Late one evening, Hitoshi goes for a walk to clear his mind. It's something that Aizawa suggested for when he starts to get overwhelmed.

He's not sure what triggered it off, but a sudden wave of anxiety came over him while he was at home, just after dinner. Yamada was on patrol, and Aizawa allowed him to go for a walk as long as he came back within an hour or at least phoned him to say he'll be out longer.

As Hitoshi starts to walk back to the apartment, he hears someone approach him from behind.

"Hey, freak!"

Hitoshi's stomach drops as he recognises that voice. No...this can't be happening. Not Igarashi.

"Don't ignore me! I want to talk to you"

He hears them run closer, and Hitoshi runs for it. He's not far away from home, if he can just get there he'll be ok. Just a little further.

However, they catch up to him and shove him into an alleyway to the side, pinning him back to the wall. Hitoshi's heart starts to race as he stated up at the familiar boy in front of him. He looks pissed.

"We saw you on TV at the sports festival a few months back. How come someone like you got into UA, but I couldn't? Someone who's destined to become a villain, who's quirk is evil in every way. You're not heroic. You're nothing"

Electricity dances between his fingers, but Hitoshi doesn't let it intimidate him. He's grown since the last time they saw each other, and he's strong enough to fight back.

"Someone I look up to told me I could become a hero, and that's what I'll be. Whether you like it or not!"

Igarashi growls, and punches him in the face. Hitoshi grabs his wrist shoving him away, and bolts towards the street. One of his friends go to tackle Hitoshi, but he grabs their arm, spins and hooks the other arm under their's, then presses his back into them and flips them over his shoulder. He turns to the other guy, who leaps towards him, but Hitoshi dodge tripping him.

Igarashi growls and shoots electric towards him, but Hitoshi manages to move before it hits him. He doesn't want to use his quirk, but if it comes down to it he might have to.

He screams angrily and charges forward, lashing out as Hitoshi manages to avoid his hits. However, Igarashi finally manages to make contact with his chest, which causes Hitoshi to stumble back as the wind is knocked out of him.

"Not to strong now are you?" He screams, tackling him to the floor and holds him down as he shows off his quirk with his other hand to intimidate him.

"I'm not scared of you anymore" Hitoshi says calmly. Igarashi's face twists with anger, raising his hand to strike when someone else steps into the alleyway.

"That's enough of that. Why are you all fighting?"

It's Yamada.

"Present Mic?" One of the guys says in disbelief.

"This one attacked us while he were hanging out. It was self defence" Igarashi looks up at the hero, "He's a trouble maker"

Yamada crosses his arms, "Thanks for the input listener, but Shinsou is in my class. I would know he's not the one who attacked first, even if I didn't see everything. You future hero's should know better than to attack someone!"

Hitoshi almost finds it satisfying to see his bully's face drop. "And not use your quirks in public! That can get you in serious trouble, yo!" He lets go of Hitoshi and gets up, growling under his breath. "Run along kids, and don't go causing any more trouble!"

All three leave, and Yamada walks over to Hitoshi, "You did well holding them off! I was going to stop it earlier...buuuutt..." He grins sheepishly, "I wanted to see how well you would do"

After seeing the look on his face, Yamada laughs, "I was always gonna step in if it got bad, Hitoshi, like I just did" His face turns serious, "He was your old bully right? Those were horrible things to say to you back there, has he always said things like that?"

"Yeah...thats him. I bet he's even angrier now I'm in a top hero school. I wonder what he'd do if I go into the hero's course"

"Its not very heroic...and blaming you for why you got cornered..." He frowns, "If anything they're the ones who will go bad. You're bleeding, does your nose hurt?"

"Yeah...a little"

"I'll walk home with you. My shift is over anyway"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. Let's go"

When they get home, Yamada immediately helps with his nosebleed and Aizawa demands to know what happned. They explain the situation, and he sighs. "At least you're ok"

He goes to bed shortly after, as the silence that had come over the apartment was becoming too much. Aizawa seemed to be thinking about something, and Yamada looked worried about him.

After a while, he hears them both talking about him. He sneaks over to the door, anxiously wondering what they're saying.

Yamada sighs, "You see yourself in him, don't you, Shouta? ...Or is this about Shirakumo?"

Aizawa scowls, throwing his scarf and goggles around his neck with a dark look on his face, "Cut to the point if you have one. I have somewhere to be"

He sighs, "There's a difference between you and Oboro. You persisted with your dream even when people didn't believe you could with your quirk. He gave up after the incident once people started to doubt him. I haven't been lying when I said you and Hitoshi are alike. He has worked towards his dream for eleven years, and I don't think some bullies can change that now when they hadn't before"

Aizawa sighs, "He's strong and I know he'll make a great hero. You just never know, and I don't want him to fall down that path"

"He won't"

"I know he won't"

Hitoshi watches Yamada pull him into a hug, kissing his forehead "Stay safe"

"I will" He sighs and walks out the apartment. Yamada sits back down, leaning his head back and shutting his eyes sighing. Hitoshi backs away from the door frowning.

Did Aizawa really worry about Hitoshi giving up? Did he really think there's a chance he could become a villain? Did he really not believe in him?

Hurt, Hitoshi starts to pace around the room to calm down, scratching at the back of his neck. "I'm just over thinking it. He's just concerned about me, he believes I can do it. He wouldn't have taken me in if he didn't" He focuses on his breathing, shutting his eyes.

After a few minutes, he finally manages to calm down and think rationally. He knows that his parents believe in him, but some past experience kept them, or Aizawa at least, worrying about something going wrong.

He decides to come out his room for some water, as his anxiety over their conversation left his mouth dry. Yamada opens his eyes as he walks out, "Trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah...but I always do anyway" Hitoshi shrugs.

He nods and sits up adjusting his glasses, before slowly holding his arms out as a gesture for a hug. Hitoshi pauses, then walks over to him and hugs back. They sit in silence for a while, until Yamda finally talks again "You'll ace this test, and become a great addition to the hero course. You did so well in the mock test against us, and held out against those bullies. We're so proud of you, Hitoshi"

Hitoshi smiles slightly, but the doubt is still there in the back of his mind. He doesn't want to hear the what if? That he's heard all his life from them, no matter what their reasons are. Because he doesn't want his own doubt to grow and ruin his dreams.