Alternative Title: Don't Forget Me When You're Famous, Yeah?
Atsuko's P.O.V
It'd been a couple of weeks since the gruelling practical exam, and a couple weeks of house arrest since I had broken my wing.
I was lucky the wax hadn't broken or melted off or I would've been rushed to the emergency room as per request of my mother.
I tried to convince her I was only going to hang out with friends multiple times, but she clapped back and said I didn't have any friends besides Matsuo; the man in question grinning triumphantly as he ate some jam covered toast at the table with his college assignments scattered around him.
I'd say I was hurt by her comment but it wasn't as if she was wrong.
I had lost a large majority of my friends due to medical conditions with my quirk, and had a hard time gaining more because of their dislike towards my wings that hurt them more times than not.
Hitoshi and I kept contact after the exam, as well as Mashirao who tagged along with us both during the final minutes of the exam.
A pair of us continued to distract villains while the final member of our trio snagged the points, switching positions every so often to balance the spread of points.
The lilac-haired teen was much nicer than his demeanour let him seem. I found this out when we walked towards our homes and he stopped to wrap more than three stray kittens and their mother in his coat, insisting he knew an animal shelter -which doubled as a cat cafe- that he could take them to.
A man after my own heart, which was already his from the get-go.
My flight license was due any day now with much anguish, the train was starting to worsen as the new high school year flew in accompanied by my broken wing rubbing against every single person I was pushed against.
The pale pink of my Dad's hair peeked into the kitchen where we had all congregated for our own reasons; Mum was working with a new batch of her honey with a few bees swarming around her and placing flowers in her hair, Matsuo was working on college work as well as bills from his own business, and I was making some Eraserhead-themed cookies for the closet-fan, Hitoshi.
"Come get y'all's juice!"
With that single sentence, we all stopped what we were doing to rush over to Dad, swamping him with our presence as we waited for him to give us our mail, despite him being the tallest in the family.
This was what happened every few days when we received our bulk mail, though Dad usually hid the odd few letters from us as a joke. He didn't laugh when we hid a few of his spoons in retaliation, though.
Two letters were handed to me, one with a large, solid bump in the middle and a fancy wax seal and the other a smooth finish.
'My flight license!' I disregarded the bulky one on the table momentarily since I wasn't expecting any other letters. The envelope was torn in seconds and I was left with the fresh, rectangular cut of plastic that gave me legal freedom for another four years.
'I'm going to miss when those punk kids ask to braid my hair, they were so sweet.' I thought with teary eyes, holding the license close to my heart.
"Hey, trinket; you've got another letter, don't you? Are you expecting something else?" Dad called affectionately to me after Mum gave him a peck on the cheek for her mail, returning to her honey with an evident pep in her step.
"Huh? Oh yeah..I wonder what it is.." I mumbled and sat my license down, replacing it with the wax-sealed letter which was soon removed.
Matsuo grinned from his place at the table, hiding it terribly with a slice of toast as he watched me open the letter.
A small disc-projector laid inside and lit up immediately when it was exposed to the sunlight in our home. I quickly placed it on the table and watched cautiously, unsure of what was happening whereas my parents and brother were gleeful.
"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!" The Symbol of Peace yelled out from the disc, followed by a hearty laugh.
"shiT!" I stumbled away from the table in fright, earning a narrowed look from my Dad.
"Language." He scolded before he looked back to the projection.
"Japanese." Was my rebuttal.
"Congratulations, Young Takanashi! You passed with exceptional marks on your written exam, which already placed you within high ranks out of all examinees!" All Might congratulated me, my focus on him rather than my parents screeching in the background, my Mum swinging her husband around in her arms easily.
"However, there was also a practical exam that you had to pass, as you may know! You and your purple-haired friend worked seamlessly together during this segment, and while it wasn't encouraged, no points were deducted for the sportsmanship!" A video was shown of me in Principal Nezu's office after the exams, an angry look on my face.
"Your drive to set things straight with your friend's points was admirable, I must admit-" He spoke before the audio played.
