Chapter 9: Arms Race
It was like an arms race. Teachers would make tests more often and more difficult. At first it was once a week, a simple spelling test or math test. Then it grew to being every couple days, where pop quizzes seemed to just be aimed at 'catching' him cheating or doing whatever they thought he was doing.
Some tests were even done on the same day but those stopped quickly when they must've realised that it hurt the entire class more than just Hitoshi. Honestly it was impressive how much they wanted and downright desired to stop Hitoshi from thriving. But no matter how the effort they put in for that, they couldn't stop him.
And a lot of that was thanks to his 'tutor'. Izuku had helped Hitoshi a lot with keeping up with this ever evolving attempt to make him look dumb. The boy doesn't even think they know why they're doing it anymore besides maybe getting a one up over a six year old.
Over the next few months, it's just been fun for the two boys as they discussed what is likely on the next test that they'll be throwing at Hitoshi. Izuku also had fun learning ahead in case they decided to start using higher grade tests but given how that'd mean the rest of the class failed is something that was unlikely.
But of course there comes a point when you reach the end of your wits and they can't keep up with you anymore so they just abuse what little authority they have. Because they were aware that Hitoshi's 'tutor' was after school, they held him back. Gave him detention. Anything to stop their sessions.
It was getting frustrating for both of them. One because Hitoshi hated being in school longer than a minute past what's legally allowed and two, Izuku didn't like waiting on Hitoshi. It filled him with some anxiety not having anyone to talk to especially when you spend the next sixteen hours alone with your own thoughts.
Of course their studies were fine. It never really stopped because no matter what, the two were always going to spend every chance and every day they got together but that's exactly why things came to a head as they did.
Because once the targeted bullying began, the gloves were soon coming off.
- - -
It began with messages on his desk Hitoshi would find. Scrawled in about him being a villain and how that's all he will ever be. They hurt, yes, but it was manageable for him until they started getting more aggressive.
Mind Control Freak
Cheater
Evil Villain
No one cares about you
That last one hurt because it wasn't wrong. Izuku was the only one who cared and that's it. Not his foster parents. Not anyone in school. Not even his real mom and dad who gave him up when his quirk manifested. He was abandoned by everyone but at least there was Izuku and no one can take that from him.
Hitoshi didn't know if the teachers were encouraging it or the other kids just noticed they didn't stop them but they soon started getting more violent with Hitoshi. Bumps in the corridor turned into bashes. Prods transformed into shoves. And it all started to mount up more and more that Hitoshi could tell at some point, someone was going to throw a punch and he wouldn't be able to stop it.
He kept this all hidden from Izuku of course. He didn't want him to see him any differently. Not because his friend would leave him no, Hitoshi was sure Izuku wanted to be his friend but he didn't want to be pitied. Izuku was already doing so much with tutoring him, talking to him, buying him breakfast and sometimes even clothes and dinner. He was a good friend and Hitoshi didn't want to lose him because he wasn't a leech.
But he was kinda.
He couldn't help but feel like he was taking advantage of Izuku's kindness and even loneliness. He could tell just by how he's always there on time, never a second late that he also didn't have anyone. He was scared one day his friend would wake up and realise that he hasn't given him anything back but company, leaving him alone forever. Hitoshi didn't want that. He had nightmares about that.
'I don't want to be a burden on you…' Hitoshi thought whilst he and Ana watched some pigeons eat bread they threw.
The park had become a sacred spot for them so he and Izuku were almost always there talking about their (mostly Hitoshi's) day using JSL. It was truly the most important time of his day in his life and if he lost it he didn't know what to do.
Though he hasn't learned much about Izuku besides the fact that he loves talking about heroes, mostly their fighting styles and moves seemingly remembering them off by heart, he had come to see the faceless boy as a friend. One he didn't want to lose despite how scary the medium they used to talk with.
"What's wrong?" Ana signed, turning her head and body to face Hitoshi.
"I just… nothing." the boy said quietly.
Ana stared at him intently and Hitoshi could see the camera lens shift as if it's trying to read his face. Izuku seemed to have a hard time reading people from what he's found so the fact they've noticed something's off with him means he was really looking bad.
He tried to avoid mirrors but he could see the bags under his eyes had gotten worse and his hair, normally fluffy and floaty, was ruffled in a bad way when a kid knocked him to the ground in the playground. He kept his hands in his sleeves as much as possible to hide the scratches and cuts from being knocked around.
The doll stared him down some more before signing. "Do you want some ice cream? I have money left over from a delivery."
"Thanks." Hitoshi said back and the two walked to the convenience store.
Normally they'd just get a packaged lolly but Izuku got a whole tub of ice cream and gave it to the boy. It just made him feel worse because this is another thing he owes him for and it's starting to make him really feel like a villain.
The two sat down at the chairs outside the convenience store and Hitoshi ate the food graciously before putting the tub away in the recycling. He then watched the doll stare off into space whilst he built up some courage to speak up.
"Hey," he said nervously. "So, am I a good friend?"
Izuku seemed to be taken aback if by how quickly the doll's head turned to him was any inclination. It took a moment for response but then they signed.
"Yeah. Of course you are. You always listen to me talk about stuff I know you don't care about."
Of course that's all it takes to be a good friend in Izuku's books. He could tell the other kid didn't get out much and there was a good chance he was as much his only friend as Izuku was to him. Didn't make it any better with how much they gave and how little he gave back.
"Even when you've given me so much?" Hitoshi uttered, hoping that Izuku had already thought about this and he hadn't just given him the realisation that he was a leech.
"Only because you've given me so much back." the doll signed and Hitoshi just felt worse. He really hasn't.
"But…" he stuttered but then stopped.
He didn't want to say more and couldn't. He already was fine with this, at least for another week but a friendship like this never ended well where one person leaned on the other. Hitoshi knew what boundaries are and he knew that he had to be crossing them.
The two decided to go off on their own way after that. Izuku didn't ask why, which meant he could probably tell Hitoshi was tired and just wanted to be alone. Walking off back to a home that didn't want him there, the boy just felt heavy with how much was weighing on him and how much guilt sat on his shoulders.
- - -
Izuku watched Hitoshi walk off from the convenience store after saying goodbye and the boy wasn't sure what to say about that. He knew his best friend was feeling down about something but he couldn't tell what. It had to be something to do with school.
He knew the world bended to whoever had what quirk and Hitoshi was someone with a quirk most deemed to be 'villainous'. Whilst Izuku could argue for hours to these people on online forums about what makes a person 'villainous' he knew he couldn't change everyone.
