Purple and White!

When I returned home from school the next day, I got called over to the dining room by my mother. When I got to the table, I could see a thick white envelope. I squinted to get a closer look at who it was addressed to; it was addressed to yours truly. And it was from Utah State University!

Damn, those guys had some really nice stationery!

I carefully peeled open the nice-looking envelope and took out their letter. It read:

Congratulations on your acceptance to Utah State University. Enclosed is a variety of materials you will need in order to...

Oh—my—goodness!! I was accepted into Utah State University!

"YEEEESS!!!" I screamed, so loud that I almost busted Mom's eardrums and my own.

My old man must've heard me, because he was down here in almost an instant.

"My ACT score of 19 and the essay I had submitted were enough, Pops," I said once I'd cooled down. "I got accepted to Utah State."

There was a lot of optimism and energy inside Dad as he pumped his fist. "My boy's going to my old Alma Mater..." he said, hugging me.

—---

The next day, I couldn't help but feel uneasy about my family. Were they planning something for me?

When I went down the stairs to go to school, I was immediately greeted by my mother at the door.

"After school's out, I want you to go to the grocery store and get what's on this list," Mom told me, handing me a list of groceries along with some cash.

"Wait, but isn't that—"

Mom put a hand up to stop me from saying anything else. "Look, it's your turn to get the groceries today," she said sternly. "There's no way out of this one, Jason; I always get my way."

I heaved a heavy sigh of defeat. "Fine. But it's not guaranteed that they're gonna have everything on here..."

And I slipped the list and the cash into my left back pocket, grabbed my backpack, and headed to school for my second to last week.

—---

As soon as I arrived at school, after shuffling in my locker for everything I needed for the day, I decided to go find Hera and ask her a question.

"Hera, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Tell me, Hera, where did you apply?"

"I applied to Utah State and the University of Colorado," she told me. "And guess what? Utah State was the only school to accept me. What about you?"

"Same schools, plus Arizona. And guess who accepted me?"

"I don't know. Who?" she asked.

"I went two for three, Hera! Two for fucking three! USU and Arizona accepted me!" I replied.

"And have you even decided where you'll be going, oppa~?"

"I don't need another damn minute to decide, Hera-chan. I'm going to USU, just like you," I said as a grin formed across my face.

"That's what's up!" Hera boomed.

"Fo' sho'!" I replied with so much enthusiasm it practically flooded my mind.

And with that, we again traded a slap-slap-bump high five on the down low and went our separate ways to our first classes.

—---

Five bags of groceries and eight hours later I returned home.

"Ayo, Mom! I'm home!" I said as I opened the door. "I got the groceries like you asked! Where should I—"

I stopped mid-sentence and discovered that everyone was missing.

"Guys, where are you?" I asked.

Were those jackholes trying to prank me? Again?

Never mind that now; I've got more pressing matters at hand. Time to put away these groceries.

A few minutes later, after sorting out the groceries, I began looking for the others all over the house. I looked in each of their rooms; not a soul to be found. Then I moved on to the dining room, but to no avail; I found no one there either.

"I swear to God," I said loudly, "if this is a prank, I'll—"

Suddenly, my cell phone buzzed. Who the hell could be texting me at this time?

I slid my phone out of my pocket and checked the message. It was from a number I didn't recognize. Now, normally, I'd delete texts from unknown numbers, but this time, I thought it might be super important.

The text read:

Unknown: How are your detective skills today? As you were putting the groceries away, you should have noticed a white paper slip in the butter box of the fridge. That's your first clue. Open it and read it carefully.

Who in their right mind would hide a clue in the butter box?

Nonetheless, I opened the fridge again and looked in the butter box. And, sure enough, there was my first clue, thus beginning the little scavenger hunt. How in the hell did my family know that I secretly liked to watch mystery and crime shows, not just anime?

But that's irrelevant now, because I was opening the little clue they had left for me. It read:

Nice going, detective, you've found your first clue. Your mission: find the remainder of clues leading to your final destination.

Your next clue is hidden somewhere in your resting quarters. Find it to continue your mission.

Final destination? What the hell's that supposed to mean?!

My controller was hiding the next clue! I flipped it over and detached the paper slip from it. It read:

Plus Ultra! You have found your next clue! Now, don't rest easy yet, because there is still one last clue waiting to be found around the house.

So there's another clue, huh? This ought to be fun and easy! I can't wait to find it and discover what it says!

A few minutes later, I ended up finally finding the last clue in this house. It's about time, J-man!

The clue read:

Excellent work! You have found your final house clue! There is a rapid-fire quiz waiting for you at a certain arcade. Find the hostess of the arcade who will give you your next clue after successfully answering all her questions.

Arcade? This can only mean one thing: I was going to Arcadetown Entertainment Center!

I immediately sprinted out of the house, locked the door, and headed to my car. I was quite excited about this.

—---

I arrived at Arcadetown less than an hour later. I jumped out of the car and headed toward the entrance.

And guess who was there before me...

It was my girlfriend Hera!

"Here for the same reason, Hera-chan?" I asked her.

"Of course, JJ-san!" Hera answered. "Why else would I be here? I was sent on a scavenger hunt leading here."

"Funny, I was sent here by the same means!" I said. "Anyway, enough about that; let's head inside. The hostess is waiting for us."

I opened the door for Hera, bracing myself for another nut punch. Instead, she strode inside without a word. I followed close behind.

"What were you cowering for? You thought I was going to sock ya in the nuts again, didn't you, JJ?" Hera asked. "Not this time; we're a couple now, remember?"

Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.

