Wattpad keeps unpublishing this chapter for some reason, I'm sorry
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"Hi, I'm Hitoshi" He crouches down, keeping his distance so he doesn't make her uncomfortable.

The girl doesn't reply. She just stares at him wearily, moving further behind Aizawa's leg.

"It's good to see ya, Eri!" Yamada half yells as he waves walking over, and Hitoshi sees her relax slightly when she looks up at him. So that's why they kept going to the hospital? Why didn't they bring Hitoshi too?

"Dinner is ready" He grins and all a back to the table. Hitoshi follows and sits down watching Eri as she stays close to Aizawa. She sits down in the chair beside him, and slowly starts to eat. It's clear that she hasn't had good food in a while, since her eyes light up once she takes a bite. For that, Hitoshi is even more grateful that they didn't burn anything.

Dinner is mostly silent, and afterwards Eri yawns looking tired. Aizawa shows her to her new bedroom, the room that Hitoshi had completely missed when he first arrived here, and stays there until she falls asleep.

Once finally asleep, Aizawa comes back out her room and sits beside Hitoshi on the couch sighing.

"She's very timid, isn't she?" Hitoshi says quietly.

"She's been through a lot, Hitoshi. Chisaki would use her blood for his project, then dissemble and reassemble her when her body reached its limit. He told her that she was cursed because of her quirk, because when it first manifested she made her dad disappear" He sighs, "just be patient with her and she'll soon grow to like you"

"Is abused kids who hate their quirks your type?" Hitoshi half jokes.

"A hero saves people. There was no way I was letting you go back to your parents once I found you, and there was no way that I could let you go into foster care. I was asked to take care of Eri, and she trusts me. Letting her go somewhere else after she's formed a relationship with us isn't a good idea, just like you. Don't look at me like that, I can tell you get uncomfortable around new people are you were comfortable, and happy, with us here"

Hitoshi looks at his lap, "You're a good dad" Aizawa goes quiet staring forward at the wall, his ears going a light shade of pink.

"Uh! I mean!" He tries to correct himself blushing, but he watches the hero smile softly.

"Thank you"

He still finds it strange to see Aizawa's genuine smile, instead of an awkward totoro-like one, but it's surprisingly nice. "I know Eri will love you once she warms up. You know what it's like don't you?"

He nods, "I find it hard to trust people, but surprisingly it's because of my peers and not my parents. Eri doesn't trust people because she only had a limited amount of people around her, who all treated her badly. Right?"

"Something like that, yes" Aizawa sighs, "That reminds me. You really need to try and make friends"

He doesn't reply.

Hitoshi spent the night wondering how he can he can get Eri to trust him. He knows he should take a gentle and patient approach, and try not to rush anything. She needs to take her time. He thinks back to what Aizawa told him last night, and wonders if he can help her get over her quirk fear.

Hitoshi walks out of his room, to find Eri sitting on the floor playing with the cats, while Aizawa sleeps on the couch and Yamada sings in the shower. He sighs gently, and walks over to Eri.

"Good morning, Eri" the girl jumps with surprise and shuffles back slightly. He sighs.

"You don't have to tell me what your's is, but I understand that you were told by someone that your quirk was bad" Eri flinches and grips the skirt of her dress looking down, "People said that about me too. My quirk is brainwashing. Everyone thought I was evil because of it, and treated me like I was a villain"

Eri looks up at him.

"But your quirk is what you make of it. There's no such thing as a good or evil quirk, it's how you use it. And it doesn't define who you are. You're not a bad person Eri"

Her eyes begin to water as she stares at him in shock, becoming less tense. "Re-really...?"

He nods smiling, "Whatever he said to you, it was a lie. I know you're a good person"

"You really think so? I made my daddy disappear..."

"You're a good person. We all make mistakes when our quirk first forms. I accidentally brainwashed my mum and couldn't stop it, until my dad knocked her out of it. You didn't mean to use your quirk on him, it just happens"

Eri moves forward cautiously, but he can tell she more comfortable than before. She hesitates, before finally saying "My quirk is rewind...I can rewind things back, even to their original state"

"That's a cool quirk. You could save a lot of people with it"

That breaks the dam. She cries and Hitoshi slowly moves forward, pulling her into a hug. She doesn't resist or try to get away, instead relaxing into his embrace as she cries.

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Hitoshi spends the next few days bonding with Eri, to make sure that she's fully comfortable around him, and because he grew attached to her almost immediately. He can tell that what she went through was awful, through what Aizawa told him, the scars across her arms and legs, and the fact that she couldn't smile.