Hitoshi's teachers for example, who seemed dead set on setting his friend up to fail only so they could be proven right when they say that he will become a villain. After all, who wouldn't turn bad when the whole world seems to work against you.
So Izuku decided to expand his skillset that day. He would learn how to get into those computers so he could find out what it was they were doing to Hitoshi behind closed doors and how he can help his friend get better. He knew he couldn't change the people, but he could certainly make them leave Hitoshi alone.
Over the next month, Izuku worked to learn about cracking through security systems and breaking down firewalls so he could get into Aldera's network and find out what it was they were doing.
He realised at some point he might be smarter than he previously thought but then again, when you have so much free time, the energy of a child and the determination to help your friend, you could do anything. And Izuku had the whole world's knowledge at his fingertips.
After managing to trick a receptionist into giving him her username and password over an email pretending to be their IT teacher, he started to root around their files and made many discoveries about the inner workings of this school.
One was that Hitoshi kept getting detentions for unproven and sometimes fabricated reasons. Izuku knew he was late to meet with them but the boy always said it was because he was doing some after school activity. As well as that, Izuku watched through cameras and could see just how his friend was treated. Between shoved, bumped and hurt all while teachers watched and sometimes even smirked at his plight.
It made Izuku go silent, his mind going quiet as it started to go somewhere dark watching the way his friend was treated. He didn't trust the police to help him if he sent this because why would they? If the teachers didn't care why should they?
That's when Izuku noticed something in the files about his friend. That he was in the foster care system and had been moved a bunch of times due to being 'problematic'. The boy's eyes got dull and his face near doll-like as he stared down the documents and thought many things.
Without anyone there to help Izuku, having no role model besides heroes he never truly met and a life spent constantly scared, the boy's mind began to drift to ways of getting back at these people. If they were going to shove his best friend, he was going to shove them back.
Except shoving is a normal response for a child maybe, but right now Izuku was not that. He had so much pent up fury and stress in his heart that even he isn't aware just how much it can get out of hand.
'No wonder his 'parents' aren't helping him. They just aren't.'
They didn't care about Hitoshi and were just there for the paycheck they got for keeping him. At least they weren't abusive like some of these people Izuku's seen on his file. Seeing that though made him so much angrier. He's gone through so much just like him and maybe that made him feel like this was personal.
Maybe some of that untapped fury was seeping into this 'shove' in his mind which is becoming more than.
The only question now was what he should do to stop them harassing him. He couldn't just threaten them, that'd just be proving them right. He could blackmail them but then with what? If all these adults didn't care about Hitoshi then surely none of them would so…
Then Izuku saw it. The addresses of every teacher who's employed at that school. A still smile crept up on Izuku's face and if someone was watching they'd swear Izuku looked like a creepy doll ready to curse you with something horrifying.
And maybe… that wasn't far off from the truth.
- - -
"Hitoshi…" Ana signed.
The boy turned his head to look up into the camera nestled away in the hoodie. He slurped up some of the convenience store ramen Izuku bought because his fosters had forgotten dinner again.
"Yeah." he coughed out.
"What do you consider scary?" the doll signed, the boy on the other end ready to write down his thoughts.
The boy seemed to think through his answer carefully before he answered with a careful smile. "Ana is pretty scary."
Izuku's face dropped in confusion. How is Ana scary? Izuku made her appear as human as possible so no one could bother her. Yes she had to hide behind a hood but that was only because she didn't blink and the camera embedded in her face would give her away. Maybe she's uncomfortable to look at but Izuku never meant for her to be scary.
He even used an online picture of a woman to model after once he remade her with better materials. Even though most of the plastic scraps laid over had to be stapled on he was pretty sure in the right angle she looked alright. Maybe even cute as Izuku intended.
"Ana isn't scary! She was made to look human!" the doll frantically signed back, showing the flustered person behind the camera.
Hitoshi just humphed and put his noodles down on the table where they sat. "She does not look normal. Either that or your definition of normal is weird."
'Ah' Izuku thought but Hitoshi continued.
"She moves like a creepy doll, her head turning always makes me jump when it's sudden and her face looks like someone strapped a melted halloween mask over a skull." he criticised, leaving Izuku stunned.
He stared at his book he had there with him where he intended to write down his notes and was just left blank faced.
"Why are you asking?" Hitoshi asked, looking a bit unsure due to Ana not moving for a few seconds longer than usual.
Izuku snapped out of his thoughts and answered immediately. "Because I wanted to make a scary doll."
"Please never show me that." the boy pleaded. "If Ana is 'normal' to you, I don't want to find out what looks scary in your world."
'Ah' the boy thought again, once more taken back by Hitoshi's brutal honesty.
"I didn't mean too! I didn't mean for Ana to be scary!" The doll signed again with a lot more emotion than before as they frantically moved their hands to convey what they wanted as fast as possible.
"Izuku, I had nightmares about you after we first met." Hitoshi admitted comfortably.
Ana began to sign frantically. "I didn't mean to do that, I was just trying to make a doll that was as human as possible for the purpose of making it easier to talk to people. I didn't realise that anyone would've seen her as creepy or anything like that though in hindsight maybe I should've had Ana reveal herself so I could test to see what people thought of her appearance and then worked more on that instead of just assuming…"
The dolls arms flung wildly as they projected Izuku's thoughts to the smiling boy in front of him, clearly finding this rambling funny but completely lost on what it is the other person is saying. Eventually the doll moves so fast, one of the thumbs fly off, causing a squirt of spinal fluid to come from the finger.
Ana dove to retrieve it and stick it back on with some duct tape she keeps on hand at all times for any on field repairs. Hitoshi just continued to watch the now much more emotive doll as they frantically stuffed the thumb back into place without accidentally putting it on backwards.
"Why do you want to scare people?" questioned Hitoshi, who shivered a bit when he saw the plastic thumb get twisted back on.
After securing said appendage back into place and testing it, Ana signed Izuku's response. "I just want to scare someone who's been annoying. I won't say who."
Hitoshi narrowed his eyes a little at that answer but seemed to accept it. "Well spiders are a pretty common fear. Oh! And I once heard someone say that 'atmosphere' is important too when scaring someone! Big things are scary and big teeth are scary too…"
The two boys spent that evening going through what scared them and what could be scary. Izuku made sure to write down everything Hitoshi said and even his recommendation to watch something called 'horror' movies, which were movies that had a lot of scary things in it.
