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Hitoshi waits outside 1-A's classroom, doing his best not to fidget. He can hear chatter through the closed door, can pick out a few familiar voices and some words here and there, but he's not paying that much attention, too busy trying to swallow his nerves. His homeroom teacher had passed on a message from Aizawa-sensei to meet him after school and then done him the favor of letting him slip out before the bell so he didn't have to fight his way against the current.
The bell rings, and Hitoshi doesn't jump - but he does plaster himself against the wall as doors slam open and students pour into the hall. He keeps clear, nods a few greetings to his classmates, and brushes off a few inquiries as to what he's doing - he's really not trying to be rude, but he's nervous and if he opens his mouth, anyone who knows him well enough to talk to him is going to know. And anyway, he's not even sure what he's doing, what Aizawa-sensei could want.
Finally, the stream begins to slow, and Hitoshi relaxes - just in time to almost jump out of his skin when Midoriya pops out of 1-A's room.
"Shinsou!" he says, a surprised smile on his face. "What's up?"
Hitoshi manages not to flinch at the volume and force of the kid's personality, even though it does make him feel like he needs to shield his eyes. "Aizawa-sensei asked to see me," he returns - and, somehow, Midoriya's expression brightens even more.
"Really?!" he asks. "What about? Are you joining the hero course? You definitely deserve it after the sports festival, and I mean, you should have been here anyway considering the entrance exam really isn't tailored to non-combat quirks, but you would be an awesome hero. I mean, hostage situations, right? Or when people are panicking or--"
Any response Hitoshi might have had - he had definitely considered that - is lost not only in the fact that Midoriya still hasn't stopped to take a breath but also as the first part of Midoriya's question hits him. It's not possible, right? He knew Aizawa-sensei had started out in Gen Ed like Hitoshi, had been moved into the hero course after winning the sports festival, but Hitoshi hadn't even been able to last one round in the bracketed matches. There's no way school leadership would move him for that. But. But what if?
"--and anyway, there are so many pro-heroes out there who don't have combat-focused quirks and--" Midoriya is still saying.
"Take a breath, Midoriya," a bored voice says from behind him. "I don't have time to take you to Recovery Girl when you pass out." Aizawa-sensei is standing in the doorway. Hitoshi has only seen the man once or twice since he's no longer been wrapped in bandages after the USJ. He looks tired - but then, Hitoshi knows that Aizawa-sensei always looks tired. The perils of teaching and also doing hero work, he supposes.
Midoriya takes a comically large breath, and Hitoshi can't stop his own amused exhale. Before the other boy can go on, though, Aizawa-sensei speaks again. "The punctuality is impressive," Aizawa-sensei says, and Hitoshi feels himself flush.
"Omura-sensei let me leave early so you wouldn't have to wait," he says, and Aizawa-sensei smiles. It's an expression Hitoshi has never seen before - and if he's being honest, he's not sure he wants to see it again. It's a little creepy.
"Not taking credit for someone else's actions. Also impressive," he says, and Hitoshi feels his blush spread.
Dammit. He'd like to not be entirely awkward in front of not only one of his personal heroes but the golden child of the hero program. He's absolutely off to a great start, here.
"Anyway," Aizawa-sensei says, turning his attention properly to Midoriya. "Shoo," he tells him simply, and Midoriya blinks between them - and then shakes himself a little.
"Right, I'm sorry, Aizawa-sensei, I know you needed to talk to him." He bows quickly to the man - and then turns to bow to Hitoshi as well. "Have a great day, Shinsou!" he tells him - and then turns on his heel to jog down the hall, backpack bouncing on his shoulders.
"Deku!" a girl's voice calls from down the hall, and Hitoshi can see pink hair in the distance, one of Midoriya's friends waving to him. "Come on!"
Hitoshi looks away as Midoriya returns the wave, turning his attention back to Aizawa-sensei. "You, uh... asked to speak to me, sir?"
Aizawa-sensei motions back into the classroom with a nod before he turns around. "Take a seat," he tells him, and Hitoshi moves to sit at the desk closest to Aizawa-sensei's desk, letting his backpack slide off his shoulder to set it next to the chair. Aizawa-sensei leans against the desk, rubbing at his eyes as Hitoshi gets settled. "I need a nap," he begins, "so I won't keep you long." He pauses a beat as he crosses his arms under his scarf. "You applied for the heroics course, but the entrance exam is not suited for your quirk. Despite not having a quirk suited for combat, you reached the semi-finals at the sports festival. If you'd had proper physical training, you might have progressed even farther, but general education's curriculum does not include the physical training regimens that it should."
Aizawa-sensei watches him for a moment, and Hitoshi is trying to think what he might be waiting on him to say. Before he can figure it out, though, Aizawa-sensei goes on. "If it was up to me, I would have you in my class tomorrow, but it is not up to me. It is not even up to Nedzu, because as much as the little rat bastard does manage to get past the Public Safety Comission, there are some things even he can't make happen overnight." He pauses again, looking a little like he might have said more than he really meant to. "Anyway." He adjusts his posture a little. "In order to make up for that gap in your education and to prepare you for the eventuality that is Nedzu getting his way, I want to train you. It won't be easy. You'll probably hate me. But if you want to join the hero course, this is how you do it."
For a long moment, Hitoshi just blinks at him, absorbing everything he's said. This isn't the dream conversation he'd hoped for, isn't the immediate bump - but it's a step, and it's more than he had twenty minutes ago. "Yes," he says, the word almost bursting out of him, and he's not even sure when he got to his feet, but he is standing, now, a step closer to Aizawa-sensei than he had been a moment before. "Yes, I want you to train me. Please. I don't care if it's hard. Everything in my life has been hard. But if this is how I get to the hero course. Then yes."
Aizawa-sensei's smile returns, and Hitoshi isn't sure why he ever thought the expression was creepy. Aizawa-sensei is looking at him pleased and proud and it's maybe the first time he can remember that an adult has looked at him like that. "Good," the man says simply.
---
Five minutes later, Hitoshi leaves UA with permission papers in his backpack and a weight off his shoulders. He'll need to figure out how to best ask his foster parents to sign the papers, but he has the train ride home to work that out. For now, all he can think about is the fact that's actually on his way to learning to be a hero.