Chapter Text
1.) No Future
He needed this job.
Like, really needed it.
Giving up and going back home wasn’t an option. That would put his entire family in danger and Hitoshi refused to do that. He couldn’t keep mooching off his parents either. He had promised he’d moved out here because of the job market and now he needed to make that story stick.
So he dressed in the suit his parents made him get when he’d graduated college a few years ago and started looking.
He was seriously lucky his friend Denki from his Uni days was working for All Might Electronics.
Hitoshi had a degree in computer science. He’d been sleeping on the guy’s couch for two weeks already when he’d come home and said that someone had quit, which meant they had an opening in his department. Hitoshi had jumped at the chance, giving the blond his resume that night to hand to his boss tomorrow. He supposed his experience was tangentially related.
Miracle of miracles he had done well in the first interview, and the next one too. His relaxed demeanor and ability to calmly describe how to solve the sample issues they slung at him worked in his favor.
Today he was meeting with the company president, it was really just a formality at this point. Stick to reciting back their own corporate goals, smile and nod. Talk about fishing, or golf, or whatever the f*ck the old rich dude was into and ta da, he’d have a job.
Yagi Toshinori was a kind looking older man with a mop of longer blond hair on his head. They spoke briefly, but the man seemed generally impressed and was quick to offer Hitoshi the position, much to his relief.
After that he met with a woman in HR. She gave him a run down of his benefits, said he would be in training for the first two weeks, answering calls on his own by week three. She also passed him a copy of an Employee Handbook. He was to read that and come in Monday with any questions.
She took a copy of his license, and had him fill in form after form for things like benefits, health insurance, emergency contacts, and all of that.
So, one major obstacle was taken care of. Now he just needed a place to live.
“Congrats on getting the job! I don’t mind if you need to hang out here for a little longer my dude,” said Denki between bites of chinese food.
“It’s not fair to you,” he said as he flicked through apartments using an app on his phone. He just needed a place that was clean and near the woods for the full moon.
He bookmarked a few places to check out tomorrow, hopefully one of them would pan out. Who knows, maybe his luck was taking a turn for the better?
“Well,” said Denki, “I do have work tomorrow so I’m going to head to bed.”
“Goodnight,” Hitoshi said, watching his friend head down the hallway to his room. He could really use some good luck after what happened to him six months ago…
--- --- ---
Driving down a back road near his home Hitoshi was fiddling with his phone, trying to find a song he wanted to play through bluetooth. He’d been at a big end of summer bash with a bunch of people from his grade school days who had come back to visit family.
Most of them had moved away after college. Not Hitoshi. After he’d graduated he had come home and just sort of, stuck around. He was working at the local grocery store, the same job he’d had in high school. Floundering, his mom called it.
He was only twenty five, what was he even supposed to be doing with his life? f*ck if he knew.
Summer was almost over so as the sun was going down and it was getting cooler, just the hint of fall in the crisp air. He had his windows down and was still flicking his thumb across his phone screen when he glanced up in time to see a huge tree that had fallen across the road.
He didn’t even have time to curse in his head as he twisted the wheel and the car slammed side first into the massive trunk.
All he heard was the sickening twisting crunch of metal and shattering of broken glass. He was wearing his seatbelt but with the window down the force of the crash had him flying out of the car and tumbling through the air. He was struck hard multiple times as he fell, there was the feeling of something in his chest cracking.
Hitting the pavement with a thud, he rolled over onto his back. Hitoshi could see now from where he lay there were cones set up around the downed tree. If he’d been paying attention to the road like he should have been he would have noticed them before. He managed to sit up but his arm felt all wrong, looking down he’d seen it was twisted at an impossible angle. sh*t, was it broken?
He was feeling all light and floaty, he must have hit his head. He probably had a concussion.
Hearing a noise he looked up to see of all things, a large white wolf? It tilted its head at him, and Hitoshi tried to yell. Why? To scare it off maybe? All that came out was the word ‘Please’ followed by a horrible garbled sound. Turning to the side he spit out a mouth full of blood. sh*t. He looked down at himself and saw why.
There were several tree branches sticking out of his chest and abdomen. Oh f*ck, that was so not good.
Now that he was aware of them the pain started to come through, f*ck everything was hurting. When he looked up again the wolf had gotten closer. Just his luck, he survived the car crash and being impaled only to be killed by a wild animal.
The wild canine got up close to him, from this distance he could take in more details. Like the blood red eyes, and the scar over one eye and another on the opposite side of its long snout. It sniffed and licked at the blood from his chest wounds. Hitoshi just lay back down. What else could he do?
