One More Step (Would It Make Me Free?)

Panic! At The Restaurant

Hitoshi was excited.

It was still such a weird feeling, though one that seemed to be becoming more and more common for him as of late. It started off with reconnecting with Mei, and now with meeting everyone in 1-A. He hadn't realized how happy other people could make him. It was nice.

He still didn't really understand the students in 1-A, if he was honest. They seemed genuinely interested in him despite his less than stellar first impression and his quite frankly abysmal social skills. It was better than them hating him, at least, like he was sure they would.

After the day Kaminari had dragged him to lunch, he took it upon himself to add Hitoshi to 1-A's class group chat. Hitoshi admittedly had not known what a group chat was, so seeing so many texts from so many people was a surprise. They were strangely okay with his presence there. Welcoming, even.

He'd never thought his phone would have so many contacts.

The group chat allowed him to see what Kaminari meant about his usual friend group being too much for Hitoshi. Ashido and Kirishima were just as enthusiastic and energetic as Kaminari. They'd definitely be an overwhelming trio in person, though he had to admit that he almost looked forward to it.

Of course, he still couldn't text very well. His reading still wasn't very good and writing was even harder. He normally had to get Yamada or Aizawa to help him out - usually Yamada, since he seemed to have a better grasp on the slang that they'd use. He was grateful for it. He didn't think he could figure any of it out on his own. Like, why did some of them use the kanji for grass to indicate that they were laughing? What the hell did grass have to do with anything?

His peers didn't really make sense to him, but that was okay. So long as he had Yamada to help him out, he'd be just fine.

Regardless of his difficulties, Hitoshi was excited. He felt a little like he was part of their class now, even if he technically wasn't. And some of them even liked him enough to invite him out to lunch! He'd never thought anyone but Mei would want to spend time with him before. The thought was a bit surreal, if he was honest.

Even with how happy he was about it, he was pretty sure no one was more thrilled than his foster parents. Especially Yamada. He was pretty sure the man was going to explode in his excitement, bouncing on his heels as he demanded every detail. Even Aizawa seemed ecstatic, in his own way - the wide smile he'd given him at the news was more than enough to tell Hitoshi that. They seemed just as happy as they dropped him off when Saturday finally came.

Nerves joined Hitoshi's excitement as he stood in front of the restaurant. Doubts flooded his mind. Was coming here a mistake? Did they even actually want him here? Should he just go back home?

"Shinsou! Hey, you're here!" a voice called from behind him. He jumped slightly, the sudden noise surprising him.

"Uh..." Hitoshi said eloquently. How was he supposed to respond? Did he even have to say anything at all? God, this was too stressful already.

Kaminari either didn't notice or didn't care about his awkwardness. "I'm sure you probably already saw the rest of their texts, but everyone else is inside already! Let's go before they decide to start without us!"

Would they do that? Hitoshi wasn't sure. They seemed nice, so they'd probably want to be polite. Waiting for everyone was polite, right? Etiquette was not something Hitoshi had much memory of.

Kaminari did not give him a chance to contemplate any further. He grabbed Hitoshi by the hand and began dragging him inside the restaurant. He seemed to do that a lot. Did people normally drag each other around or was that just Kaminari?