Life slowly seemed to be improving for Hitoshi. He was doing great with his lessons with Nedzu and Midoriya had been helping tutor him further in reading (something the green-haired boy was actually really good at; Hitoshi wondered if he'd ever considered becoming a teacher). His literacy was improving rapidly thanks to the extra help, something he was endlessly grateful for.

He'd also taken up Aizawa's suggestion on training with someone who had a non-combat oriented quirk. The man had asked Uraraka if she'd be willing to stay after school a few days a week to help Hitoshi train. "I figured she was the best option," Aizawa had explained to him. "She's someone clever, with a non-combat oriented quirk, and you already know her so it should be easier than with someone unfamiliar." The girl had readily agreed, and so the two of them regularly spent time training together under Aizawa's supervision. Yaoyorozu eventually joined them, as well; he was nervous at first, but they actually got along really well. Hitoshi was pretty sure he'd noticed himself improving already.

Kaminari had dragged him to meet his friend group not too long after the whole restaurant thing. They were certainly…something. They weren't lacking in energy, that was for sure. Hitoshi hadn't known just how much a person could talk until he got to know Ashido and Kirishima. Sero was a bit calmer, but still definitely more than Hitoshi was used to.

Bakugou was an interesting contrast to the rest of the group. Nowhere near as cheerful, but just as loud. His anger had set Hitoshi on edge at first, but after no one in the group took it seriously and Bakugou did nothing more than yell insults, Hitoshi had found himself able to relax.

Time went by before Hitoshi realized it, and suddenly he found himself at the end of June. With less than a month left in the semester, everyone had been busy studying for exams. Hitoshi, too, had an exam he'd been studying for, though one quite different from everyone else's.

His mental health had been improving steadily due to his therapy. He'd slowly been getting better at socializing thanks to the friends he, against all odds, had made. His ability to read was better than ever and his other lessons were rapidly getting easier as a result. He'd improved a lot since his lessons first started.

Nedzu had decided that with all these improvements, Hitoshi was due for an exam at the end of the semester. Both his academics and hero training would be tested, just like all the other hero course students - though his requirements would of course be a bit different. If he could pass, he could be transferred into 1-A as soon as the second semester. He would still take separate remedial lessons at times for subjects such as math and Japanese - a single semester was not enough to make up for years of missed school, no matter how good a teacher Nedzu was - but he'd be a part of all hero training the class partook in, as well as subjects easier for him to join in such as science and history. He'd be able to join the harder classes once Nedzu determined he'd progressed enough in their remedial lessons.

This was huge. This meant Hitoshi had been doing a good job. This meant Hitoshi actually had a chance at becoming a hero. He could hardly believe it. Even with a whole month ahead of him, he had thrown himself fully into his studies. He knew he'd probably have other opportunities if he failed this exam - Principal Nedzu did originally intend for him to transfer at the start of the second year, after all - but he couldn't bear the thought. He could do it. He'd spent so much time trying to catch up to his peers. He needed to know it had paid off.

He perhaps had been studying a little too much because of this. He'd found himself ignoring the class group chat despite being able to read it much better now and even spending his lunch breaks pouring over the material he needed rather than spending time with anyone in 1-A like usual. He really only took breaks anymore when Eri wanted to spend time with him - he could never let her down.

It had gotten to the point Yamada had pulled him aside to talk about it. "Your studies are important, Little Listener, but you need to make time for other things, too! It's not healthy to spend all your time studying!"

Hitoshi had frowned in confusion at that. "But I have been doing other things. I've been spending time with Eri."

"Well, yes, but only when she asks you to. And even if you were doing it on your own, you still need to do other things. It's all you've done for the last two weeks. Maybe you should hang out with your friends or take some time for yourself, yeah?"

Well, that didn't make any sense to Hitoshi. Wasn't making sure he got transferred the most important thing for him right now? He agreed with an, "Okay," not wanting to push the point, but he didn't plan on actually doing anything more than studying even so. Yamada let the subject go, but Hitoshi was pretty sure that that look on his face meant he didn't believe him.