That conversation about fear though made, not Izuku but Hitoshi realise that his friend seemed to be really scared of fire. He of course couldn't know why but it was noticeable enough that he kept a mental note of it.
The day ended with both kids parting and Izuku excitedly starting to draw crude pictures and designs of what would be the most scary things, to show those teachers what happens when you mess with his friend.
- - -
The next few days were a mix of researching horror movies, drawing up bad sketches of monsters and collecting the parts he needed to make the monster doll. It was honestly pretty fun for the boy as he seemed to absorb all the knowledge pretty well compared to most other things.
The horror movies especially were pretty fun, he went with a lot of the ones from the pre-quirk times when the world was more mundane. Even though they got a bit difficult to understand at times and other times there were scenes that felt were too inappropriate for him (not the blood and gore but the gratuitous sex), he found plenty of material to work with and be inspired by.
At least he assumed it was inspiring. Despite how Hitoshi said these movies are meant to be scary, none of them are, especially when compared to Hisashi. Maybe he's right about Izuku being weird.
Of course there were moments he did get scared. The second a movie started to talk about fire or a fire related death scene, he turned it off immediately. He couldn't see that again without his mind going back to Mama and how she looked and sounded when… she died.
It reminded him of how helpless he was and how he was so scared, always.
Anyway, after finding the right materials at the dump or buying them cheap online, he finally made his monster and he was really excited to show it to Hitoshi.
He laid it out on the floor of the warehouse, sprawled out so he could see it fully.
Its size was small, at least in motion but when sprawled out like a spider it was bigger than a double door and almost eight feet tall. It had a chunky torso and long spindly limbs that were made longer by Izuku attaching them to each other.
The limbs in question totaled to six. Two legs and four arms, and all were made out of bleached wood. Wooden mannequin limbs were harder to find and normally more expensive so Izuku had to look a lot for them but it works far better than the glossy black and white most department store mannequins were.
The arms were arranged as one would expect with two on the lower torso and two where you'd expect to find arms on a person but these arms were long, extended by the mentioned sticking an extra set on, allowing it to touch it's toes without bending. At the end of these elongated arms were sharpened knives acting like claws, both to scare and climb better.
The torso was misshapen driftwood from the beach, carved crudely with a knife to give it a more upside down pear shape. Izuku made sure the legs had enough room so the doll could do the splits for the sake of being flexible which he learned was something people found discomforting.
The whole thing was pasted with alabaster white paint and given a glossy finish to make the creature look almost like a pale fleshy corpse. One you'd find from a morgue. It also didn't help when some of the paint cracked making the thing appear like a broken, disfigured and diseased human but the best by far for Izuku was the head and face. Or rather heads.
From the stump of its neck, Izuku used two arms which split to hold two different heads. One was a mannequin wearing a mop head for hair and a styrofoam mask painted to look like a woman, beauty mark and all. That one had the camera inside, nestled behind the mask in its eye, a small red glow coming through the sockets of the face covering.
The other was borrowed from a thrown out playground rocking horse, hollowed out with the intent of fitting something inside. Not only that but its jaw was segmented so that it could be opened and after spending an alarming amount of money on it, a speaker set to play any sound effect he had on a soundboard.
As a final flair to it all, the creature wore a ratty green dress which covered the torso completely but left enough room to be shown if it moved fast enough. All in all Izuku was proud of his creation.
Of course the main problem now was waking it up and hoping it doesn't fall apart. There was also the issue of how he would control Ana and this… Behemoth. It took Izuku a while to be able to control Ana and the dish separately. Even then sometimes he'd struggle if Ana was doing something strenuous like riding a bike.
"It'd probably be best if we locked you somewhere while I control them." Izuku said to Ana, who was watching him go through the final touches.
Izuku sat down next to the chest of the doll, right next to where its heart would be if it were alive and stuck it with the tiny pricks on the tips of his fingers. He filled it with fluid and immediately got that sudden headache and weakness he felt when he lost a lot of spinal fluid.
By the end he almost passed out, needing Ana to be his legs and arms as she carried him back to see how his creation came out.
The spinal fluid acted fast, spreading through the driftwood and seeking out the limbs as the white duct tape covered joints inflated and pulled back to fit properly. Izuku saw the limbs and fingers twitch as he tested to see if it moved how he expected it to and observed as it stumbled to push itself up.
In preparation for this, Izuku looked up how six limbed, two headed and long limbed heroes moved and although no one had all three of those, he combined his studies of their fights and moves so he could better understand how to operate the doll.
It took the better part of thirty minutes of Izuku focusing solely on moving the doll to get up. At first he was worried the weight might've been too much but he realised the problem was that the heads brought it off balance. So he tried something he saw a two headed hero do and had them hunch forward together to try and balance the weight.
This seemed to work and, with the support of the lower arms acting like a second set of legs, the doll was upright.
Whilst Ana held Izuku, that same dark smile came over his otherwise adorable childish face. Once he had managed to properly work out how to move the Behemoth, someone was going to have a terrible, terrible night.
Chapter 10: Fright Night
Tajima was coming back from work at school as an elementary teacher for Aldera Elementary School. She was a bit tired, what with today being Friday and a whole week's exhaustion weighing on her. She also needed to get a head start on marking tests for her first year class.
She didn't like her job much. And she means job, there was no passion from the woman when it comes to teaching but did that really matter? She was getting paid so why would she give more than what she needed.
Though she didn't hate teaching much, she did have many moments where she thought it was worth going into this career. Ever since she was young, she was taught that quirks meant everything and hers was perfect for being a teacher, or at least that's what she's been told.
It's called Omniview and it makes it so she can see in all directions at any moment, making her literally have eyes in the back of her head. Not sure if a saying is enough to justify going into a career where you have to care for the lives you're shaping but that didn't matter to Tajima.
What did matter was making sure the right kids got the right education whilst the wrong kids with the wrong quirks didn't. At first she thought it was strange when she first heard it in the breakroom during her first day. Teachers were talking about a kid in their class that had a quirk that made them able to spit poison and made their head look snake-like.
They had said it was for the best that they slacked on her teaching as it wouldn't matter when it was clear someone who looked like a snake and spat poison was going to be a villain. Tajima, the naive fool, disagreed at the time but after the wisdom of the years had washed over her she realised this is the best course of action.
Anyone with these quirks, villainous quirks, were already destined to end up villains just like she was destined to end up a teacher.