He knew he didn’t want to die, he felt his mouth move. He may have muttered something but he’s not sure what he said.
Then he felt the wolf's fangs pierce his skin and he blacked out.
--- --- ---
Beep
Beep
Beep Beep
Beep
Beep
Beep Beep
Annoying noise.
That's what he woke up to some time later, finding himself in a hospital.
The doctors had set his dislocated shoulder, put a brace on his sprained ankle, removed the tree branches and stitched up his wounds. Now that he was awake a nurse would be checking on him every two hours to monitor his status.
They said he was lucky someone came down that road after him when they did or he probably wouldn’t be here. The branches had missed hitting anything vital, the organs were just shoved aside as they went through him.
There was more they could have told him but he shook his head, he didn’t want to know. Oddly they didn’t say anything about a bite. Either it wasn’t important enough to mention or they didn’t think to include it in their summary of his more major injuries.
After the Doctor left Hitoshi’s parents came in. His mother was in tears and his father pale as a ghost. They hadn’t brought his younger sister with them, the implied unsaid ‘just in case’ weighing heavily on him. Now that they were sure he was going to make it she didn’t need to see this either. He felt awful for scaring them like this. When he tried to apologize his voice broke and his Dad gave him a hug.
He had expected a long road to recovery after such a brutal accident but he was discharged from the hospital just a few days later once he made follow-up appointments with several specialists and one for a physical therapist, just in case.
He was all sore and bruised and cut up but he did what the doctors told him to and it all seemed to heal rather quickly.
It wasn’t until a few weeks later that Hitoshi learned how he really survived.
--- --- ---
Bakugo carried the last box into his new apartment. Kicking off his shoes near the door he continued into the kitchen.
His parents and uncle had helped him move in all the larger stuff like his bed, dresser, bookshelves, desk, a couch, chairs and a table yesterday. He’d spent most of his time today unpacking all the smaller boxes, putting things where they should be and flattening them. His books, clothes, pots and pans and dishes. This last box here was just his seasonings and spices collection.
He put the box on the counter and opened it to start stocking the rack he’d installed for them.
When he was finished he turned around to take a look at his place.
His own apartment.
It felt like a real achievement to have his first place to call his own as a young adult. He was proud to be able to afford it only a few years after completing his College education.
He’d worked hard, graduated and gotten a position in his home town doing basic repair work for a small but busy chain electronics store. After getting his two years experience he applied for a job at All Might Electronics. He’d scored an interview earlier this year and gotten the position. As if there had been any doubt he wouldn’t. Now he’d be doing repair work for a major technology corporation but he’d had to move and find his own place to live.
All Might Electronics had been where he’d wanted to work for years and now that he’d made it into the company he just had to outshine all the other extras.
His phone rang and he sat down on the couch and answered it.
“Hey brat. You doing ok?”
“I’m fine, what the f*ck do you want?”
“Aren’t I allowed to call my only son after he moved out and left me here all alone with an empty nest?”
“Oh shut it hag, you still have Dad.”
“Remember to lock the doors, we didn’t install that new deadbolt for aesthetics.”
“And the windows too, I will Ma.”
He ended the call and sat back to stretch out on his couch. Katsuki still had to get the internet and cable hooked up, but that could wait til later, for now he just wanted to enjoy this.
New place, new job, things were going great.
—
The little old man unlocked the apartment door for him. His name was Gran Torino and as they were walking to the available unit he told Hitoshi he had used to be a kick boxer in his younger days. That explained the trophies on the wall in his office.
“It’s the last one I have available,” the man said over his shoulder, “So you’ll need to tell me if you want it or not today.”
“As soon as I take a look around I can let you know.”
The short man nodded, and took him through the apartment. It was nearly at the top of the building, and offered a nice view of the street from the living room windows. It was very clean and newly painted. There weren’t any signs of neglect that he could see, it even smelled nice.
One bedroom, a good size with a large closet. A simple bathroom, and a small but efficient looking kitchen. Looking out the back window there he could see the forest just a few dozen yards away from the back of the apartment building. The living room had a balcony. When he’d street viewed the place online he found the back of the building was right next to Great Oak Park.
This was a massive state park that offered thousands of acres of wildlife. It was just what he needed. Hitoshi felt like his life was finally taking a turn for the better, this was perfect!
Turning to Gran Torino he said, “I’ll take it.”
“Wonderful! Let's go draw up the papers and I can hand over the keys today!”
Once he’d signed his name to over a dozen forms, and slid his credit card to put down the security deposit and first month's rent Hitoshi was given a set of keys, one for the apartment and one for the laundry room. He hated running up his credit on this but since he got the job at AME he was sure he could pay it back down in no time.