It didn't really matter, he supposed. His exam would be soon. Once he took it, he could do what Yamada wanted. But he had to be prepared, so until then, he'd have to focus on studying.

A couple days went by. Yamada and Aizawa were once again exchanging concerned glances and talking quietly when they thought Hitoshi wasn't listening. He never could make out the words, but he figured it was probably about him. Maybe Yamada wasn't going to let the previous subject go as easily as Hitoshi had thought.

Well, he'd work until they stopped him, he supposed. He'd ignore their quiet conversations, the headache pulsing behind his eyes, and the stress slowly rising inside him. He had to be ready. He could worry about everything later.

An inconveniently timed ring of the doorbell sounded, Aizawa calling Hitoshi to get the door. Damn it. Couldn't he just work in peace?

He reluctantly got up, walking to the door. He opened it slowly, a familiar annoying blonde standing on the other side.

"Yo! Hey, Hitoshi!" Kaminari said excitedly, with far too much energy for anyone to have before at least noon. "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today?"

Why not text and ask, then? Hitoshi wondered. Why come directly to my door? He was going to turn him down - July had just started, the exam was this month - but Yamada was suddenly behind him.

"Doesn't that sound fun, Listener?" the man said. It was not an actual question. "You've spent so much time cooped up inside! You should go, have some fun!"

Well. There goes Hitoshi's study plans. Kaminari practically dragged him out the door at Yamada's response. "Yaoyorozu wanted to hang out today, so we're going to her house!"

That was odd. Did Yaoyorozu and Kaminari even hang out? Hitoshi didn't think so. He was pretty sure they were acquaintances at best. Definitely not close enough that spending a Saturday together was normal. Hell, even Hitoshi didn't interact with her much outside of after school training. What was going on?

He tried asking Kaminari, but the boy simply deflected the question with a, "What? Can't she just want to know us better? Besides, doesn't she seem like she'd be a good friend?"

Of course she did, but that didn't make this situation any less odd. Kaminari's explanation just felt off, but it seemed like Hitoshi wouldn't be getting a straight answer. Looked like he'd have to go along with it if he wanted to figure out what the hell was going on.

A walk to the train station and a train ride later, they were nearly there. Kaminari chatted nonstop about nothing the entire walk from the station they got off at as they headed to Yaoyorozu's house. Hitoshi couldn't help but feel a tinge of annoyance at the lack of answers - or any actually substantial conversation, for that matter.

"And we're here!" Kaminari announced as they finally stopped in front of a house. Hitoshi blinked, uncomprehending.

…Did Kaminari even bring them to the right place? Surely a house like this couldn't be right.

Kaminari rang the doorbell before he could question him. To Hitoshi's surprise, Yaoyorozu answered the door. I didn't expect her to live somewhere like this. Is her family rich? They had to be to live in a place like this, though Yaoyorozu's kindness and lack of stuck-upness certainly didn't make him think that.

Yaoyorozu smiled brightly, gesturing for them to follow her with a, "Come in!" Kaminari wasted no time letting himself in, Hitoshi trailing uncertainly behind.

It was somehow even bigger on the inside. Hitoshi never felt so out of place. God, were there really people who lived like this? It was baffling.

She led them through the brightly lit house to a darkened room. Kaminari was practically vibrating in excitement, and even Yaoyorozu seemed to be growing more giddy by the second. Seriously, what was going on? What were they-

Yaoyorozu flicked the light on, a loud shout of "Surprise!" pulling Hitoshi from his thoughts. He stared dumbly. What the hell?

…Oh. June just ended, didn't it? It was July 1st. His birthday. He was sixteen now. His birthday had arrived and he hadn't even noticed, absorbed in his studying as he was. But it looked like the entirety of 1-A knew.

"Oh, god. Shinsou? Are you okay? Did we do something wrong?" Ashido's panicked voice questioned.

That was a weird question. Of course he was okay. Why wouldn't he be?

He absentmindedly touched his face, feeling a dampness on his cheeks. Oh. He was crying. He wiped at his eyes, sniffling, a smile spreading across his face before he realized it was happening. "Thank you."