And honestly it was easy to do it. A lot of villainous kids were ignored or sometimes abused by their parents so it was fine if they also got ignored by her. Made work easier with one less person to grade properly. Not only that but when these kids did become villains, they'd wouldn't have a good education so honestly she was doing the world a favour.
Even when she turned a blind eye constantly to the physical shoves and pushes other kids would give them. She's never, in her twenty years of teaching, been punished for this so it had to be the right thing.
But then the new year started and that brat entered her class. A purple haired punk who had the truly evil power of controlling people. At first she did what she always did, ignore him whilst she smiled to herself knowing she was doing good work but when she graded his spelling test and found out he got the highest score in the class, it spooked her.
She thought it had to be a fluke but after the second and third she realised that the boy was actually learning. Getting smarter and she couldn't let that happen. If the kid was competent intellectually then he was going to be dangerous in the future and she had to stop that.
So one day she tested him, just to see how smart he was. It was a math problem months from where they were and he managed to get it right. It was then that she knew he had to be cheating, he just had to and took him to the principal's office to talk with his parents about this.
Thankfully his foster parents were on the same page with her. But after they interrogated the little shit they found out he had a tutor that his fosters didn't even know about. And one his age too?
That's ridiculous, no. He had to be cheating. So she made the tests more frequent and at some point, more difficult until she was in trouble with some parents when their kid came home crying saying their test was too hard. Now the brat was affecting her job.
So she began with giving him detentions. Hoping that whoever this tutor was, if they were real, wouldn't get enough time with him to learn for the tests and then she could use it as proof he was cheating. But he just kept improving and it was driving her mad.
At times she'd even considered following the brat to see who his tutor was. She didn't know what she was going to do with that information as apparently they're homeschooled, but that was why it was only considered.
Anyway, that brat was a headache and Tajima was considering getting his fosters involved again or getting one of the other students in her class to hurt the villain in hopes he retaliates so she could finally suspend him and be proven right.
Right now though she just wanted to get home, finish the grading and have dinner. Probably watch some TV too. She parked in the driveway of her home and got out of the car and grabbed her stuff.
It was almost summer and despite it being almost seven the sun was out but was currently setting, only a few minutes from night. Tajima loved summer. It meant not having to work as much and she only had to prepare her lessons for the rest of the school year. The gate to her driveway was locked behind her as she made the trip up to her front door.
On the way she locked her car with a beep. And after she reached the door she heard another beep.
It sounded identical to her car unlocking so she turned to see if it was but it wasn't. The mirrors automatically pulled in when it was locked.
'Must've misheard it.' she waved away in her mind and stepped into the building. Once in she locked the door and threw her keys on the sofa.
She got to work on her grading. A lot of these kids had good strong quirks so naturally when they got things a little wrong she made sure to give them valuable feedback, complete with stickers. Others though, had to make do with her vague criticism.
Once done, she left the stack of pages on her dining room table and went to make dinner. She lived alone, not that she minded. This was a good neighbourhood so it wasn't as if she was in danger. She made some soba, putting the noodles into a slowly boiling pot when she heard something fall in the dining room.
The layout of her house made it so that you could see her dining room, living room and kitchen whilst standing in any of them. It was a very open plan where the 'rooms' were separated by a sofa and the kitchen counter. So when she turned, she could see the whole room and saw that her papers had fallen off the table and were scattered on the floor.
'Did I leave a window open?' Tajima thought, collecting her pages before taking a look around the house.
Checking every window on the first floor showed nothing but climbing the dark stairs to the next floor, she looked down a hallway at the top of the stairs to clearly see a window at the end of the hall. Wide open and curtains billowing a little with the wind coming in.
She doesn't recall opening that. Oh well, it's not as if someone could climb in; the climb was too high. She went to close the window but as she did, she noticed some scratches on the sill.
They were small but definitely weren't something old. It didn't look like it was a cat or bird but something larger and more sharper. Tajima took a single step back as she realised this and started to wonder carefully if this is something bad or she's overreacting.
Like seriously, who would want to break into her home? It wasn't as if she had anything majorly valuable that you can't find in other neighbourhoods. She got this cold tingling down her spine as she hastily made her way back to the stairs.
She slowly made it back down the steps and back to the kitchen. There was nothing suspicious on the way down until she looked in the pot she was still boiling. It was now bubbling as the soba became less rigid.
Inside the pot though was something new that immediately caught the teacher's eye. She walked over to it and looked in, noticing immediately what was wrong.
The water was red. Blood red.
Tajima immediately used her quirk to see her blindspots and that is when her blood, unlike the pot, ran ice cold. Towards her stairs, peeking out from around a corner was a small pale face with long grey ragged hair, staring directly at her. Above it, a little ways up was a metal head with sharp teeth and something glossy down its mangled thin throat.
She couldn't see anything more but it was enough to get the woman's heart above hundred beats. There was someone in her house. There was something in her house. It was watching her and if she did anything wrong she might die. Oh god, she's going to die.
Thankfully Tajima was a calm woman who pretended she couldn't see them and just turned the pot off. She knows her front door is locked, her back door too. The keys were probably still on the couch, but when she looked over with her quirk they were gone.
Her phone. It should be in the bag and it doesn't seem like it was touched so she turned around after psyching herself up, watching the thing hide away right when she would see it with her own eyes and immediately went for her bag. She fished out her phone and dialed the police, hoping they wouldn't attack and thinking she's still in the dark about it being there.
"This is one one zero, what is your emergency?" the responder asked in a calm voice.
"Hi Shiba, just wanted to let you know I got home safe." Tajima said into the phone. She saw this a few times on TV where you'd pretend to be having a different conversation on the phone during an emergency.
"Ma'am, this the emergency police phone line, is there a problem?" he said, clearly unsure but checking anyway.
"Oh, yes I know." she replied with a nod.
"Are you in danger, ma'am?" he questioned, already getting what's going on.
"Yes. That's true." she answered, a bit shakily.
"Are they there with you?" they asked.
"Correct."
"Can you leave the building?"
She shook her head no. "Probably not."
"Can you tell me where you live? Just the local area, any landmarks." he continued to ask, keeping a calm face that is helping Tajima a lot.
"Yeah. Aldera Elementary has been good. Summer holiday is on the 20th." referring to her block number.
The sounds of typing could be heard on the other end as, presumably, the responder was writing down her information. "Okay, ma'am. We need you to stay on the phone so we can track you. Don't hang up, a hero should be there shortly."
