Time Before Tragedy

Chapter 4

Ojiro sighed contently. Shinsou had calmed down quite a while ago, but neither wanted to stop. The door slammed open, making them jump apart. Ojiro's tail fluff spiked up when he was spooked.

"There you are! Do you know how worried I was when I woke up and you weren't in your room?!" It was Aizawa, who hadn't noticed Ojiro yet. Go figure.

"Dad I-" Shinsou protested, trying to say something but was quickly wrapped in the capture weapon Aizawa carried.

"Don't even think about it. Until we get the General Studies dorms built, you're under my care and you tell me where you're going." Aizawa snapped, worry in his voice.

"Oh. He isn't abused at home, good. Maybe a bully then?" Ojiro shook his head and walked out from behind a training dummy. "Sir? It's my fault he was here."

Aizawa stopped suddenly, causing Shinsou to walk into him. "Oh really? How?" He turned to him.

"A few days ago, he apologized for using me in the Sports Festival and I told him if he ever wanted to train, I would train with him." He lied. "I'm always in here early."

"Is this true Hitoshi?" Aizawa asked, raising an eyebrow. Shinsou nodded quickly in agreement, wanting to do anything but go home. He liked his home, but Aizawa could be overbearing.

"Sir, if he's going to be in trouble then punish me too," Ojiro said, standing in a hopefully confident stance.

"Trouble? No, I just worry too much I suppose." Aizawa let go of him and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. You can stay and train, but I expect you both to eat breakfast."

"Yes sir!" Hitoshi said quickly, bowing to him. Ojiro repeated it, giving his teacher a bow as well the two boys stood to find him gone. "Hey, thanks for lying." The taller male said.

"Yeah, it's nothing. I don't want you to be in trouble cause of me." Ojiro said. "Anyway, I have an idea of what you can do. Let's start your training."

"Alright," Shinsou said. The two trained for almost three hours before stopping.

"You can come to my dorm building and eat breakfast." Ojiro offered, tossing him a towel to dry off his sweaty face.

"Sure. Are you cooking?" He joked, a small smile on his face. "I'm kidding. I'd love to."

"Good. It's Iida's turn to cook." He threw his water bottle in the recycling bin and put the towel over his shoulder.

"Engines?" Hitoshi asked, also throwing out his water bottle. He dried his hair, spiking it again.

"Yeah, I suppose so. He's the one with engines in his legs. Usually, people call him the Exit Sign Kid though. Engines is a new one." He smiled softly.

"Ah. I hope I don't offend anyone with my visit." He said. "Well, I can't do much about Bakugo, but I hope your friends enjoy me. I have a strange sense of humor though."

"Friends?" He asked. "You're my only friend. Well, the only person who actually talks to me."

"Oh. That's too bad. You're a great guy." Shinsou said, smiling at him. "If you want my opinion, I prefer your company over someone like Bakugo or Deku."

Ojiro blushed and looked away, smiling. "Thank you." He said. "I don't agree, but I accept the compliment."

Shinsou followed the boy into the building and looked around, amazed. He was greeted warmly by Midoriya and received a few harsh looks, but most people weren't rude.

Ojiro introduced him officially to most of the class. Shinsou was nice about it, nodding and shaking hands with people.

"You're the one who took control over Ojiro-San, yes?" Iida asked from the kitchen, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, I am. I've already apologized to him if that's why you're bringing it up," replied Shinsou.

"Not at all. I'm glad to see you getting along. Are you hungry? I just finished making breakfast." He said, making plates for everyone.

"Yes, thank you." He said, standing against the wall as Iida passed out plates. He sat down after everyone had a plate. Shinsou didn't see a place to sit, so he stayed where he was.

After breakfast, Shinsou stayed close to Ojiro as they walked around. He showed him everything and stopped in his dorm.

"-and this is my dorm." Ojiro said. "That kinda concludes it. I know where everyone else's rooms are but I didn't think that you'd really wanna spend thirty minutes doing that."

"Yeah, I can find out on my own. Thank you. May I sit?" asked Shinsou, motioning to the bed next to him.

"Go for it." Ojiro said. Shinsou sat down and looked around. "It's pretty plain, huh? Wow. I'm extremely boring. Sorry."

"No, I like it. Too many distractions are terrible. Your room is almost perfect. It could use a few cats, but that's a personal opinion." Shinsou said.

"You like cats too?" Ojiro asked, his large tail starting to wag a little. "I love cats!"

"Yeah! I own a few. I'm sad pets aren't allowed in the dorm though." Shinsou said, smiling a bit.

"That's so cool!" Ojiro smiled, tail wagging happily. "Maybe you could let me come meet them!" He said.

Shinsou ruffled Ojiro's hair, smiling. "Maybe. I'll have to talk to Mr. Dadzawa." He said, bringing out a laugh from Ojiro which brought a bright blush to his face.

"Hey, we should be friends officially. I introduced you to my classmates as my friend, why not make it true?"

"Yeah, I'd like that. It'd be a nice change. Do you wanna hang out in the library after class?" He asked him.

"Yeah! I was actually gonna ask you the same thing. I love it there. The librarian is so nice. Plus, I like the smell of books. It's a bit weird, but oh well." Ojiro said.

"Are you kidding? I love books. It's an escape from reality. I can just escape into my imagination with no barriers like real life." said Shinsou.

"I'm glad we see eye to eye." Ojiro smiled and talked a bit more until class. Then, they split up with the promise to meet up...