The room seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Ashido took that as her cue to drag him into the room, in front of a table full of food. "We all brought a bunch of food for the party! Or, well, most of us did. I tried cooking something, but…" she trailed off sheepishly, chuckling nervously.

"Should've just bought something like Shitty Hair and Dunce Face," Bakugou grumbled, and oh, Hitoshi did not expect to see him here. He figured he was the type to avoid social events like the plague. "They knew if they tried to cook, it'd end up badly."

Kaminari gasped in mock offense, hand flying dramatically to his chest. "Rude! I'll have you know I'm an excellent cook!"

Bakugo leveled him with a glare. "You managed to set water on fire." Hitoshi really wanted to know the story behind that. Kaminari stuttered in response; upon finding no rebuttal, he sighed in defeat, head hanging and arms falling limp.

Yaoyorozu clapped her hands together to prevent further arguments, reminding Hitoshi of a teacher. "Alright! Why don't we all eat, then?"

It was a lot of food, more than Hitoshi had ever seen in one place before. He made a point to get at least a little of everything, though. Everyone bothered to make or buy something for him; he wasn't going to let it go to waste.

He was able to eat some of what everyone brought except for Bakugou's. He was a shockingly good cook, but the food was far spicier than Hitoshi thought any human should be able to eat. Everyone else seemed to agree based on their avoidance of his food, except for Bakugou himself and, surprisingly, Midoriya.

Ashido loudly announced it was time for cake, prompting Yaoyorozu to grab it from the kitchen. "Satou made it, so you know it's gonna be good!" the pink-haired girl excitedly informed him. Hitoshi had no idea what the boy's cooking skills were like, but seeing as she was met with nothing but nods and sounds of agreement, he decided he must be good.

Hitoshi was honestly kind of excited for it. He couldn't remember what cake tasted like. Hell, he couldn't remember what birthday parties were supposed to be like, either. Everything about this was so new to him, but this time, the newness didn't scare him. It excited him.

Yaoyorozu came out with the cake, setting in before him. He blinked at it. Was it supposed to have candles on it? Was that a normal feature of birthday cakes? He didn't think that made sense, but then, he hadn't celebrated his birthday in more than a decade. Everyone was looking at him expectantly, but Hitoshi wasn't sure what to do. He was beginning to feel a little nervous. His social ineptitude was showing again.

"Come on, blow them out already!" Uraraka encouraged cheerfully, leaning over eagerly. That made sense, he supposed. He took a deep breath, then blew out, extinguishing all the candles at once. His classmates cheered around him. His face reddened slightly at that, but the eager flapping of his hands beside him revealed his happiness.

Satou cut into the cake, setting the first slice in front of him. Hitoshi hesitantly raised a bite to his mouth.

Oh. Oh. That was what cake tasted like. How could Hitoshi forget something so good? The flavor of chocolate filled his mouth completely, sweet but not too sweet, rich but not overly so. It was incredible. It took all his restraint to stop himself from just inhaling it all. Everyone else seemed to be having the same problem. Kaminari and Sero did not show the same restraint everyone else did. He was pretty sure more of it ended up on their faces, as if they were toddlers.

After cake, Uraraka pulled Hitoshi behind her to where the presents were, and man, was she stronger than she looked. She was fast moving with a tight grip, and he was worried he'd fall trying to keep up. He couldn't find it in himself to care, though. Her excitement over giving gifts to him of all people made him feel warm inside.

It felt like a ridiculous amount of things were given to him: clothes, snacks, games - both tabletop and video games. A few of them had pooled their money together to buy him a console to actually play said video games on. Must have been Kaminari's idea - he'd seemed personally offended when Hitoshi had told him he'd never played video games before. He didn't have enough words to describe just how grateful he was for all the gifts.

As soon as he'd opened everything, Kaminari had declared it time for Mario Kart, one of the games he'd been given. Hitoshi had never heard of it before, but it was really fun. He didn't think he'd ever laughed so loudly and openly before. It was awesome.

Hours had passed by before Hitoshi had realized it, as if time wasn't even real. He was shocked out of his timeless trance by the ringing of his phone. Yamada was calling. He clicked the accept button, raising the phone to his ear.