Hitoshi sat alone in his new apartment. He only had an air mattress, bought with some of the last of his cash, his backpack, phone and charger and a few black garbage bags containing his clothes. It would have to do for now. He could get a proper bed later. He had a place to live though.
Taking another bite out of the sandwich he’d picked up on his way to get the rest of his meager belongings from Denki’s place Hitoshi thought about what he’d need to furnish the place and in what order he should buy things. He definitely needed a coffee machine first.
Exhausted, he fell asleep quickly.
—
Monday Hitoshi got dressed in black slacks and a polo shirt. Dress Code was business casual. According to the Company Handbook they were expected to be neat, well groomed, clean and professional, but not in a suit and tie kind of way. Casual Fridays permitted jeans (without rips, tears or exaggerated embellishments) and wacky things like sports jerseys or tie dye and Hawaiian shirts.
Oh fun.
Mr. Yamada met Hitoshi in the lobby on a Smegway no less.
When he spotted him he yelled over, “Hitoshi Shinsou?!!?!!!!”
“Yes Sir,” he answered respectfully as the older man rolled over.
The older man made a face, “Sir was my grandpa, Mr. Yamada is fine. Outside of work I’m Hizashi.”
Mr. Yamada slid forward on the Smegway just enough to shake Hitoshi’s outstretched hand.
“Come with me, we need to get you set up in the system,” he said, rolling around him and then down a hallway to their left. He slowed down as they went, so the taller man could catch up and they sort of kept side by side.
Nodding to the other Hitoshi said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of those in person.”
“My Smegway? Yeah she’s a beaut! Really helps me get around the bullpen quick, and anywhere else in the building!” he said with a huge smile.
“How long does a charge last?”
“All day! I just leave her plugged in my office overnight and she’s ready for me in the morning.”
He learned more about Mr. Yamada on their way there. His boss was a loud, obnoxiously cheerful person who today was wearing his long blond hair in some kind of exaggerated pointed doo. He was in his mid thirties who loved to talk about radio. Said he had a show he hosted a few times a week for a few hours in the evening. Hitoshi made a mental note to tune in since he was sure the guy would ask if he had.
A blue haired, well built man with glasses named Iida was head of security. He took Hitoshi’s picture, set a few back up questions for password recovery, and gave him his card and a pin number for entering areas like the employee cafeteria.
“So you take security very seriously here?” he asked as he hung his new badge from his shirt pocket with the lanyard clip he’d been given.
Iida looked up at him from where he was typing, “Yes! We repair laptops and create new technology every day. Some devices we work on are even from government officials. We must make sure the premises are secure at all times. Regardless of if it is a mother of two or a CEO from a major corporation, we do our best to protect their personal information.”
Hitoshi mused over that silently while listening to the rapid fire click-clack of the keyboard. When Iida finished what he needed to do he was again retrieved by Mr. Yamada and they headed upstairs for orientation, after that they would have lunch and then he would shadow someone for the rest of the day to get an idea of what his new job would be like.
“I hope they have the bbq chicken I like today, what are you gonna get?” asked Mr. Yamada as they made their way to the company cafeteria.
“I don’t know what they have yet,” Hitoshi answered.
“Oh that’s right,” his boss said, “Well the HQ provides one meal a day free to all employees. We have pizza on Fridays, Tacos on Tuesdays, Monday they usually have this really good bbq chicken, it comes with baked beans and cornbread. Oh, and a scoop of fruit co*cktail. I love it. Some stuff they have every day of the week, like the salad bar and fruit bar. As well as the shake station, and there’s always some pre-packaged sandwiches in the cooler. The tuna one is really good.”
Apparently the staff was used to seeing the man go through the lunch line on his smegm*y.
Hitoshi just listened to Mr. Yamada babble on about food. When they got there he ended up getting the bbq chicken. He may as well try the meal of the day after hearing it get such rave reviews.
They both grabbed an iced tea and took a seat at one of the tables, Mr. Yamada plugging his office vehicle in to charge from a nearby outlet since he could.
Hitoshi had to admit the meal wasn’t bad. Then again, it figured a corporate genius like Toshinori would know you got better work from a well fed staff.
Taking a drink of his tea Hitoshi said, “This is good, thank you for suggesting it. Are seconds allowed?”
“No problem, new voice of the company! Of course they are. AME policy, everyone may eat their fill,” he said, between bites. “How do you like it here so far?”
“I am impressed,” he said honestly, “And I’m looking forward to shadowing someone after lunch. Training was good but I want to see how things work in practice.”
