Lonely Rabbit

Chapter 10: Taking Action

But soon, those doubts vanished when he heard shouting and watched in anger and slight horror as Hitoshi was shoved outside the house, door slamming in his face.

It took Izuku great effort not to charge in right now, but thank goodness he was paranoid and decided to record from another fly-bot when he arrived in the neighborhood. Everything was on camera, and it would be some solid proof.

Good parents aren't supposed to kick their kids out of the house at midnight.

It would be awkward to try and talk to his friend as Rabbit, so instead, Izuku opted to follow the purple-haired teen to keep him safe. Then he could turn the filed over to the detective and his story about following a kid after watching him get kicked out would be 100% true and not suspicious.

'I'll get you out of there soon'

~ ~ ~

Hitoshi sighed as he walked down the deserted sidewalk with only the dim streetlights to guide him.

Today was a shitty day. His bullies had backed off after Izuku threatened them, but today they had figured out that physical beatings weren't the only way to bring him down.

When he had arrived to school and entered the classroom, his desk had a red spider-lily laid across it and note telling him to just give up and stop trying to be a hero among other distasteful things.

What he hadn't expected, was how his mind immediately though of Izuku. A vivid memory of how the black-haired teen brushed off his bullies after venting a bit with Hitoshi about them. He had even laughed and mentioned that the red flower of death was actually pretty once you look past it's universal meaning. Even so, the gesture itself was like a jab to the gut. 

After that, Hitoshi had been left alone when a group project was announced and now had to do it by himself. Even if it meant that asking Izuku for help was easier alone, it still made his skin prickle in resentment.

The cherry on top of this day was his parents. Apparently, they had a family friend over and offered to let them stay the night. As usual, Hitoshi was just staying up in his room the whole time, missing dinner. But hunger got the best of him eventually, and he foolishly tried to sneak into the kitchen for a sandwich.

He got caught despite it being midnight. His parents were still awake and talking quietly with their friends when he had accidently slid his plate a bit, making a small noise.

That is how he found himself here. Freezing and hungry out past midnight with no where to go. While it wasn't his first night kicked out of a house, it was the first one in a while and he felt small. Especially after how his day had been going so far.

Before he even realized where he was going, he ended up at a parkour route that he often took. Izuku had found it for him near his house in case Hitoshi ever wanted to practice close by. The only issue now was that it was night.

Izuku had told him multiple times to not go on any routes at night. For one, it was dark and harder to see his own footing and most importantly, two, criminals could be nearby at night.

Despite this, Hitoshi thought it couldn't hurt. This route had a few lights around it and was relatively easy compared to some others, so he wouldn't get too hurt even if he did fall. And if criminals showed up, well... he could probably escape. He had been training and was used to running away from people thanks to his bullies.

'I'll be fine' he told himself before he sprinted up to the concrete wall that marked the start of the route.

After scaling the 6 foot wall, Hitoshi quickly flipped off it and landed on the dumpster below. His abilities were far greater than he had actually anticipated them to be by now. After nearly a year of training with Izuku, Hitoshi felt as if he had been doing it far longer. After all, here he was jumping and scaling different walls, fire escapes, and rooftops among anything else he could use.

'Yup' he thought to himself as he landed safely from his dive roll of another ledge, 'completely normal skills for a 14 year old.'

Hitoshi was nearing the end of his route and pushed away the twinge of disappointment. When running, jumping, flipping, and climbing on parkour routes, his mind was calm, clear. He could only focus and think in the moment of his moves and what came next, leaving no room for anything else.

Unfortunately, he was a bit too lost in the moment and only barely sensed the punch headed his way.

He knew he couldn't dodge because it was a bit too late, but he did manage to bring up his arms and block the hit. With a grunt, he felt himself skid backwards from the force, his back hitting the brick wall.

'Never get corned', Izuku's matter-of-fact voice echoed, 'don't let them surround you and find a way out.'

Well shit. 

Hitoshi felt pretty dumb now as the three men approached him, smirking. Izuku had taught him so much about fighting and being aware of his surroundings, but the one night he does something risky, he forgets almost all of it.

And then, without warning, his hero appeared.

~ ~ ~

A/N: Sorry, not sorry, for the cliffhanger, but the next chapter will continue where this left off!