Determined to bring her smile back, Hitoshi spends time with her as soon as they get home from school.

One day, he decides to take his old cat blanket, and help her make a den with it. Eri steals all the pillows and blankets from the rooms, and Hitoshi throws his blanket over four chairs to make the den. They use the rest of the  pillows and blankets to make a bed, or "nest", and hide inside from the adults.

Yamada finds them, and sits at the entrance asking if he can join. Eri pokes her head out, and makes eye contact while dragging Jelly in and says no. Hitoshi holds back a laugh, holding onto Patch. She turns to him and giggles, then curls up in the corner with the cat. He peeks under the blanket to see if Yamada has gone, and instead gets headbutted by Yowl.

Unfortunately, she never really smiled with her mouth, but her eyes light up whenever she's happy, and she laughs. When she does try to smile, it looks strained and awkward, often looking similar to Aizawa's at times. They know it will take time, but knowing such a young child can't express something so simple hurt them all.
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The positive side of his medication is that he's getting enough sleep now. The downside is the nightmares.

He arrives at school one day after a particularly awful nightmare, which was a repressed memory that he had pushed right back into the dark depths of his mind. It was something he never wanted to experience again, yet last night it felt like he back there.

It was enough to make Hitoshi hesitant about taking his medication again. What if other memories manage to push their way back into his mind? If the memories that he still has are traumatic, what darkness lurks in other repressed memories?

Exhausted, he enters the classroom which buzzes with excitement. Their homeroom teacher has written "Cultural festival ideas" on the chalkboard, and everyone is loudly talking about what they could do. Their class rep, Haku, stands at the front trying to get everyone's attention. Hitoshi has to check the time to make sure he isn't late, before sitting down at his desk. Others stay standing.

"What ideas do we have then?"

"Maid cafe!"

"Hero quiz"

"Cosplay event"

"Zoo"

"Karaoke!"

"Cat cafe!"

"Bake off!"

"What about you, Shinsou?"

He frowns. Haku knows he hates this kind of attention, but it's not like he can ignore him.

"What about a haunted house?" He asks quietly.

That's when someone suddenly grabs his shoulders from behind, "That's a great idea!"

Hitoshi's heart suddenly thinks it's running a marathon. He plays it off, but his stomach slowly starts to twist uncomfortably, lungs feeling small. He takes deep, steady breaths, but the feeling only grows. His triggers aren't really consistent; what triggers him today could be fine tomorrow. Only, considering his nightmare, someone suddenly grabbing him probably isn't the best idea.

"Shinsou? Are you alright?" Haku asks, and he nods slowly. A few people come over to make sure he's ok, and although he appreciate the concern, he begins to feel cornered which makes everything worse. His stomach drops as dad's voice pushes it's way back into his mind.

He presses his head against his desk trembling, holding his hands to his ears desperately trying to ground himself. His chest tightens more as an overwhelming wave of nausea takes over, his mouth slowly becoming dryer and dryer as he struggles to breath. But with every breath, his lungs burn as they struggle to take any in. They're quickly reduced to small wheezes. His eyes sting, but he refuses to cry in the middle of class. He's already embarrassed about having an attack in front of everyone, and making it way too obvious that he's not ok.

The teacher walks over, and crouches in front of his desk, "Shinsou? Are you ok?"

No reply.

"Please step outside and calm down. Come back when you're ready."

Hitoshi quickly throws his bag over his shoulder, before walking out the class. All eyes are on him as he hugs himself, gripping onto his blazer as if it will hold him together, staring at the floor. Once out of the room, Hitoshi runs to the toilets and locks himself in a stall before letting it all out. He let's out a choked sob, balling his hands in his hair and tugging, try anything to calm himself down. Hot tears run down his face as he cries.

He scratches at his neck, pulls at his hair and tries to think of something to calm him down but nothing works. Even counting isn't helping him anymore.

"Stop it. Stop it" He sobs, and slams his head back against the door. Something to ground himself. "Stop being so weak" Anything at all. "He can't hurt you anymore"

He sobs desperately, curling up into a tighter ball and gives up trying. The attack will eventually go away, even if he can't find a way to ease the anxiety. He rocks himself. He is definitely not having a good day.

Hitoshi sits in the stall for what feels like hours, before the bell for the next lesson goes off. He had managed to calm down a while ago, but he stayed there for the rest of the time. He feels exhausted and drained, and isn't sure if he's able to go through the day without another attack.

After the noise in the hallway raises and falls, Hitoshi waits for a few more minutes before deciding he should leave. As he walks to the sink, his phone buzzes and he checks the new text.