Relief washed over Tajima at those words. "Sure. I can talk for longe-."
The lights flicked off as the power was knocked out, throwing the room into near darkness, leaving the teacher to enter into a wide blown panic. She knew the circuit breaker was in the basement though, so she ran for the stairs and sprinted up them. If that thing was in the basement, she could get upstairs faster than it can reach her.
She almost slipped on the floor as she ran, heart beating out of her chest as a blurry 'hello' came through the phone. She thought maybe she'd make it until something happened that made her scream.
Halfway up the steps a harsh grasp on her ankle caused her to fall forward with a yelp. A stinging stab could be felt as she used her Omniview to see the pale head staring at her around a corner and a disgustingly long arm grasping her leg entirely. She had dropped her phone, the panicked operator on the other end but she didn't have time to pick it up.
With a whelping kick, she swung into an elbow in the long arm, causing it to let go long enough for her to scurry upstairs, using her hands and feet. There, in the now dark corridor due to nightfall, she entered a full feral sprint as she heard rapid footsteps just behind her of what had to be several limbs.
She reached the bathroom, opening the door and slamming it closed, locking and barricading it with a cabinet before climbing into the bathtub. Her heart threatened to break free from her chest and her mind was imagining a will she can't write as she accepted she just might die.
She didn't want to die. She still had so many things to do. She also wanted to say goodbye to her mom, dad and even her annoying brother. But she can't and she's brought to tears with how much she doesn't want her life to end in what had to be a brutal and horrific way.
She began to plead to whatever god was listening to save her because she can't see any way this night won't end with her showing up in the news next day.
A few dozen shaky seconds of torturous silence went by but for Tajima it felt like eternity. There were no windows in the bathroom so she was stuck, hoping that there really was a hero on the way. Just when she thought about everything she wanted to do if she did live, a man's voice called out.
"Hello?! Is anyone here?! This is pro hero Eraserhead!" he yelled.
Tajima's heart beated quicker as she climbed out of the tub and shrieked out. "Yes! Up here in the bathroom!"
Frantic footsteps were heard climbing up the steps to her door where the man's voice was closer. He tried to open it but it was still locked so Tajima went to unlock it for him.
- - -
Shouta had just started his work for the night and was jumping between buildings, patrolling. He had a house move happening soon so he had been trying to get earlier nights so he wasn't a complete wreck when the day finally came. Hizashi and him were moving to an actual house instead of an apartment and they've finally found a good enough place thanks to Nemuri, a dear friend he's known all the way back in middle school.
Shouta was involved in the house hunting at the start but was kicked out by the other two when he picked out a single bedroom, no garden, single floored house. It wasn't as if he didn't want a proper home, it's just that he didn't see the reason to have any of those extra things if they weren't going to use them.
They weren't planning to have children anytime soon, he thinks.
But he's a victim. That blond cockatoo has his talons deep into Shouta and he couldn't back out now, not that he would ever want to. So when his husband whined about them needing at least something big enough so that Nemuri and Tensei could stay over a night, he relented and got a place with two guest rooms.
First, though, he needed to fix his sleep schedule, at least for moving day. Long enough to not want to crawl into a sleeping bag mid packing to have a power nap or get tired halfway setting up the bed and needing to take a few dozen coffee breaks. That's why he's having his patrols earlier and earlier so his nights end sooner and sooner.
Speaking of, he had just gotten a call about a potential break in happening not too far from where he was. Apparently the woman was pretending to be phoning someone else whilst on the line. The call dropped though so the chances that he's walking onto a murder, a kidnapping or a hostage situation was quite high.
He didn't like to think that but so far in his career he's seen enough to know to prepare yourself for the worse.
Reaching the residence, the first thing Shouta noticed was that the front door was wide open. Dreading the worst, he charged in, scanning around alert for anyone. There were papers scattered on the floor and a pot of boiled soba in the kitchen. He also noticed at the foot of the steps was a phone that was probably what she called with.
Shouta didn't want to yell in case it gave away his position but time was of the essence clearly and he couldn't wait. "Hello?! Is anyone here?! This is pro hero Eraserhead!" he shouted.
He heard a sound from upstairs and immediately ran up, clutching his capture weapon to strike out at any culprit should they attack. He saw the bathroom door was closed and ran up, reaching to open the door.
- - -
The man on the other end of the door tried to open it again so Tajima told him to wait as she got up out of the tub.
She was going to be fine! She was safe! She didn't know what that thing was but with a pro hero here now, they've probably run off. Why did they even attack in the first place she did not know but then again how could she know what goes on in the mind of a villain? As she turned the lock on the door and opened it, she prepared herself to see a man on the other end but what she got…
…Was a pale face.
It had lipstick on and eyeliner but had no eyes and its expression was lifeless. The raggedy hair that hung off its unseen scalp looked grey and dirty as the head twisted like a dog does when curious. Its long thin neck was pale too and looked almost porcelain with how it glistened.
It drew its head back and she could see the whole thing there, crouched in her small hallway, as this huge monster loomed over her. It had two heads balanced on freakishly long pale necks. One was the pale face and the other was a fucked up horses head made of metal, covered in grime and rust.
It wore a sickly green dress that was torn at the edges and stretched to accommodate the ugly long torso it had that seemed misshapen and inhuman. Its limbs were the same bone pale and were thin with small cracks through them that made the creature look dollish. The arms were disproportionately longer than normal and bore sharp claws on its fingers, scratching the walls around it as it hunkered down to fit in the hallway.
Tajima's mouth opened to scream but an arm reached to grab her throat and lift her up on her tiptoes. She grabbed at the arms, scrambling as she desperately sought escape but the grasp of this thing was iron and her mind started to accept that she was going to die here.
The sharp claws came dangerously close to her face as a quiet childish voice sang out of the horse's head.
" Mistreat any child again and the bogeyman will come back to hurt you~ "
And the horse's head let out a guttural high pitched screech right in the teacher's face, causing her eyes to widen, her heart to scream and her actual ones to die in her throat.
Everything went black as she fainted.
- - -
Shouta broke down the door and rushed in to see a woman on the floor, unconscious and foaming at the mouth. He urgently knelt down next to her and looked the victim over, making sure she was alright and didn't choke on her own saliva.
She was mostly unharmed it seemed besides the cuts on her neck and leg where something must have grabbed her if the accompanying bruise was anything to go by.
