Fork In The Road

Chapter 5

Hitoshi experienced a different kind of attention after his win at the Sports Festival.

It was hard to slip away from UA, but he finally did, feeling lighter then ever. He walked home, listening to his favorite music.

Now that he had won, they would have to put him in the hero course. Now he could finally reach his dream.

The second he stepped through the door to the communal home, he was surrounded by many of the occupants.

"Good job, Shinsou!" They chorused, patting him on the back and such.

Dabi was there, too, smiling genuinely at him.

He ruffled his hair and said, "You did good, Hitoshi."

A warm feeling rose in his chest, and he pulled Dabi into a hug.

This life wasn't much.

But at that moment, it was enough.

* * *

Hitoshi came back to UA a couple days later, grinning to himself as he made his way to class 1-A, instead of to his Gen Ed class.

He'd gotten the email of acceptance a day after the festival. Sure, he was a little annoyed that he had to be in class with everyone he'd humiliated and beaten in the Sports Festival, but he couldn't complain.

He walked in the huge door, and all the students who were talking to each other suddenly froze.

"What are you doing here?!" Bakugou exploded.

Hitoshi smiled calmly. "I believe I earned my spot here, replacing Mineta Minoru."

"Oh, thank God!" A tall girl with a black ponytail muttered.

Kaminari finally approached him, all smiles. "Good job on the festival, Shinsou! I never would have guessed that you would win. I mean," He added quickly, looking mortified, "Not that I thought you couldn't or anything, but-"

"Excuse him," Kirishima said with a smile, pulling Kaminari backwards and placing a hand over his mouth. "He didn't take his meds this morning."

Hitoshi felt a pang of annoyance, but it wasn't aimed at Kaminari. How dare Kirishima say something like that? He was insinuating he only liked his friend while he was on drugs.

"It's fine," Hitoshi said. "He wasn't bothering me."

He took seat nineteen without another word towards Kirishima, who released Kaminari. The blond was now rambling about something or other, but Hitoshi didn't mind much, even if he wasn't really listening. It was good background noise.

He noticed Todoroki glare at him, and he resisted the urge to blow the duel-colored teen a kiss.

Suddenly the door opened, and everyone scrambled to their seats as Aizawa said, "Morning."

"Good morning, Mr. Aizawa," Everyone chorused.

"Kero, Mr. Aizawa, you don't have bandages anymore," Said a green-haired girl. "That's good news."

Aizawa looked tired, his eyebags a reflection of Hitoshi's own. "The old lady went a little overboard in her treatment." He muttered, but gave no further explanation. "Anyway," He continued, "Welcome to our class, Shinsou. We have a big class today. On hero informatics."

Hitoshi rolled his eyes at the expressions on everyone's faces. They all looked terrified.

"...you need codenames." Aizawa said. "Time to pick your hero identities."

"This is gonna be totally awesome!" Everyone yelled, making Hitoshi duck his head a little at the sudden noise.

Aizawa's eyes flashed red, and everyone quieted down.