"You can't seriously be telling me that you can't give him some of my points, can you?!" I yelled with my hands slammed onto the mouse-hybrid's desk while he sat with a teacup in his paws.
"I'm terribly sorry, Takanashi-san, but it's something we simply don't do here, no matter how much someone deserves it. This exam was designed to weed out any unsuitable candidates-"
"This exam is biased towards certain quirks! You'd think that someone with such a smart quirk as yours would realise that there are some quirks that don't work on non-organic things!" I continued to raise my voice, my sharpened eyes piercing into the principal.
"My friend, and I'm sure many others, was at an unfair disadvantage because of his quirk and the way you people work here. His quirk relies on verbal response for it to work, so tell me this. How do you expect someone like that to fare against a bucket of bolts that'll shoot you on sight if you're not quick enough?!"
The principal was silent as he sat his cup down, staring at me with beady black eyes that were filled with remorse.
"I can tell you are upset for your friend's misfortune, Takanashi-san, so listen carefully." He spoke carefully with his paws intertwined.
"Thanks to you, Shinsou Hitoshi was gifted additional rescue points to the equivalent of yours. This however, was not enough to place him aside you." All Might's tone was sad and comforting, though I caught none of it from the pain in my chest. I looked down at the empty envelope in my hands, crinkling from how tightly I was holding it.
'Hitoshi...He'd be receiving his letter around the same time. What kind of friend am I? I'm sorry I couldn't do more, 'Toshi..'
"As I said earlier, this exam was not only graded on villain points! Rescue points are given by a panel of judges. It's the other basic ability we at U.A. look at!" A screen of names covered All Might's figure, my eyes easily finding my name and position.
No. 1 '高梨敦子 Takanashi Atsuko - 32 Villain - 54 Rescue'
'Eigh-eighty-six points..'
"You passed with flying colours." All Might concluded with a pride-filled voice, holding out his hand to the projector.
'This is...this is really..!'
"Come, Young Takanashi. This is your hero academia!"
-Timeskip to an hour later. Location: Bado Park-
I sat in silence on the park bench with Hitoshi, my wing wrapped tightly so no cold air could get to the breakage even though I was a walking space heater.
"I heard from my mum that your letter arrived around the same time as mine, what a coincidence right?" I laughed quietly with a smile that was far from reaching my eyes. Hitoshi was sat close to me for heat in the cold evening, though his eyes were on the ground and his hands shoved in his sweater pockets as he refused to speak. He nodded.
I..I didn't know how to approach this topic, it was obvious he was heartbroken over what All Might had said, no doubt having shown Hitoshi the video of me yelling abuse at the mousey principal for his sake. He probably didn't want to see me at all. It was such a stupid idea, he most definitely wanted to be left alone.
"I'm sorry, 'Toshi. I'm so sorry I couldn't do more. I..I shouldn't have brought you out here when you wanted to be alone, I just..I wanted to make sure you were okay." I muttered, my hands wrapped around the Eraserhead cookies to try and keep them warm for him. These were supposed to celebrate us getting into the same class; hero course cookies! Now they were just a bad reminder of what I failed to do for my friend.
Lanky arms wrapped around me in a warm hug, Hitoshi settling his chin on my head as he gently rubbed my back. Why was he comforting me? He's supposed to be the one being comforted, not me! I shouldn't be the one getting emotional!
"Look, Suko. If you got in, I'm..I'm more than happy. I'm still going to U.A., I'll just be placed in General Studies.." The lull of his voice was soothing, feeling the vibrations against my head as I hesitantly wrapped my arms around him.
"Why..why can't they see people for who they are instead of just flashy quirks any more..?" I grumbled into his shoulder; my wings curling closer to me in a moment of insecurity as I held onto him tighter, the cool material of his coat feeling nice against my boiling hot body.
"I don't know, Su...Just," He began, his voice trembling while I pulled him closer, his own grip tightening to envelop me entirely in his embrace.
"Just don't forget me when you're famous, yeah?"