Mr. Yamada nodded, “Valid point. I’m going to put you with Kirishima after lunch. I’d put you with Kaminari, he’s one of my best but since he recommended you for the job I didn’t want to cause a conflict of interest. I want you to really focus on how Kirishima does things and write down any questions he can’t answer for you ok?”
“How long has Kirishima been with AME?”
“About as long as Kaminari, three years.”
They made some more small talk and then Hitoshi followed Mr. Yamada to Kirshima’s cubicle.
—
A month earlier Katsuki had gone through a similar process.
All Might Electronics was one of those massive corporate buildings with a sprawling front yard with hills and valleys of perfectly mowed green grass. Katsuki was not impressed.
He was being led to the Repair Lab by a gloomy man dressed in all gray wearing long sleeves and a scarf, indoors. Was he f*cking cold or something? What a weirdo.
“Iida made your key card and set up your security codes yesterday, today you’ll continue to shadow someone. By tomorrow I’ll have them give you minor tasks to complete and by the end of the week, so long as your work is up to code, you will be assigned several projects of your own to work on. Understood?
“Yes Sir,” Katsuki was busy looking around, taking it all in. All Might Electronics. He really made it. Out the window to his left he was looking out over the back of the company, it was a swath of vibrant green, leaves shimmering like emeralds in the light.
“Mr. Aizawa is fine.”
“Is that part of the park?” he asked, as they walked.
“It is, the company attempted to purchase the land intending to level the trees and put up a field of solar panels.”
“What happened?”
Mr. Aizawa side eye’d the blond, “A pack of wolves moved into the park making the woods a part of their territory. Turns out they are protected and that put an end to the proposed solar field.”
Katsuki looked out the windows again, he couldn’t quite tell how Mr. Aizawa felt about it but he liked it better this way.
“Doesn’t seem like something Mr. Toshinori would do.”
Mr. Aizawa shifted his gaze to meet Katsuki’s, “It wasn’t.”
The older man sped up so he was walking ahead of him, message clear.
Conversation over, thought Katsuki.
When they got to the Lab his boss swiped his card, typed in his code and held the door for both of them to enter. Two musical tones indicated their employee cards had been detected and picked up by the security system.
Izuku Midoriya and Shouto Todoroki were already there working on their own assignments.
“Good morning Mr. Aizawa!” said the chipper green haired man. Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki would soon learn. An ever positive living ray of sunshine. The statement would only be made more accurate if the man had blond hair, instead his was a deep emerald green that matched his eyes.
Mr. Aizawa just waved at him, it was much too early for that much energy.
“Izuku, Katsuki will be shadowing you today, please be sure to instruct him how we handle a high profile case and make sure he understands the documentation protocols.”
“Of course Sir!”
“Izuku Midoriya , Katsuki Bakugo,” with that he turned to go back to his own office.
“Mr. Aizawa, if you are done,” called the other tech in monotone, “I would appreciate your input on my latest project.”
Katsuki turned and got a better look at the man. Blank face, shows no feeling? Dual colored hair and heterochromia with a burn scar over his left eye. Everyone knew that face, this was Shouto Todoroki. Hah! Just his luck he was in the same department as the flaming dumpster’s youngest son.
Wonder what he’s like? Thought the blond.
The older man sighed, but walked over to speak to Shouto and Katsuki was left with the short, eager man.
“Ok nerd, enlighten me.”
“Hey! I’m not a nerd!”
“Sure,” said the blond, rolling his eyes and sliding next to him in a wheeled chair.
—
Hitoshi was socially burned out by the end of the day. He’d forgotten how much human interactions could take out of him. He’d grabbed a few things at a small grocery place on his way to the bus stop. Just some oatmeal for breakfast, milk, cereal, and a few frozen dinners to get him through the rest of the week. Oh, and a roll of toilet paper and a tube of toothpaste.
When he got up to his apartment he saw a box sitting outside of his door. Ah Bamazon, that would be his brand new coffee machine and accessories. Nice.
After struggling to open the door he dropped his bags of groceries on the kitchen counter and went back to pick up his box. Opening it he took out the box containing his coffee machine, a large bag of dark roast coffee grounds, filters and a set of four mugs.
Getting the machine out of the box he peeled off any seals and tape and cleaned it off well. Plugging it in he poured a carafe of water in and let it run through. Then he set the timer, added a filter and more water and fresh coffee grounds. Tomorrow, he would wake to the smell of freshly brewed goodness.
Cleaning up the trash he put the rest of the groceries away and decided to have a cup of instant ramen for dinner. It wasn’t the healthiest but he had a decent lunch at least. He just had to make it a couple weeks and he’d get his first paycheck. Then he could figure out what he needed to buy next.
