During that week of waiting for their results, Izuku finally got to ask Mei about her experiences during the entrance exam. Let's just say she may or may not have terrified the judges by flying straight at them while demonstrating the jet pack. He also was texting Shinsou who was apparently an insomniatic meme master and would send him the weirdest things at all hours of the day. Since all of them applied to UA, they all agreed to meet up when their letters arrived and open them together.
On a Sunday, the letters finally came and the three decided to meet at the Midoriya household. Mei had become a regular after becoming friends with Izuku. Well, whenever she could be dragged away from her lab. However, this would be Shinsou's first time there and Izuku wondered how his newest friend would react to his doting mom and Mei-chan with all her eccentric tendencies.
...
Hitoshi hesitated in front of the door to the home, nervous about meeting not one but two new people, Midoriya's mom and his crazy sounding pink haired friend. This was his first time meeting a friend's parent and he worried about messing things up. Midoriya might think his Quirk wasn't villainous, but that doesn't necessarily mean his mom shared the same opinion. Not to mention the greenet's other friend. What would she think?
One more deep breath, he finally built up enough courage and knocked on the door. There was the shuffling of feet and the door opened to the sunshine smile of his green haired friend. So bright. I need to bring sunglasses next time.
"Hey, Shinsou-kun! You made it!" Midoriya chirped, pulling the other inside. Hitoshi took off his shoes at the entrance and walked further into the house.
A green haired woman walked out from the kitchen and smiled when she saw Hitoshi. Her smile was just as bright as Midoriya's and left no doubt that this was the other boy's mother. "Hello, I'm Midoriya Inko, Izuku's mother," the woman greeted. "You must be this Shinsou he's told me about?"
Midoriya blushed as Hitoshi gave him a side glance before looking back to the woman. "I'm Shinsou Hitoshi. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Midoriya." He gave a small bow in greeting.
"Oh, none of that formal stuff now," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "Please call me Inko."
"Or auntie!" a pink haired girl interjected, hugging Inko from behind. "Hiya! The name's Hatsume Mei. Nice to meet ya, Hitoshi! Call me Mei." She detached from the mother and practically shoved her hand in Hitoshi's face. He blinked at it owlishly before hesitantly shaking it.
"Mei-chan, don't overwhelm him!" Midoriya scolded, pulling her away from the taller boy. "Sorry about her. She gets overexcited a lot, but she means well. Um, h-hopefully her using your first name doesn't bother you. She doesn't do family names with friends."
Hitoshi simply shrugged, figuring she was going to do what she wanted. She already thinks of me as a friend? "It's alright. I don't mind. What about you?"
"Huh? Oh, um, y-you can call me I-Izuku, if you like," Mido-Izuku stuttered, looking at the ground bashfully.
"Cool. Then you can call me Hitoshi."
Izuku looked up at him and asked, "Does this mean we're f-friends?"
"Duh," the brainwasher replied flatly, though he himself was surprised to be making friends. Inko snickered at the exchange.
"Shall we get this letter opening party started?" Hats-Mei asked, turning from the group and walking toward the living room.
The other three followed and Hitoshi was led into a cozy room with a couch and a couple of chairs. There was a tv, book shelves, and pictures hanging on the walls. The table next to the couch had an impressive assortment of snacks. Mei and Inko sat in the chairs while Izuku and Hitoshi took the couch.
"Do we want to open them one at a time or all at once?" the pinkette asked, pulling out her letter.
"How about all at once?" Izuku suggested, pulling out his own and Hitoshi following suit. "It'll be like ripping off a bandage."
"Your comparison isn't very encouraging, Izuku," Hitoshi deadpanned. Inko giggle at the comment.
"On the count of three?" the greenet asked, getting nods from the other two. "Ok, here it goes. One. Two. Three!"
At the same time, the three teens opened their letters and read the paper inside. There was a pregnant silence as the teens read. Inko's eyes flicked between them, looking for any kind of reaction. The anticipation was killing her.