"Hey, Little Listener! Hope you've been having a good time! I hate to interrupt, but you have been gone a while now, and we still have a surprise for you ourselves!"

Hitoshi blinked. "A surprise?"

"Of course! You didn't think we'd forget about your birthday, did you?" he exclaimed. "You're at Yaoyorozu's house, yeah? I'll be there in a few minutes!"

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Upon informing them he had to leave, his classmates pulled out their phones, exclamations of surprise upon seeing the time.

"Wasn't it, like, 11:00 or 12:00 when Shinsou got here?" Ashido questioned disbelievingly. "When did it get to be 5:00?"

"Ah, shit, my parents are gonna kill me!" Kaminari lamented. "I was supposed to be home, like, an hour ago!" Sounds of texting and talking over the phone began filling the room as the others contacted their parents, as well. Seemed like the party was officially coming to a close.

Before he knew it, Yamada had arrived and they were riding home. Hitoshi talked more on that trip then he was pretty sure he ever had in his life. There was just so much that happened at the party he wanted to talk about. He couldn't contain his excitement. Yamada seemed to share in his happiness despite not having been there himself, a wide smile on his face the whole time Hitoshi spoke.

They'd made a cake of their own while Hitoshi was gone, this one strawberry. Eri excitedly told him about how she'd helped make it for him. He decided this one was even better than the one Satou had made. After all, it was Yamada and Eri who made it for him. What could be better?

Then, more presents. His face brightened as he pulled out a couple cat plushies, to go with the one he'd gotten at his first trip to the mall all those months ago. Unlike then, he was no longer ashamed of his love of them. This time, he showed his joy unabashedly.

His favorite gift, however, was the drawing Eri gave him. In the middle were the two of them, hugging. Yamada and Aizawa stood right outside the center, one on each side, stick figure arms wrapped around both of them. Large smiles were drawn on each of their faces. Bastard and Pumpkin sat at their feet.

It was perfect.

He asked Aizawa if they had any unused picture frames - they did - and he hung the drawing up in his room immediately. Eri's beaming face upon seeing it hung on his wall made something warm bubble up in his chest. He loved her. He loved his foster parents.

"Kiddo? We've still got one more thing for you," Yamada told him. He sounded nervous, making Hitoshi a bit uneasy, as well. "Well, for both you and Eri, really."

Aizawa walked up behind his husband, papers in hand. It was harder to read his emotions than Yamada's, but Hitoshi could tell he was nervous, too. He felt his apprehension growing as Aizawa finally placed the papers in his hand.

A hand flew up to his mouth, tears springing in his eyes. He didn't even try to hold them back. He was suddenly immensely grateful for Midoriya's reading lessons. He didn't think he'd have been able to read it otherwise.

This was adoption paperwork. It meant they wanted him. Permanently. He'd always had the worry in the back of his mind that his stay with them would be temporary. This was proof to the contrary.

He was at a loss for words. "This…this is…"

Yamada wrung his hands together nervously. "It's okay if you don't want this. You can say no. We haven't submitted the paperwork yet. We wanted you to have the final say. There's no pressure if-"

Hitoshi cut the man off by wrapping his arms around him in a hug. "Thank you," he managed through his tears. "Thank you so much." Yamada easily returned the hug. He was pretty sure the man's eyes were watering, too. He reached an arm out to Aizawa, who joined the hug, as well.

Eri tilted her head in confusion as they finally pulled away from the hug, looking an awful lot like a puppy. "What's going on? What were those papers? Are you okay, Nii-san?" she asked worriedly.

He smiled warmly at her, wiping his wet cheeks and watery eyes. "Yeah. I'm okay, Eri. Better than okay," he reassured. He knelt down to give her a hug. "They're…they're adopting us." The words didn't sound real to his ears, like they were too good to be true.

Her eyes widened at his words. "Adopting? That…that means they're going to be our daddies forever, right?" she hesitantly questioned.

He squeezed her a bit tighter. "Yeah. That's exactly what it means. And you'll officially be my sister," he told her, bringing her as close as he could.

He loved his sister. He loved his parents.