes with me and sometimes on your own, and you're going to have to keep up with your studies on top of that."

"I will," Hitoshi assures breathlessly, perhaps a little too quickly, "I definitely will. I will work my ass off-"

Erases arches an eyebrow at him and Hitoshi flushes a little, clears his throat.

"I mean, I'll- uh."

Eraser shakes his head.

"Even if you work your ass off, you might not even get in." He warns. "There's no guarantee."

Hitoshi wilts, just a little, but nods.

"Okay."

Eraser looks at him for a moment, long and hard and considering.

"I think you can do it. You have a lot of potential, kid, and I think you can put in the hard work to get there. I think you will put in the hard work to get there." He turns halfway. "I have to go. Got papers to grade. But I don't waste my time on things I don't think have a chance."

Hitoshi straightens a little and adjusts his backpack once more.

"Okay." He says again.

"...you remind me of someone I knew once." Eraser says distantly. "He was a great hero. I think you can be, too. Don't let me down, Shinso."

He begins to walk away before Hitoshi can respond.

"I won't!" He calls after him.

It echoes in the empty hall.

Hitoshi checks his phone and swears. He missed the bus, so he'll be walking home. He'll probably be late for dinner, but he feels like even the poor taste of microwaved leftovers can't ruin his good mood right now.