He’d just finished his microwaved meal when his phone pinged. Picking it up he read the message:
—
Mon 7:45PM
DK: “Hey man, how was your first day?”
Mon 7:46PM
HS: “It went better than I expected.”
Mon 7:46PM
DK: “Cool, cool, and how are you?”
Mon 7:47PM
HS: “Fine, just, such empty here.”
Mon 7:48PM
DK: “Huh?”
Mon 7:49PM
HS: “I have like, nothing man, no furniture, nada. Just an air mattress I picked up.”
Mon 7:49PM
DK: “Dude! Why didn’t you tell me! I can totally help you out with that!”
Mon 7:50PM
HS: “What? How?”
Mon 7:51PM
DK: “I’ll put the word out to the friend train, see who has something to give. Nothing’s going to match but at least you won’t be sitting on the floor right?”
Mon 7:51PM
HS: “You don’t have to do that.”
Mon 7:52PM
DK: “No way, I am helping you. It takes a village right? You can not refuse the Denki Magic.”
Mon 7:53PM
SH: “The what?”
Mon 7:53PM
DK: “The Denki.”
Mon 7:54PM
DK: “~*~Magic~*~”
Mon 7:54PM
DK: “Now give me your wish list.”
Mon 7:55PM
SH: “My what?”
Mon 7:55PM
DK: “List what you need!”
Mon 7:56PM
SH: “Right now?”
Mon 7:56PM
DK: “Right here, right now!”
Mon 7:57PM
SH: “Ok, give me a minute…”
Mon 8:05PM
SH: “Kitchen table, plates & stuff? 4 chairs, a large couch and recliner or two smaller couches, coffee table, tv stand, A few shelves I guess? Bed frame, a few side tables, any lamps and carpets? Blinds or curtains?”
Mon 8:05PM
SH: “There, how’s that?”
Mon 8:07PM
DK: “Not bad, not bad. I’m gonna add a few things, since you said you literally have nothing right?”
Mon 8:07PM
SH: “Right, but what else are you gonna add?”
Mon 8:08PM
DK: “Don’t worry about it, we are gonna get you all set my dude!”
Hitoshi felt a warm and fuzzy feeling. He was lucky to have a friend like Denki. That night he fell asleep with a smile on his face for the first time in months.
—
Now a month later, for the first time getting home Katsuki noticed there was a light on next door. Looks like that wrinkly old Landlord had rented out the apartment next to his.
Letting himself inside his own place, he slid off his shoes and headed to the kitchen wondering what he was going to do for dinner. He really had to start doing some bulk cooking on the weekend to fill his freezer with ready to thaw meals.
He had picked up some rice and chicken the other day, wonder what he had left? Maybe he could try one of those delivery services? He hated not seeing the vegetables or meat before buying them, but other stuff like toilet paper and dish soap were all the same so who cares?
Opening his fridge all he had was half a pepper, some green onion and eggs, guess he was having omurice.
He got to cooking and had just sat down to eat when his phone vibrated. He finished his food and cleaned up the kitchen before sitting down on his couch, turning on the news and then checking his messages.
The first thing he saw was a message from his new boss, with his cell phone number in it and those of his co-workers. Mr. Aizawa said it was so they could communicate easier since the company was so massive, calling or texting to find out where co-workers were was just the norm there.
Katsuki thanked him, thinking that was it.
Then his phone vibrated again.
—
Tue: 8:23PM
Unknown Num: “Hey! It’s Izuku. Mr. Aizawa sent your number out so we can call & text each other :)”
Tue 8:25PM
daBomb: "Great, now I have a nerd texting me."
Tue 8:25PM
Unknown Num: “You work in the same field as I do, you’re just as much of a nerd as me and Shouto.”
Tue 8:26PM
daBomb: “Did you know your name can be read as Deku?”
Tue 8:27PM
Unknown Num: “Uhmm…”
Tue 8:27PM
daBomb: “I’m gonna call you Deku from now on.”
—
Katsuki paused what he was doing to program the man’s number into his phone.
—
Tue 8:28PM
Deku: “Well then I’m going to give you a nick-name too.”
Tue 8:29PM
daBomb: “Good luck with that.”
Tue 8:29PM
Unknown Num: “Rude”
Tue 8:30PM
daBomb: “I’m guessing this is the candy cane?”
Tue 8:30PM
Unknown Num: “Hello Bakugo”
Tue 8:31PM
daBomb: “Hello you half-n-half bastard.”
—
Hum, what to name this one? Oh, he knew.
