A Hero; Shinso Hitoshi x Reader

6

Y/N had gone out to the corner store for some snacks that afternoon instead of training, so he proceeded to sit and study. His quirk wasn't really the best to practice alone, for obvious reasons. In the courtyard outside, he sat with his heavy books, math problems flashing in his mind.

He was smart, so this kind of thing was never an issue for him. For Y/N, though, they had to work on that. She despised mathematics with a passion to the point where he would have to bribe her just to get her to do her homework. It was sad, but quite humorous for Shinsou.

"Yo, loser."

He lifted his head at the voice, his eyes trailing up to see Bakugo, slouched over in his messy uniform. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, actually, you can."

Shinsou prayed that there would be no violence here. But with how her brother was, it could go crazy really fast. It wasn't that he was afraid of Bakugo at all, in fact, Shinsou knew with his quirk he would win a fight. It would just make Y/N upset.

He set down his pencil and moved over on the bench to make room for the blond, who hunkered down beside him. He didn't take his hands out of his pockets, and didn't move to make eye contact.

"Well what do you want?"

He shifted, practically itching to walk away. Still he persisted. "Y/N talks about you so fucking much, you know," he finally grumbled. "Shinsou this. Shinsou that. Seriously it's annoying "

Part of the purple haired boy was flattered and frankly excited. She talked about him to her family? He was sure it was all good things of course, but to know that he occupied her mind when he wasn't around? It was amazing.

To be honest, he thought about her more than you normally would with just a friend. Her smile, her laugh, her voice. All of it just ran through his mind all hours of the day.

"Ah, okay."

"Listen, I'm definitely not here to be your friend, fuck that. You're a creepy ass dude." As usual, rude as hell with no filter whatsoever. Typical. "It's just that I feel like I should...ugh, thank you."

"Huh, never thought I'd hear that come from you, Bakugo," Shinsou replied with a smirk.

"Shut it." He paused, leaning back to stare up at the sky. "Y/N hasn't ever really had a friend, not one that was good to her at least. You're the first person to really bring her out of her shell. She's a hard-core introvert, I guess."

"Don't thank me. I'm not doing anything I don't want to."

"I know. It's just that when I convinced her to come to U.A., she thought she would be all alone, you know, bullied and shit like before. I'm just glad someone's been there for her."

"I really can't see why people would bully her. She's kind and beautiful and smart."

"Yeah, right, I know. People just like to pick on little girls." Bakugo sighed, clenching using fists in his pockets. "I've just gotten so busy recently with everything, I haven't had the time to be her brother. You've watched out for her instead."

"She doesn't even need someone to watch out for her. She's not a baby, she's strong enough to handle herself now," Shinsou replied. "We all have our moment of weakness."

"Y/N told mom about how you got rid of that thug the day I was sick. Can't believe it," he muttered. "Nothing happened, but I swear if you weren't there and something did, I would've kicked some major ass. So thanks for that too."

"Like I said, you shouldn't thank me. It's just the right thing to do."

"Yeah, but you aren't just doing it out of the kindness of your heart, Y/N isn't a damn charity." His face lightened for a moment, the scowl softening into a grimace. "You love her, any dumbass can tell. I'm not sure if she feels the same way, but, shit...I've just never seen her happier than when she's hanging out with you."

Shinsou said nothing. What was there to say? Bakugo was right. He did love her. Maybe for a while he thought it was just a crush, but it wasn't. Sure, if that criminal were harassing anyone else, he would do the same thing for them. Only, he wasn't sure he would turn around from his walk home to make sure they were safe. He wouldn't let just anyone come into his room at any hour of the night for hugs and cuddles, or a shoulder to cry on. That just wasn't him.

So he felt comfortable being confronted with the fact. Because it was real. He really loved her, and he would never deny it.

"I've got a bad feeling, loser. A really bad feeling something is gonna happen to me. You have to be there for Y/N when it does. Swear to me," Bakugo commanded, turning to stare the other boy in the eyes. They weren't friends, it was true. In fact, Shinsou didn't like the guy one bit. But he could feel the pain and hopelessness in his voice, guilt that he might not be there anymore.

And so, he felt himself making another promise for her.

He nodded. "Yeah, I swear. I'd never let anything happen to her."

"Good. Glad to know there's somebody else out here in this shitty world that loves her."

"Me, too."