Soon, sirens rang out as the police quickly rushed into the building too, Shouta calling to them. Paramedics checked the woman and confirmed she had just fainted and wasn't in any physical danger. The pro hero let out a sigh of relief at that and helped the police search the building.
They didn't find anything. Their perpetrator was already gone, having accomplished whatever they were doing.
But little did the pro hero know then that this wasn't the only call that night.
Over the course of eight hours, several break ins were reported at different addresses. All of them were adults who could only scream when their attacker entered their home and now were either unconscious or were hiding away in bathrooms and locked bedrooms, hyperventilating, panicking about some monster.
In total there were twelve victims. Nine of them were unconscious from stress and three of them looked like they just saw a horror movie that shook them to the core. The worst thing was they couldn't keep up. No matter how fast they responded, the 'monster' was always gone by the time he, or any other hero, got there.
They were truly a boogeyman and sometimes some calls were only phoned in because a neighbour heard an ear piercing screech coming from the 'monster'. Shouta didn't know what the link between these people were yet but he did know there had to be a link given the message the thing gave to each of them.
By morning, the media had caught news of it and were dubbing this night of fear and terror 'Fright Night' and the named monster who did this?
The Behemoth.
Chapter 11: Birthday That Was
Izuku trembled with excitement watching the faces of the people who've hurt Hitoshi turn in horror. He didn't want to hurt any of them. He didn't want to become an actual monster, just enough of one that everytime they hurt, not just Hitoshi, but any child, the boogeyman would come knocking again.
He hadn't told Hitoshi yet what he had done, nor did he know whether or not he should. He knows he's broken a lot of laws. Quirk usage in public, trespassing on private property and of course the hacking he did to get all of their information in the first place. His friend wanted to be a hero so he probably would turn Izuku in.
Which is also why he'll probably never reveal himself to him, at least not fully. He knows he has to leave the warehouse eventually. Well actually, that's still up to debate but yeah there may come a time where he has to go and he'll have to find somewhere else to hide.
Izuku watched from his bedroom as the monster came back, using the skylight to climb in thanks to its claws. It's mostly alright. Some scratches and dirt, but mostly alright. The biggest incidents were when the monster had to leave whilst the person was still conscious which felt awkward for the monster but to the person was proof that they were being spared.
He knows the police and even some heroes showed up at the places he visited. Tajima's house having been the closest. When he pretended to be Eraserhead, he never expected the real one to appear downstairs.
Having to scramble out the upstairs hallway window to get away left his heart beating even though he wasn't even there. Thankfully he was more focused on the bathroom so the monster managed to slip away.
On the monster though, Izuku was starting to get tired of calling it 'the monster'. He wasn't sure what name to give yet but the 'boogeyman' felt too long for a name. From what he researched, monster names were always quick and snappy. Thankfully, the news gave him a pretty good name thanks to a vividly accurate description of the monster.
Behemoth.
Because of the hulking form, cracked skin and brutal methods of instilling fear that was what the media decided to call it, on top of that the many witness reports that described it as such. It was certainly more distinct and unique than the boogeyman and it fit the monster perfectly.
Anyway, enough on that and more on the news, it seemed that Hitoshi's entire year will have to close for a few days because of it and get substitute teachers until all of the actual teachers recovered from the night. Izuku just hopes that they'll be better than the others or at least heed the warning of the Behemoth.
His message that he sent through Behemoth was also being plastered in a lot of local news sources. It led to a lot of speculation online about what the message meant and it didn't take long for it to all link back to Aldera.
Honestly Izuku didn't mean for it to get this much attention but it seems that people enjoy a good mystery. He just hopes it doesn't get traced back to him, or worse, hurts Hitoshi in any way. He knew it was important to stay hidden but if his friend was ever in danger… wait.
Would he actually reveal himself to help Hitoshi?
He's known him for a few months, yes, but is that worth risking exposure and Hisashi finding him? He has built a friendship he doesn't think he even had with Kacchan from before but is it enough to risk getting burned to death like Mama over?
No. He really doesn't think so.
In that case why is he risking everything for him? What purpose does it serve other than helping him and solely him? Maybe it's more than helping him. Maybe Izuku is so lonely that he really is turning into a monster and maybe he actually enjoyed those terrified faces in more ways than just justice.
The more he thinks like that though the more scared he becomes of himself so he buried it down and hoped it just isn't true and he's just over thinking things.
Now then, where was he? Yes. Showing Hitoshi Behemoth. It was certainly something he could do but now that he's thought it through, ignorance is bliss. Having Hitoshi in the dark not only protects Izuku but him if he ever gets caught by the police.
With those thoughts away, he can move onto the more important things. Things related to the last word of that last paragraph. He almost had a fight with the heroes and police.
Again, Tajima was the closest out of all of them. He didn't realise how well Omniview worked, otherwise he would've gotten her without the police getting involved but still he failed in that. Behemoth was hard to pilot, especially stealthy. That's probably a design flaw he should fix but for now, he should focus on finding out what they think of Behemoth.
Izuku's already got the police's attention, so what's the problem with a little bit of infiltration into their network?
- - -
Shouta had just entered Tsukauchi's office where the man was looking through some case notes. They were most likely on the 'Behemoth' as it had been dubbed. There were still some classification issues on whether they should be classified as a villain or not but that will come to light after they've investigated why these attacks happened.
"Aizawa, did you see the summary of the interviews with the victims of the 'Behemoth' case?" he asked, turning his head up from the documents.
He looked tired. Well both of them are. A long night of running from house to house, trying to calm down panicking people all the while attempting to catch up to whatever was doing this made what should've been a short night long and arduous. Even now, a day after all has been said and done he was still tired.
"Yeah, most of it. Do we have someone making a sketch of this thing?" he questioned.
"Yes, we're hoping that it'll give us any clues on what attacked." Tsukauchi answered, placing his files on his desk and taking a seat. Shouta sat across from him.
"What about the teachers? Any reason why Aldera might be involved?" the pro hero inquired. There was an undeniable fact that all of the victims were adults who worked in the teaching staff at Aldera Elementary. How that matters was yet to be figured out.
The detective took a drink of coffee and grabbed one of the documents on his desk and showed it to him. "We aren't sure of an exact link but most likely it's connected to the students in some way."
"Maybe it is a student?" Shouta theorised.
"Maybe. But given how much they knew about the victims in terms of their address, it could also be a parent." Tsukauchi countered, showing a list of parents for several classes run by the teachers involved. "I can't see a kid having the intelligence or access to pull this off."
