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When Hitoshi was born, it was for no reason other than to please his grandparents.
They belonged to a long line of rich families and business owners. Hitoshi’s parents didn’t want kids, but their parents didn't like that, talking about how important a Heir was. They could never understand.
When he was young, his grandparents mostly took care of him, giving him attention and love. As he grew, and became less cute, they stopped caring so much.
For the most part, Hitoshi was alone. His parents did the bare minimum, enrolling him into a school and making sure he had a place to sleep. He had to raise himself to an extent.
His grandparents visited every now and again, if only to keep up appearances, but it was clear, nobody wanted him. It was something he found himself irrationally angry over.
Why would they have me if they didn’t want me?
It wasn’t fair
.
He grew up distant, and mean. It was a defense mechanism, partly. Mostly, because he wanted to give his parents a reason to look at him. He wanted to give them a reason to care.
He got in trouble more times than he could count, talking back to teachers, picking fights with peers, smudging dirt on the family name.
If you don’t look at me, I’ll give you a reason to look.
They never did.
They waved him off, gave him a slap on the wrist and told him to go.
He stayed up more nights than he could count, always asking
why, why, why, why won’t you look at me?
He pushed harder, he got into more fights and started destroying property. They never looked. With the bat of an eyelash they paid the property owners to stay quiet, they never even mentioned him.
He never made friends. He never learned to talk to people without spitting insults and pushing buttons. He never tried to, he couldn’t care enough. When it felt like nothing worked, he stopped trying.
Until he found something else to chase after. Like every other person ever, he looked to heroes.
Maybe if I become a hero, they’ll look at me.
So he trained on his own, practiced his quirk on unsuspecting, and applied to UA’s hero course. He was confident he would make it in.
He did everything he could, so why wouldn’t he?
“Some people just aren’t meant for it.”
What?
That's not right.
Because of my quirk?
It wasn’t fair.
He failed the entrance exam. But there was another chance, the sports festival, where he could prove he was worthy to be seen.
Why won’t they look at me?
The days counting up to it, he trained harder than he ever had. His parents never batted an eye,
why won’t they look at me?
Not even when he returned home with bruises and cuts.
They never cared.
The day of the sports festival, he got up extra early, had a nice cup of coffee, the expensive kind, and trained extra hard. By the time he needed to shower before leaving, he was a sweaty mess.
He had another coffee before leaving.
They didn’t even say goodbye.
He made it to UA, and was so,
so
hopeful, that maybe,
just maybe
, someone would
look.
Someone would see him.
But he was wrong. He lost everything to that.. Midoriya Izuku. Of course someone like him made it. Never someone like Hitoshi. They would never look.
Why won’t you look at me!?
He felt hopeless, like nothing would ever change, he would forever be chasing something nobody would ever give him.
Until Aizawa.
He had approached Hitoshi after the sports festival, offering to personally mentor him.
Aizawa was someone like him, never being seen before becoming someone
worthy
of being seen. He clung to Aizawa like he was a life line.
In a way, he was.
Aizawa was mean. Cruel, and unforgiving. And yet he was the only one to
try.
Training with Aizawa was hard, and sucked, but he had an end goal now. He would become someone worthy of being seen, with Aizawa’s help.
With Aizawa’s help, he would be seen.
With Aizawa, he felt seen.
You saw me.