—
Tue 8:31PM
Deku: “Kacchan, why are you like this?”
Tue 8:32PM
Icy-Hot: “I think it’s just the way he communicates.”
Tue 8:32PM
daBomb: “Ehh?”
Tue 8:33PM
Deku: “Kacchan, I decided.”
Tue 8:34PM
daBomb: “Fine. That just means I get to use Deku at work tomorrow.”
Tue 8:35PM
Deku: “Fair.”
Tue 8:35PM
Icy-Hot: “Fair.”
Tue 8:36PM
Deku: “What are you guys doing?”
Tue 8:36PM
Icy-Hot: “Working on a theory that all mattress stores are actually laundering money for the mafia.”
Tue 8:37PM
Deku: “Shouto, what have I said about the conspiracy theories?”
Tue 8:37PM
daBomb: “Going to bed.”
Tue 8:38PM
Deku: “What, but it’s so early!”
Tue 8:38PM
Icy-Hot: “It is early.”
Tue 8:39PM
daBomb: “Some people like to get a good night's sleep, idiots.”
Tue 8:39PM
Deku: “Ok, goodnight Kacchan!”
Tue 8:40PM
Icy-Hot: “Goodnight.”
—
He sighed as he plugged his phone into the charger. Guess the guys he worked with weren’t that bad. The little green nerd did stand up for himself. And the little rich bitch was stiff, and a bit literal but not actually an asshole like his dear ol’ dad.
It could be worse, he guessed as he turned off his television and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready for bed.
—
Wednesday, tired after a long day at work Hitoshi stood outside his apartment, reached into his pocket for his keys…
… and came out with an empty hand.
f*ck.
He must have left them at work. Hitoshi had been meaning to get a spare made to hide somewhere but hadn’t gotten to the hardware store yet to do it.
He pounded his fist on the wall and cursed.
The apartment door next to his popped open and out stepped the most stunning drop dead gorgeous man he’d ever laid eyes on. Ash blond hair, ruby red eyes, stacked like pancakes…
Then he spoke.
“What the f*ck did my wall do to you asshole?” he said with a scowl on his face. Rude, whoops Hitoshi didn’t care. Pretty boy.
He also noticed the guy had a bag full of trash in his hand. He must be heading down to the dumpsters.
“Sorry, I just, I forgot my key at work and haven’t made a spare one yet,” he explained, taking out his phone he brought up the Landlord’s office number and called.
The blond man huffed, turned and walked away. Hitoshi watched his retreating form make his way down the hallway to the elevator. He had spiky hair, a strong upper body and legs but the slimmest waist he’d ever seen on a guy. Stop ogling your neighbor and focus, he chided himself.
The phone rang four times and went to voicemail. He left a brief message then hung up and tried again.
Voicemail again, he groaned and hung up without leaving a message this time. There was no point it’d just be the same thing. ‘I’m your idiot new tenant who locked themselves out of their apartment.’
He had slid down to sit on the floor and was trying for the fourth time when the blond returned from his trip to the dumpster.
“Still f*cking around?”
Is cursing this guy's love language or something?, thought Hitoshi.
“I was trying to reach the Landlord…”
“Old geezer probably fell asleep in front of his TV watching Gunsmoke or some sh*t.”
The taller man just shook his head. He couldn’t even call Denki. His friend was out of town tonight at some event. Just his rotten luck, “Guess I’ll be spending the night out here.”
Katsuki eyed the guy sitting on the floor by his door. sh*t. He was sure he was going to regret this, but the man looked so f*cking pathetic that he worried if he left him there, he might do something even more stupid.
“Common, I have a couch but you’re so f*cking tall your feet will probably hang off it.”
“What?” said Hitoshi, head snapping up to look at the blond.
Katsuki opened his door and waved at the guy on the floor to follow him in.
He didn’t need to be told twice. Scrabbling to get up as fast as he could, Hitoshi stepped into his neighbor’s apartment.
Katsuki paused to take off his shoes then went to sit in the living room.
He pulled out his phone and said, “I got home late so we can order something for dinner.”
Toeing off his own shoes he followed the other man into the living room while taking a look around. Unsurprisingly the layout was nearly identical to his own place, hallway to the left to the bathroom, a closet for storage and a bedroom. In front of him was the large living room, a kitchen with an area between the two for a table and chairs.
Unlike his place though, Katsuki's was fully furnished.
There was a flat screen TV, and an entire wall of the living room was lined with massive bookshelves filled to the brim. A long coffee table and two twin couches in a dark brown with side tables and lamps and a few colorful cushioned seating cubes arranged in a corner for when the blond had guests over and needed more seating. And a large orange oval rug beneath it all.
