Running on Empty

An arrival in the post

So much had happened in the past week, what with therapy and the interview, it entirely slipped Hitoshi's mind that he was supposed to be eagerly awaiting the results of his exam. In fact, the letter from UA was greeted with more surprise than anxiety when it finally arrived in their letterbox.

It was exactly a week after he'd taken the test, and the three of them returned from UA in high spirits. Nothing in particular had put them in a good mood, but the promise of a day off tomorrow was enough to make anyone smile. Not that Hitoshi'd been working all day, his school only had a 5-day week, but it was still tiring having to get up early, and nothing beats spending the day at home with the cats.

They took their usual detour past the stack of letter boxes, and Hizashi flicked through their post mindlessly before letting out an 'Ah ha!' and shoving a white envelope in his face.

Hitoshi took it wordlessly, taking in the red seal of the hero school and his eyes widened. Oh yeah, the exam, ged ed, all his plans for the future. He was about to find out if any of that was possible and he'd... completely forgotten.

The rest of the journey to their apartment was somewhat tenser; Shouta and Hizashi had decided not to ask Nedzu beforehand. He could have had his results a few days ago if they had, but they didn't want to have to keep it from Hitoshi.

They did however offer to leave the room when he opened it, but Hitoshi decided they might as well stay. They'd find out the results anyway, might as well just jump in the deep end and go for it.

They sat around the kitchen table, Luna curled on his lap as Dog lay on the table eyeing them suspiciously. Both the heroes were smiling at him, and Hitoshi had the sudden gut-wrenching thought that he really couldn't bear to let them down. They'd weaselled their way into his heart and the last thing he wanted was to disappoint the two.

Almost as if he was reading his thoughts (Hitoshi was beginning to think the guy was psychic) Shouta caught his eye, "It's not the end of the world if you don't get in 'Toshi, there are other options, and we'll continue to support you."

"Yeah kiddo! Don't even worry about it!" Hizashi chimed in energetically and Hitoshi felt himself relax a little. Whatever happened, they'd promised not to leave him.

With a sudden burst of confidence he ripped open the letter and a small round disk fell out. He watched with fascination as a hologram of Nedzu appeared.

"Good afternoon Shinsou Hitoshi," he paused to take a sip of tea, "your results from the General Studies exam have been calculated. The test was worth a total of 100 marks..." Another sip of tea. "In order to earn a spot on the course you had to get at least 75%. The higher you scored impacts which of the classes you'd be put in, with the highest achievers going in class 1C, and those who received fewer marks in 1D and 1E." Yet another sip of tea, Hitoshi had no doubt he was drawing this out on purpose. "In regards to your score..." He finished the mug slowly and calmly set it to the side, the sadistic rat. Hitoshi gritted his teeth as the Principal sent a predatory grin his way, even through the recording he seemed to be looking straight at him.

"You got 92 out of 100. Congratulations Hitoshi you have earned yourself a place in class 1C with one of the highest marks out of all the applicants."

Hizashi squealed and shook his arm excitedly as a table showing the soon-to-be 1C's results was projected. Hitoshi had the third highest score.

What.

"I look forward to seeing you in April." Nedzu sang and the video cut off.

What?!

Hizashi was still squealing and Hitoshi could only laugh at the overjoyed expression on his face. He didn't even feel the slightest bit annoyed when Dog reached forward and swiped the holographic disk off of the table.

"WE KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!" The voice hero yelled and Hitoshi winced as Shouta made no attempt to erase his quirk. Apparently he felt that Hitoshi needed it to be yelled for him to understand. That wasn't entirely unfounded, he hadn't believed them every time they'd told him so before.

"We're proud of you kid." Shouta stated, sounding surprisingly earnest.

"SO PROUD!"

"You should be proud of yourself too."

"I am." He confessed quietly, a smile tugging on his lips. He'd really done it! He'd actually got in!

"WAIT SHO 1C!" 'Zashi yelled all of a sudden looking even more over the moon.

Hitoshi tilted his head in confusion as Shouta shot his husband a fond look, "Of course! I didn't even think about that."

"About what?" Hitoshi asked curiously. What was so special about the class he was going to be in?

Hizashi turned to him with sparkling eyes and opened his mouth, but Sho cut in before he could say anything, "It's a surprise."

"Huh, no fair!" He claimed, but Hizashi had bit his tongue and was grinning at his husband, it didn't look like Hitoshi would get an answer out of them that way — time to bring out the big guns.

He widened his eyes as much as he could and pulled his lips down, staring morosely at his guardians with the most pitiful expression he could muster. "Pleaassee."

Shouta promptly stuck a hand over 'Zashi's eyes and shot him a feral grin, "Your puppy-dog eyes won't work on me kid, got another plan?"

He just pouted at that, crossing his arms and staring at the wall.

"Aww the silent treatment?" Hizashi whined once he'd regained his sight. "'Toshiiii..." he sang, "'Toshi'Toshi'Toshiiiiii... you can't ignore me foreveerrr."

He sighed and gave up for now, but he was determined to investigate further.