"Yaoyorozu not matter what, do not throw me a birthday party."

"But."

"Do."

"Shou-"

"Not."

"Fine."

Shouto's birthday is in a few days. I want to throw him a small celebration, but he seems so content with not doing anything. Even when Iida-san approached him about it he was adamant with his decision, much to Iida-san disappointment. He's told the class that he's not used to having the attention on him, and the rest of the class respects his choice.

"Are you really going through with this, Yaomomo? Maybe he's just acting tsundere so that you actually throw him a party." Momo hears Kyouka's question but continues to eat her curry bowl.

"I don't know. Todoroki acting tsundere is not very Todoroki-like. That's more of Bakugou's thing to be honest," Denki adds as he takes in another scoop of pudding. The couple awkwardly look at their companion as she quietly finishes her lunch.

"Ugh, everything okay Yaomomo?" Kyouka asks.

Momo grabs the napking resting on her lap and dabs her mouth clean. "If Todoroki-san doesn't want to celebrate his birthday than we have to respect his wishes," she answers firmly as she gets up from her seat, and quickly makes her exit.

"Wow it's kinda surprising for Yaomomo to give up so quickly."

"I don't know," Kyouka objects. "I sensed conviction when she got up and left." The two went on with their lunch. They didn't say a word to each other, yet they knew that they shared the same question: Why doesn't Shouto like his birthday.

The class knows why Momo isn't fond of birthdays, but Shouto continues to be silent about his reasons. So much so that when it comes to birthdays, Shouto is more enigmatic than Fumikage. At least if you're not Momo, Izuku, or Tenya.

"C'mon Todoroki-kun. It's your birthday."

"No, Midoriya," Shouto says firmly. "Wow, you didn't hesitate at all when you said that. I know I'm not Yaoyorozu-san, but at least think about it."

"What does she have to do with this conversation?"

"You're still can't tell if Midoriya-kun is joking, huh?"

"Not really."

Tenya sighs as he squeezes the bridge of his nose. He removes his glasses to wipe off some debris. Shouto has spent enough time with Tenya to know that he's about to get lectured by him. "Okay we as your friends, humbly respect your decision not to celebrate your birthday," Tenya flashes his hands at Shouto's direction while the boy nods in agreement. "We know that your decision not to celebrate stems from your broken childhood, and how your father never really cared for your birthday."

"Exactly."

"So Midoriya-kun and I have a proposition."

"Which is?"

"We take you out. Just the three of us, and we go a place of your choice, BUT under one condition." Shouto's eyebrow raises, curious as to what his end of the bargain has to be. "We won't mention anything about this being a birthday celebration at all. No birthday greetings. No presents. It's just three friends going out to have a good time."

"A good time that's well within age-restrictions, of course," Tenya adds.

Shouto thinks to himself for a moment. The hallway the three stood in grew quiet. Izuku can hear the clock hung above them ticking.

TICK
TOCK
TICK
TOCK

"Alright."

"Are you sure, Todoroki-kun?"

"Why not."

"Yes!" The two jump in delight. "Where would you like to go?"

"The cat cafe."

"Isn't that where you took Yaoyorozu-san on a your first date?"

"Yes it is. Is it not my choice you said?"

"Fine. You are the birthday boy," Izuku adds.

"Ahem."

"I mean ummm designated destination chooser guy."

"Hurry, I made reservations in advance, and I told them we would be there in thirty minutes!" Tenya says as he starts running in place.

"How did you even know he was gonna choose the cat cafe?"

"Midoriya-kun, our friend is man of simplicity." Shouto simply nods. Izuku can't argue with that logic.

After an unexpected day of fun, Tenya and Izuku walk Shouto to his room before saying their goodbyes. "You two really didn't have to do this, honestly."

"I know you didn't ask to celebrate your birthday, but I'm glad you went with us."

"Remember, it's not a birthday celebration. Just a normal outing amongst friends," Izuku corrected his bespectacled friend.