A tiered table by the window was lined with plants. It looked like an herb garden. He even spotted something bright red among the greenery, peppers maybe?
It smelled nice too, like, really nice. Vaguely in the back of his mind he wondered what it was. He felt his Wolf begin to stir. Hitoshi took a seat on the burgundy couch he presumed he’d be sleeping on tonight.
“Hitoshi Shinsou,” he offered.
“What?”
“My name is Hitoshi Shinsou.”
Oh, right, names, “Katsuki Bakugo.”
“Well Katsuki, thank you for letting me crash on your couch instead of the cold hallway floor.”
“You looked so damn pitiful down there. Floor’s f*cking cold too, you’d probably get sick. Don’t make me f*cking regret this. If you murder me in my sleep I will haunt your ass to death.”
Hitoshi smirked, the guy was an ass, but a caring ass.
“Same to you.”
Sassy f*cker, Katsuki thought.
“You just moved in right?” he asked the purple haired man.
He nodded, “Yeah, I meant to get a spare key made but haven’t had the chance. I just started a new job up the road and was lucky to find an apartment. It all happened pretty fast.”
—
For dinner they ended up ordering Chinese food since Katsuki had found a place nearby not scared of actually making his food spicy enough for him. When the food arrived the whole apartment smelled like hot chili peppers.
They kept conversation simple and kinda vague as they ate. They were neighbors so both of them felt some need to make an effort at being cordial.
He told Katsuki how he’d been in a car accident six months ago.
The blond’s eyes went wide, “Holy sh*t man, you are really f*cking lucky to be alive.”
“That’s one way to look at it I guess,” mused Hitoshi. Katsuki didn’t know what else he was dealing with after all.
He told Hitoshi where he’d gone to college and how he liked going hiking on the weekends. He loved that the apartment was right next to the massive wilderness park.
Katsuki took a good look at the other man in front of him as they ate.
Hitoshi was tall, thin, not skinny, but no body builder. He looked like he never slept with the dark bags under his eyes. And his hair was this lavender purple color. But it was his eyes that he kept going back to. They were violet, with white pupils. He wondered if he saw things any differently because of them. There was almost a dark aura around the guy, Katsuki wanted to know why. Wanted to know his story. He never did that, not even really with anyone he’s dated.
Throughout their conversation the colorful language continued to be sprinkled in by the blond, as if they were pops and bursts of un-retainable enthusiasm. Hitoshi supposed other people found it offensive, he didn’t mind it though. He could feel the other man’s eyes on him but pretended not to notice.
After eating, Katsuki tossed the remote to his guest and cleaned up their takeout dishes, getting up to toss them out in the kitchen. He called out over his shoulder, “I just got the cable hooked up yesterday, so you’re f*cking lucky.”
“Aw, did you do that just for little ol’ me?” Hitoshi mocked as he picked up the remote.
“Ah? f*ck you asshole. I coulda’ left you out there on the floor,” he said from where he was in the kitchen. His hand on his side, hip jutting out, a part of Hitoshi had a reaction to that.
There was just something about this sleepy looking bastard.
He wanted to look at those eyes some more, and listen to his voice. It had a deep timber he found soothing and instead of shying away or getting embarrassed by his brash nature it just didn’t phase the guy. He even teased him back. Which was a rare thing honestly. Most people were put off by both his attitude and terminal resting bitch face.
The purple haired freak just flicked on the TV and rolled his head back to look at him, exposing his long pale neck in a way that had no right looking that inviting.
“You could have, but you didn’t,” Hitoshi grinned as he had a thought and then neglected to censor himself, “You’re like an angry feral cat. Sorry for imposing on your territory Kitty Kat.”
Face turning bright red Katsuki stomped off down the hallway to his bedroom, a string of curses flying out behind him as he went. He pulled the extra pillow from his own bed and a spare blanket from his closet. Then he returned to the living room still stomping and fuming.
—
The blond had turned the color of a tomato and stormed off grumbling to himself. Hitoshi briefly wondered if he’d messed up and was about to be shot or stabbed or something, but no, when Katsuki came back he just dumped a pillow and blanket on the couch.
“Here. Hope you get a crick in your neck from the armrest you eggplant looking mother f*cker.
“I’ll be sure to think of you when my neck is sore tomorrow,” he cracked back.
How the f*ck did this guy turn everything he said into some kind of innuendo?
He shook his head.
Whatever.
“The landlord’s office opens at 8am, but you better be out of here when I get up at 7.”
Picking up his phone he set an alarm, he still had like 76% battery left.