They all had a different array of responsibilities, some teaching mostly math, others japanese. It all seemed to point towards there being someone who, or maybe their child, have all of these teachers teaching them. But try as he might to solve this, there was still an elephant in the room that needed to be addressed.
"Have we figured out what the message meant?" he asked the detective, who seemed to have been thinking the same.
"I might. When I was collecting these documents at the school, I noticed that the principal was looking stressed. More than he should be. I asked him about it and he said that he was worried about who was going to replace the teachers." Tsukauchi recalled. "That came back as a lie."
"So he might have an idea on why they were targeted." Shouta stated, turning an eyebrow up at that.
"And he's scared he might be next." Tsukauchi assumed partially.
It was certainly likely that the 'Behemoth' would attack again. If not to finish it's message but because of the fame they've gotten. The pro hero has seen many people like that. They start off doing the right thing but once they've got an actual name and fame, they stray fast.
People are still up in the air about what exactly this 'monster' is but that's likely to come from what they find here in their investigation. "Maybe we should ask some students." Shouta suggested.
It might be a bit difficult interrogating children, especially elementary schoolers, but if there is something wrong with the staff at Aldera, then they're the best lead. Especially seeing as it's them who are affected if the monster's message had any truth.
"That'll be difficult." Tsukauchi predictably said. "We wouldn't be able to have them sit down without their parents."
"Why would that be a problem?" Shouta asked, not completely sure why.
"We don't know what is being hidden from us. For all we know, the children might be hushed or scared. There's a lot of unknown here." Tsukauchi explained. "We can do them, just maybe it might not be enough. We also have a long list to go through."
"You have a long list to go through." the hero corrected.
"Yes." the detective sighed, knowing full well that Shouta was not suited for interpersonal work like interviews.
The scruffy faced man let a small amused huff at that. They really didn't have much to go on unless they call in heroes more suited for investigation such as Seer or dare he say that devil in rats skin. But right now they should do the interviews first.
"I'll keep an eye on the principal. In case his fears are true and he is a target for the 'Behemoth'." Shouta said, earning a nod of approval from the detective as they finished their chat.
He left the room and back out into the city, making sure to grab the information he needed for the new patrol. He knows Tsukauchi will make sure to inform the principal so there was no misunderstanding but then he's sure that if the faculty of Aldera is doing wrong, he might think something else.
'This is going to be a long few days.' Shouta groaned in his mind.
- - -
Izuku was waiting at the park for Hitoshi to arrive back from his first day at school with the substitutes. They had talked a lot between them, mostly making speculations about what they'll be like. Izuku did some prodding around and from what he could see, it seemed most of them were good eggs. Then again, Aldera's are 'good eggs' on paper so they might be rotten.
At the park, Ana waited patiently whilst Izuku went online to read more about the public's thoughts on Behemoth. It seems it's mostly negative, at least in the local news, but there's a more split opinion on forums. It all comes down to what the teachers had done to deserve being attacked and whilst Izuku would love to show them, the principal had deleted all footage from the school the day after of any signs of their abuse.
'Note to self. Always copy data, even if it looks like no one will touch it.' Izuku noted to himself.
Speaking of the slimy man, Izuku has been fighting on whether or not he should go after him too. He's the principal of the entire elementary school so surely he would be just as evil as the rest of them. Not just to the elementary school but all of them. The middle school didn't look any better, same for the high school.
Of course Izuku can't scare all of them. The school would close down then, and Hitoshi would have to go somewhere else and Izuku didn't want to have to find him again. Neither of them had phones but Izuku was working on that.
Recently he's been trying to look into more lucrative lines of work but with very little of them needing to see the face of the one they're hiring, he's been stuck.
'Hopefully I'll find something soon.' the boy wished.
It was then he noticed his friend coming up to him at the park and sitting down. He seemed alright, at least at an initial glance.
"So…" Ana signed, "...how were the new teachers?"
"They were good!" he said, a smile on his face as he took out his work for today.
"Great." Ana signed back enthusiastically.
"Yeah. My homeroom teacher didn't seem to care about my quirk. They even told Tsubasa off when he pushed me!" the boy said excitedly.
Izuku smiled as he saw his friends smile, feeling like that night of torment was worth it. At least for the moment. He doesn't know if the teachers will turn once things get more comfortable but he can only hope that they are as good as the people they are in their files.
The two spent their time continuing their studies and Izuku tutoring Hitoshi. Halfway through it though, the boy seemed to have a burning question on his tongue. He noticed it when he caught Hitoshi looking at Ana longer than he should with his mouth open. He thought maybe he needed to sneeze but after the third time it was clear he was trying to say something.
"What's wrong?" Ana signed, stopping the boy from continuing his work.
"N-nothing. Why?" he stuttered.
The doll tilted its head slightly. "You want to say something to me."
Hitoshi set down his pencil and looked up at the doll. Right into the glare under the hood that the lens was and spoke with clear reservation. "Am I a bad friend?"
What? Why does Hitoshi think that? He's a great friend. He keeps Izuku company, makes him laugh and is pretty much the only person he cares about right now.
Ana shook her head a few times and signed hurriedly. "No! Why would you say that! You're my best friend!"
The boy seemed to be a bit flustered at that but it wasn't clear why to Izuku. "It's just… You do so much for me and I don't do a lot in return."
"But… you do do a lot." Izuku argued with his voice then with Ana.
"Compared to how much you've fed me, helped me learn and been the only person nice enough to not see my quirk first?" he countered, his eyes getting a bit wet.
Izuku sat up on his chair and thought through how much he has done for Hitoshi. He really has done far more than he ever intended to do when he first set out to talk to someone. Was Hitoshi really feeling this bad?
"It's fine, Hitoshi. I like helping you and you keep me company." Ana signed.
"But I can't help you. Or if you even need help. I don't know what I could do for you so I don't feel bad." the boy rambled, tears starting to spill as he looked down.
"Hitoshi…" Izuku whispered.
"I know you don't need help. But I want to do something so I can feel like your friend and not just a leech. I don't like owing you so much." he confessed.
Ana reached out and held the boy tightly in a hug. It was a moment like this that Izuku really wanted to be there in person, out of this warehouse, out of his comfort zone. He never realised how much Hitoshi felt a burden, even though he's not.
Izuku thought through some things that Hitoshi could do that Izuku can't and honestly there wasn't a lot. Except… maybe.