"Oh that's right, I almost forgot. My apologies, Todoroki-kun."

"It's really nothing. Thank you both." Shouto turns his door open when suddenly.

"SURPRISE!" Shouto falls down from the sudden explosion of sound. He gathers himself to open the crack on the door wider and looks up at his intruder.

"Nee-san? What are you doing here?"

"Well, someone told me that you wanted to celebrate your birthday for once, and when I heard that I just couldn't resist!"

"And who told you that?" Shouto opens his door even wider to find another person inside his room. "Yaoyorozu?"

"I'm really sorry for going against your wishes, but I wanted you to feel special today. You did throw a surprise birthday too, you know."

"I did."

"Luckily, Iida-san and Midoriya-san conveniently took you out which gave enough me time to get your sister." Shouto turns around and looks at his two friends suspiciously.

"Todoroki-kun I swear I didn't know!" Izuku flails his arms trying his earnest to prove his innocence.

"I think it's best we leave you three alone," Tenya says as he quickly grabs Izuku by the collar, and starts inching his way towards the staircase. "We will discuss the issues of breaking into other people's dorms some other time. Although you two are dating, I highly recommend you still respect each other's boundaries, but I will let you enjoy your unintended surprise birthday party that me and Midoriya-kun have no involvement in whatsoever." Tenya kept on talking until he was completely inaudible. With the two gone, Shouto turns his attention back to Momo and Fuyumi.

"Were they?"

"No," Momo firmly answers.

"Are you sure?"

"Shouto, would she lie in front of our mother, I swear." Fuyumi pushes the door wide open to reveal his mother quietly sitting on next to his table.

"Mother?"

"Surprised to me?" It's been a while since he's seen his mother in anything but a hospital gown. Seeing her in a plain, white t-shity and blue jeans reminded him of the time when she used to live with them. Shouto got up from the floor and made his way inside. Momo notices the steps he made were quite heavy, which made her feel guilty.

"Shouto, I hope you didn't mind. I know you don't like celebrating your birthday but–" She knew that she didn't respect his wishes. She should've known better. She's okay with him being angry at her. She fully deserves it.

She expected him to get mad, but instead she feels a warm squeeze blanketing her body.

"Shouto…"

"You really shouldn't have." Momo could feel tears flowing down on her right shoulder. "I thought that my birthday would be too much of a burden, so I didn't wanna bother you about it." Momo started patting his head. "Silly, the fact that you didn't bother me about it bothered me even more."

"I'm sorry I wasn't so open about my feelings."

"It's alright." Momo gives Shouto a quick glance and takes out a handkerchief to dry off his tears. "You really shouldn't cry in front of your mother and sister." He turns around and bows in apology.

"Shouto you don't have to be so formal in front of us. We know you're dating this young woman," Shouto's mother proudly comments. Shouto looks down on the floor, trying to hide his embarrassment. From the corner of his eye he can see Momo blushing as well.

"You can tell us how you two met after we have some cake." Fuyumi sets down a large brown cake on the table.

"We weren't sure what specific cake you wanted, but Momo-chan said you like chocolate," Fuyumi says. It was a chocolate cake coated with shavings of white chocolate on the sides. Its top is decorated with small spheres of chocolate. "Happy Birthday Shouto" is written in white on the center of the cake.

"You really didn't have to do this."

"Oh stop being so humble, Shouto. You know mom and I love you. Well, we assume Momo-chan does too, right?" Fuyumi teasingly darts her eyes at Momo who is covering her face with a fan she just made. For the rest of the night, the room was filled with laughter. It was a rare sight to see, and frankly Momo still isn't used to seeing Shouto smile so big, but she's glad that she went out of her way to make this day perfect for him.

Later that night, Momo sent Kyouka a picture of Shouto smiling. The caption read, "I could get used to this smile 3"

"I told you she had something planned."

"Well you don't have to be so smug about it." Denki really hates it when his girlfriend is proven right. Sadly he can't argue this time.