“You got it,” he called back.
Turning off the lamp next to him, the room went mostly dark. He noted Katsuki had left a light on in the kitchen that let him see well enough where things were in case he got up in the night to use the bathroom.
He fluffed the pillow and caught a whiff of that smell again and froze.
Oh no.
He put the pillow right up under his nose and took a deep breath. Almost instantly he felt his mouth water and jaw ache.
sh*t.
It hadn’t settled in his nose before because of the pepper spices from dinner, but the smell from when he’d first entered the apartment wasn’t an air freshener, candle, cologne, soap or anything like that.
It was Katsuki Bakugo himself.
And Hitoshi’s Wolf liked it.
He liked it a lot.
Groaning out loud he fell back against the couch and covered his face with his hands. Why? Why did the hot next door neighbor have to affect his Wolf?
Shaking his head he pulled the blanket up over himself.
He could deal with this, he’d just leave in the morning like Katsuki had asked. They were just neighbors. Hitoshi could keep his Wolf under control for one night. It wasn’t even close to the next full moon yet.
No problem right?
--- --- ---
He was in that bar from all those months ago.
Hitoshi’s mouth went dry. He f*cking hated this dream.
It was his first full moon, and he hadn’t yet known what he was about to become. It was after work. He’d gone out to grab a drink with a few guys he worked with and to unwind like he did from time to time when he didn’t feel like going back home to the disappointed looks from his parents.
He was sipping his second whisky sour and had started to feel sick. He wondered if it was the orange wheel in the drink, maybe it had gone bad? He sniffed his glass, it smelled fine. He kept sipping the drink but only felt worse and worse.
The bar had live music and a good atmosphere. He was aware of some people behind him dancing. They lacked detail, he didn’t know anyone except his co-workers that night he’d been there so their faces didn’t stick in his head.
The only other person he recognized in the dream was the bartender. An older man who looked concerned when he’d started sweating a lot a few minutes to midnight. He’d thought Hitoshi was going to be sick so he directed the younger man to the bathroom in the back.
Hitoshi stumbled down a narrow hallway in the back of the bar, feeling the nausea rising. The men’s room was a single and the door was locked. Feeling he didn’t have time to waste trying the women's room he shoved his shoulder against the emergency exit at the end of the hall and tumbled out the back of the bar.
There he braced himself against the wall and voided. The alley smelled like sour pickles and old hotdogs and cat piss. It overwhelmed his senses, making him heave again and again.
When he was empty and had nothing left to give the dark alley behind the bar Hitoshi stumbled over his own feet, falling to his knees he turned his gaze upward to see there was a full moon shining down on him. Vision going dark he looked down and blinked a few times as if to clear his sight. The next time Hitoshi looked up everything had a strange sepia hue to it and looked brighter than before.
Then the shift began.
His skin burned, he had to get out of his clothes. Stripping himself bare, with more of his skin exposed to the moon’s rays the change accelerated.
There was no one there to tell him what was happening, or that he’d be ok.
It felt like ten thousand needles were tearing him apart from the inside out. Where once were bones now were shards of glass grinding against cartilage and muscle. He felt them bend and snap, he felt his muscles warp around them and reform. He felt nothing but pain, laying flat on the filthy ground that stunk of cat piss and rotten food he couldn’t even scream, breath stolen from him.
Finally after what felt like forever but must have only been about five or six minutes the torment faded and he found himself different but alive.
--- --- ---
Standing up on all four paws, adjusting to viewing the world as if through amber colored glass, and being much shorter too. It was all so strange back then.
Werewolf. Lycanthrope. Monster.
What else could he be? Hitoshi took the time to pick up his clothes with his muzzle and tuck them away in an empty box he found that was at least clean and dry on the inside. He’d need to come back for them later. Dashing out the back of the alley and down the street he’d headed into a small patch of woods nearby.
Now that the pain was gone, getting to hunt and run through the woods wasn’t half bad. He felt strong, he was strong, he knew it. All his senses were heightened. Hitoshi could hear the rabbits in burrows beneath his feet, and the soft coos of birds sleeping in the trees above. Then he’d startled a deer and didn’t even pause, giving in to the chase.
That was when the other’s had shown up. There were eight of them, they ran with him after the deer and took it together as a pack. The one who led them was the white wolf with red eyes. The same wolf that had bitten him, the one who had turned him.
In his dream they take down the deer and then the white wolf and his pack loom over Hitoshi, warping and morphing into terrifying monsters with impossible bends to their spines and terrible claws and jagged tooth filled maws and... and he can’t get away.
He tries to run but he can’t… he can’t…