Ana pulled away from Hitoshi to free her arms and lifted the boy's head to see what she was signing. "My birthday. It's coming up in a couple weeks. July fifteenth. I didn't get to celebrate it last year for… reasons. I'd love to have you celebrate it with me."
The boy looked up at the camera and sniffled. "You mean, in person?"
Izuku went silent. So far he's spent over a year hiding away. Scared to come out into the open. Scared of Hisashi finding him. Maybe that fear has gotten weaker but a new one has taken its place. People. Izuku was scared of people. Whenever he'd hear someone pass by the warehouse, near the hole in the wall, he'd freeze up. Terrified of them finding his safe place.
Maybe… maybe he could let Hitoshi in. Or maybe that would just get him hurt. He'd know where Izuku was and if Hisashi found that information out, he could hurt Hitoshi. This is his problem to deal with and he doesn't want his friend to ever get hurt because of him.
"No." she signed, and for a moment Hitoshi looked down. "But… maybe… I can call?"
Izuku had Behemoth's mic. He could probably buy a cheap speaker and have Ana carry it. Maybe then they could finally talk using words. That's when an idea went through the boy's mind and he came to a decision.
"Yeah. I can call." Izuku affirmed.
That seemed to make a smile crawl on his friend's face as he pushed away the unshed tears. "I can't wait to find you a gift."
- - -
Hitoshi had been spending the last few days trying to come up with a gift for Izuku. He knew he wanted a card and had made it in arts and crafts. It was a pretty green one, where it said happy seventh birthday to him. He didn't just want that though. He wanted to get Izuku a proper gift. One he'd get himself without needing Izuku's or anyone's help.
But what exactly? Hitoshi knew that Izuku had some liking for dolls, that much was obvious from their conversations but he checked how much dolls cost and well, he's a kid. A neglected one so of course he could never match those price tags with that financial profile.
Then he thought about what else Izuku liked. He knew he loved katsudon, his favourite colour was green, he likes watching hero fights and he enjoyed horror movies. All of that was wildly different and not a lot of overlap, at least for two of those. And again, without money, he couldn't get what he wanted even if he managed to find something that overlapped all of that.
'What about art?' Hitoshi thought.
While Ana was a terrifying freak, Izuku seemed really proud of her. Maybe Hitoshi could get some paints and he could make something nicer looking. Not saying Ana was bad just that she was a horrifying sight without her hood.
Hitoshi was really not looking forward to seeing this scary doll.
Izuku told him about it when he was asking questions about what was scary. Hitoshi doesn't want to know what monster his friend would make but if Izuku could make something as weird and as uncanny as Ana, doing something actually scary was going to be pure nightmare fuel.
Now that he thought about it more, paint really is a good gift for Izuku. A paint set would be nice enough and maybe doable. That's a maybe but he doubts there's going to be dumpsters full of complete paint sets. At least he'd try.
And that was how things went during the weekend before Izuku's birthday. He checked mostly the mall for any paints that were looking to be thrown out but couldn't find anything that he'd like.
The boy let out a sigh as he looked in through the storefront window at a particular set of paints that included brushes too. He didn't want to admit defeat but it looks like he'll have to. He can't waste anymore time trying to find a gift when it's so close to the day. Maybe he could get a cake? Izuku wouldn't be able to eat it there but he could take it home, wherever that was.
"Hey, little listener. Why so glum?" a cheery voice asked.
Hitoshi turned to see a tall lean man wearing black jeans and a yellow shirt. He had long blond hair tied up in a bun and seemed to be about to head into the store that the boy was looking at.
He didn't know what to say at first, a bit unsure why this guy asked him that but he was tired out from walking all day so he just answered.
"I'm trying to find a gift for my friend." he said, turning back to look at the paint set. "It's his birthday soon."
"Totally cool! Does he like to paint?" the man asked.
"I don't know. I was going to get a doll instead but the prices were too much for me." he glummed.
The man looked at the paint set before deciding to continue. "How much do you have?"
"Nothing." Hitoshi mused.
The man looked at him shocked in a bit too dramatic of a way. "Doesn't your parents give you an allowance?"
"No… my foster parents don't really care about me." he replied sadly. "I don't think they even know I'm here."
Something in the man's heart seemed to break as he heard that but didn't let it show. "Does your friend mean a lot to you?"
"They're my only one. And they help me with my schoolwork and even buy food for me when I don't get breakfast."
He swore he heard a sniffle come from the man but didn't see it well because of his glasses. The man just smiled at him. "How about we make a deal?"
"What deal?" Hitoshi questioned shuffling back a little.
"I buy those paints for you to give to your friend and you can pay me back by helping me with my shopping today and next week on the same day. How does that sound?" he proposed.
It didn't sound like a bad deal, as long as he didn't need to get into any cars. He knows that you should never get into a car with a stranger so as long as he doesn't do that, he won't get in trouble. This man also seemed to be alright. He didn't look like someone bad but then again he could just be that way.
Even if something bad were to happen the mall was populated enough and on top of all that, all he had to do was ask 'where are we going?' and he could get away with his quirk. Honestly there weren't any red flags right now and even if there were, it wasn't as if he couldn't handle himself.
Hitoshi looked at the paints once more, imagining what he imagined was Izuku's voice, thanking him for the gift and he pushed aside his fears and turned to the man.
"Deal." he said confidently and pointed his hand up to the man to shake.
The blond chuckled to himself a bit as he took it. "Deal, little listener. By the way, my name's Yamada Hizashi, but you can call me Hizashi."
"Shinsou Hitoshi." he replied back.
Hizashi, as agreed, went into the store and bought the set. Packaging it and making sure Hitoshi could handle it. Thankfully it came in a little case with a handle so it was easy to move.
And on Hitoshi's end of the bargain, he helped Hizashi with his shopping that day and would help next week and the week after that. Even though it was just a lot of running around and carrying bags, Hitoshi felt he was being useful and wasn't just taking advantage of someone's kindness like he does with Izuku.
Of course he was alert the entire time. He still didn't know what his man's deal was. No one should be this chipper in public, it must be some kind of quirk he has. But he seemed alright and never did anything Hitoshi would deem weird besides the always happy and maybe a little too loud part.
They parted ways and Hitoshi went home not feeling like he was trading one debt with another. He doesn't want to owe anything to anyone. He especially didn't want anyone to worry about him, especially Izuku.
That's why when the boy told him his birthday was a couple weeks away, he failed to mention that it was actually his birthday today, that day.