"Well? What did they say?!" the mother asked, unable to wait any longer.
"I got into the Support Course!" Izuku piped up first, looking from the letter to his mom with a smile. "They said they were impressed with my submission and looked forward to my Quirk Replication research."
"I got in, too!" Mei exclaimed, beaming and shot up to hug her fellow inventor. "Oh my gosh, we are going to be making so many babies together!"
Inko blushed at the comment while Izuku quickly berated her. "Mei-chan! Context! She doesn't mean actually babies, Hitoshi-kun. That's just what she calls…her…"
The greenet paused as he took in the grim expression on his friend's face. The taller boy hadn't looked up from his letter and seemed to not have been paying any attention to the others. "Um, H-Hitoshi-kun? Are you okay?"
There was a few more minutes of silence before the purple haired boy spoke up. "I…didn't get into the Hero Course."
Tears immediately welled in Izuku's eye. Poor Hitoshi-kun. "W-what are you going to do now?"
Hitoshi finally turned away from the letter to look into his green eyes. "Go to UA, of course."
"Huh?" Izuku said, confused.
"I said I didn't get into the Hero Course," Hitoshi said, as a smirk grew on his face. "General Studies on the other hand…"
"Hitoshi-kun, you jerk!" Izuku groaned, smacking the other boy's arm who merely laughed in response. "I thought we wouldn't be going to the same school. I was actually worried about you!"
"I'm sorry! Ha! I couldn't resist," the taller boy snickered. Then he sobered up a little. "I figured I wouldn't make the Hero Course. I did my best during the practical but there was only so much I could do against robots. So, I applied for General Studies as a backup. That way I could still go to UA."
"That was very practical of you, Hitoshi," Inko commented, making him blush slightly.
"I just thought it would be good to have a plan B," Hitoshi said, scratching his head. "Guess I'll have to give up on being a Hero though."
"You don't have to do that, Hitoshi-kun," Izuku said. The taller boy looked at the other confused. "There is more than one way into the Hero Course." Hitoshi wasn't sure what to think of the coy smile on the shorter boy's face.
...
After opening the letters, the four enjoyed the array of snacks and chatted happily until it was time for Hitoshi and Mei to go home. They all pitched in to clean up and put everything away. It was when they were all gathered around the front door that Hitoshi noticed the framed newspaper clipping.
Huh, that's a weird thing to frame, thought the brainwasher. He walked towards it for a better look.
Upon closer inspection, he found it was an article about a beach that had been cleaned up by some unknown person. Hitoshi remembered hearing about it from listening to his classmates' conversations, but never put much thought into it. Then he saw the picture of Izuku with the clean beach behind it.
"Izuku," Hitoshi called out, getting the greenet's attention.
The shorter boy walked over to him. "Yeah, Hitoshi-kun?"
"Did you help clean up that beach?" the purple haired boy asked, pointing to the newspaper.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I did," Izuku replied, blushing a bit. "I went for a run one day and noticed how much trash was there, so I decided to clean it."
"How long did it take?" Hitoshi asked, studying the before and after pictures of the beach.
"Hmm, about ten months, I think," the greenet responded, his hand on his chin in thought. "It would have been done sooner, but I only have two hands." The shorter boy chuckled to himself as he held up said hands.
"You…cleaned the beach…by yourself?" Hitoshi said, his words sounding unsure because he was having a hard time comprehending the concept. This one boy cleaned a whole beach filled to the brim with garbage all by himself. Damn.
"Um, yes? Actually, Mei-chan helped some at the end with the really big pieces, but yeah, mostly just me." Izuku bashfully scratched his head, not looking at the other boy. "Someone needed to, so why not me? Plus, now people are enjoying the beach again which made all that hard work worth it." A warm smile replaced his bashful face as he looked at the newspaper.
"You certainly are one-of-a-kind, Izuku," Hitoshi stated, smiling and shaking his head.
...
Blog name: ja0-s-blank-canvas-fic
Notes extension: post/626547975181697024/chapter-9-acceptance-letters