Anyway, we approached the hostess of Arcadetown—Morgan by name—as she was the one who was supposed to give us the rapid-fire quiz.

"Jason and Hera, correct?" she asked.

We both nodded.

"Welcome to Arcadetown! Where your entertainment is our mission! Now, a little birdie told me that you're here for a special occasion! So to get your next clue, you must answer these five questions correctly."

"Understood," I said.

"Copy that," Hera chimed in.

"Question number one: Who currently wields the quirk One for All?" Morgan asked.

Hera was quick to answer. "Izuku Midoriya, a.k.a. Deku, from My Hero Academia," she said.

"Correct!" Morgan said. "The Quirk can enhance the strength or speed of the user. Also, the Quirk holds the Quirks of the previous eight wielders; Deku is the ninth."

I knew that One for All could enhance the strength of the user, but the speed? Damn, I didn't know that!

She then turned to me. "Now, Jason, here's question number two: What and when was the first-ever episodic anime made?"

"Uh... Astro Boy in 1963?" I said, hoping and praying I was right.

"Yes!" Morgan shouted. "Also, during the same year, Astro Boy was also the very first anime to be localized here in the States."

Score!

Even though I do love watching anime in the original audio with subtitles, nothing beats a good dub.

"Okay, Hera," she said, "here's question three: In Demon Slayer, which of the good guys is actually a demon?"

"It's Nezuko Kamado."

"Yes!"

Score again! We are anime gods!

Morgan turned to me. "And Jason, why does she wear the bamboo muzzle on her mouth?"

"It's because she ain't ever tasted any human blood," I answered. "And that muzzle protects her from getting any in her mouth, be it by accident or purposefully."

"Exactly!" Morgan said. Then she turned back to Hera. "Last question: In My Hero Academia: World Heroes Mission, why is Deku a wanted man?"

"He's set up and marked as wanted for mass murder," Hera answered, "even though he's never actually murdered anyone; it's not his vision for being a hero."

"Exactly!" Morgan said again. "For successfully completing this rapid-fire quiz, here is your next clue!"

She handed us the next paper slip.

"Here it is, bae; the next clue!" Hera said, taking it. She opened it and read aloud:

"Nice job answering all those questions! You both truly are master weebs! Now, to find your final clue, you must look for a certain game that gives out coupons. Try for the jackpot!"

"Wait, 'try for the jackpot?'" I said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Come on, put two and two together already, JJ-boy! It means we gotta go to the arcade part of this place," Hera explained. "One of the games might hold the last clue we need."

Luckily, I had my play card for this place. "Alright, let's go search for that game and have some fun on the side!"

—---

Let's just say I got a bit...distracted, because a few minutes later, Hera came up to me while I was playing Galaga Assault, trying to destroy the mothership and get the largest jackpot possible: one thousand coupons.

"Hey, JJ-boy!" she called over the sound of the game.

"What is it, Hera?" I asked as I was aggressively shooting down the mothership.

"I just found the last clue!" she answered as I gave the mothership the last critical hit. "Wanna hear it?"

"Hang on," I said, pointing to the screen of the arcade game. "You might wanna watch this."

On-screen, the mothership was going berserk as fire burst from its stern. Then it exploded in a big blaze; I had just won the maximum Mothership Jackpot!!

"Good riddance to that mothership!" I said, pumping my fist and giving Hera a high five. Then, I said: "So, what does that clue say, babe?"

Hera opened the clue up. "It says:

Congratulations, detectives! You've found your final clue! Now, did you notice the big silver door next to the arcade's entrance? That's the entry door to Arcadetown's private party room! Head there to complete your mission!"

"Well, Hera, I guess it all worked out for us," I told her. "You got us the last clue, and I got us the Jackpot! Let's get the hell out of here and see what's in that party room!"

And we immediately headed to said room.

—---

Once we entered the party room, upon examination, we found that the entire party room was all decorated in the colors of USU!

"Hera, look! There are decorations all over the room!" I said, looking all around us. "And they all are purple and white, just like the colors of-"

"Hang on, oppa~," Hera said, cutting me off. "Is that a cake I spy on the table over there?" She pointed to one of the tables.

We walked over to one of the tables in the middle of the room, and, sure enough, smack dab in the middle of that purple-and-white table was a cake decorated in the same colors! And the message on it read: "Herason: Collegebound!"

"I see what they're trying to do," I said with a chuckle and an eye roll. "They've combined our names to make a ship name, just like every anime fandom ever to exist. It's clever if I do say—"

"Surprise!"

WHAAAAA...?!

We were both a bit shaken up. We were so caught up following all those clues, we didn't realize our families had teamed up to put this all together!

Mr. and Mrs. Washington were here, as were Mom, Dad, and Jackie!

"Yo, you all totally got us both this time!" Hera said. "We really had no idea you guys were gonna do this!"

I turned to Mom. "Wait a minute, so this was all an elaborate plan to throw a surprise party to congratulate us on our acceptance into USU?" I said. "How did you guys pull this off?"

"It was quite easy," Mom answered frankly. "Six hours into you guys' school day, your father and I teamed up with the Washington/Nguyen family to set everything up. And by the time school ended, everything was ready! We just needed to lead you both here, so Jackie here came up with the idea to place clues around the house."

"That's what's up, Jackie!" I shouted, high-fiving her.

Then I turned to Mom. "That was your most clever move yet, Mom!"

I did something I hadn't done in a while: I hugged my mother.

"I am so proud of you, JJ!" Mom said. She was so damn happy!

"Thanks, Mom!" I replied. "I'm really glad that I'm going to my pop's old Alma Mater."