"Where are you? Your teacher told me you had a panic attack in class and didn't come back. Meet me at my classroom"

Sighing, he splashes water on his face before heading towards Class 1A. Once outside the door, he hesitantly knocks only for it to almost immediately slide open, and Aizawa to step out into the hallway.

"What happened?"

"Someone accidentally triggered a panic attack. I'm fine, though"

Aizawa sighs, crossing his arms, "Don't tell me you're fine when you're not. You were in there for 50 minutes"

"Really, I'm ok" Hitoshi looks down not actually meaning what he's saying. He's not ok, but he doesn't want to worry him.

"Go to the dorms and get some sleep. You can go to my room"

Hitoshi stares at him, but he just stares back. "Go on. Or do you want to crash in Mineta's room"

"Ew, no. I'll go, thank you"

He nods before walking back into the classroom. Hitoshi walks out the school building, and towards the 1A dorms. He immediately hears someone inside, so, after taking his shoes off, he cautiously walks up that stairs into the living area, only to find Eri and a blond third year.

"Toshi!" Eri grins and runs towards him, so he picks her up and hugs her.

"Hey, Eri" He smiles tiredly at her, and the boy looks over waving.

"Hello there! What are you doing here?" The third year gets up.

"Shinsou. Aizawa told me to come here and sleep" He replies bluntly.

"Ok! We'll try to stay quiet to not disturb you!"

Hitoshi stares at him, frowning at the optimism, but shrugs it off and walks down the corridor to find Aizawa's room. He walks in and looks around, taking his blazer off.

The room is surprisingly empty, with just a bed and a small bedside drawer. Thick black curtains block out the sunlight, making the room surprisingly dark.

Hitoshi discards his blazer on the floor, before sitting on the bed and looking at the photo on the side. It's a picture of the entire family in the front room, including the cats. He smirks. The photo's in the apartment could be Yamada's idea, but no one is forcing him to have this in his room. How sweet.

He puts his phone beside the picture, before moving the covers and curls up on the bed, throwing them back over his head. All his senses are dulled by the darkness of the covers, and the quietness of the almost empty dorms, with the familiar smell of his adoptive dad being the only thing to focus on. He knew it sounded creepy to say, but the familiarity was comforting.

That's when he realises that he relies too much on smell alone to comfort himself. He has spent most of his life with Emiko's quirk soothing him, but at school he doesn't have anything like that. Relaxing, he curls up and shuts his eyes, eventually drifting off to sleep.

He's rudely woken up by his ringtone. Groaning, he kicks the covers off himself and sits up rubbing his eyes, noticing there's yelling in the dorms. He checks the time, surprised when he sees that school ended a while ago.

Sighing, he looks at Yamada's contact name "loud dad", and he answers his phone, automatically holding it far from his ear. With Yamada, speaker phone is the default. Unless you want your ears to bleed.

"HeeEEEEEEEEYYYYyyy, Hitoshi! Shouta told me to walk home with you today, so come down to the teacher's lounge would ya? And bring Eri, she's coming home with us today" Yamada helf yells into the phone.

"Yeah, I'll head there now" Hitoshi sighs.

"Is everything plus ultra on your end?"

School has only just finished, so Yamda is still stuck in his overly energetic Present Mic personality, not that it's any different back at home. He's just a bit more tame behind closed doors.

"Yeah. I'm fine"

The other end goes silent for a few seconds as a response to the blunt reply, and Hitoshi wonders how much Aizawa told him.

"Awesome! See you in a few!" He hangs up. Hitoshi sighs, getting out of bed and puts his blazer back on, before walking out of the room.

The noise gets louder, and he stops in the doorway as he sees 1A back already. Dammit. He backs off to try and see if there's some other way out, but Midoriya almost immediately notices him.

"Shinsou, hey! What are you doing here?"

"Sleeping"

A few others look over, and Hitoshi notices the tail guy -what's his name?- narrow his eyes.

"Why were you sleeping here?"

"I got permission from Aizawa" He crosses his arms, "I'm leaving now anyway, don't worry about it"

"Toshi!" Eri waves at him, "Do you feel better?"

A few people stare and mumble in confusion.

"Yes. Thank you"

"Stay for a while!" A pink girl calls over, but he shakes his head.

"No, I have to go. Come on Eri, Aizawa told me to walk you back" The little girl hugs Midoriya, before running over to him and holds his hand. 

"Bye bye everyone!" 

 Endeavour's son looks between him and Eri, and Hitoshi turns away holding back a laugh.

As he walks out the room, he hears the floating girl ask, "Todoroki, are you ok?"