"July 15th, my birthday. I guess I'm excited. I'm 15 now, that's something. I wonder what today will hold? Probably not much. Mom might do something nice to try and cheer me up. She's too nice sometimes."
"Tsu was being weird and cryptic about today. Does she know? I never told her about my birthday. But she said she was coming to see me today after school. I'm excited to see her, but why today? She must know. So then… what is she planning?"
Midoriya woke up as usual, got ready for school, ate breakfast and waved goodbye to his mom. His school day went by as normal—another boring, uneventful day. Nobody wished him a happy birthday, which was par for the course, except Bakugou after class.
"Happy birthday, fucker!" he shouted, "how about a new bruise, my gift to you!" He went in to swing at Midoriya, who panicked and brought his arms up to protect himself. And much to Bakugou's surprise, it worked—Bakugou's fist collided with Midoriya's arms and the latter hardly budged.
"Huh? He didn't hit me? D-did I block it? I've been training with All Might for 3 months now… am I really that much stronger? Strong enough to block Kacchan?!"
"You bitch," Bakugou was firing off explosions from both hands, "when I say that I'm gonna hit you, then you let me hit you! Got that, Deku?!" Midoriya was silent, too scared to respond, his arms still poised to block again. "I can't hear you, you garbage sack!" He swung again, using his quirk this time.
And Midoriya blocked it again, though he winced in the pain. His shirt sleeves were burned off, but he stood his ground through his tears. He suddenly broke out, "I'm sick of your shit, Kacchan!" He grabbed his backpack immediately, slung it around his shoulder and stormed out of the classroom, crying in pain. He struggled to believe that he stood up to Bakugou, and that he wasn't getting chased down the halls for that little outburst.
Bakugou was left in a stupor, "What the fuck just happened? Why'd that piece of shit not flop when I hit him? When did he get the balls…?"
… … …
Midoriya walked up to his apartment and knocked on the door before opening it, "I'm hom—"
Before he could finish, he heard party poppers go off and cheering. "Happy birthday, Izuku!" his mother and Asui shouted. Midoriya, as if on cue, began weeping.
"Y-you guys d-didn't h-have to do this!" he wailed, his smile spreading across his face like a plague. "You're… you're…" he couldn't choke the words out.
"Come here, Izuku," Inko held her arms out and brought her son into an embrace. They cried into each others' shoulders for a while. They pulled away and Izuku's smile shone.
"Thank you…" he grinned warmly.
"You should be thanking Tsu," his mother chimed. Midoriya looked over to his friend, tears in his eyes. He moved from his mom and embraced Asui. She was shocked at his boldness but quickly wrapped her arms around him. Due to their height difference, Midoriya found himself resting his cheek on her head. She clung to him a bit tighter than she probably should've.
"Thank you, Tsu!" he exclaimed. She squeezed even tighter. They stayed like that for a while longer before Midoriya let go and his actions caught up with Asui, her face burning up. She could feel Inko's smirk piercing the back of her head.
Izuku's mood soured slightly, "I'm sure you've figured this out," he started, "but I've… never had much of a birthday celebration… you're the first person to come over for my birthday." He took a deep breath. "So this means a lot to me. I'm really glad you're here. Thank you."
Asui gave him a quick hug in response, "Of course, Izuku, ribbit. You're my best friend." She detached before she could feel Inko's silent grin and ushered Midoriya into the kitchen. "And here's the cake!"
It was a simple chocolate cake with green icing, and All Might candles. "Happy 15th Izuku" was written in icing in a lighter green on the top. Midoriya almost started crying again.
"Happy birthday, Izuku!" they called again. They sang happy birthday and shared the cake.
Midoriya was having the time of his life. Not only did his best friend know his birthday, she threw him a party. Even if it was just her and his mom, he was the happiest he's been in a long time.
They finished their slices of cake and Inko brought Midoriya into the living room, there being four wrapped gifts on the table. Three had All Might wrapping paper on them, while the last one had a light green wrapping paper with little frogs on it. He went for the All Might gifts first, saving the best for last.
They each contained different All Might memorabilia. The first one was a new figure that Midoriya had been eyeing for a bit. The second was an All Might shirt, with the number one hero flexing on the front. The last one was a big poster, very similar to his other ones. He thanked his mom for the great gifts and moved onto the last one.
"I'm sure you've guessed by now, ribbit, but that one's mine," Asui smiled, "I hope you like it."
He gently tore the wrapping paper to find a green, tightly-woven cord. He slid his hand into the box and pulled out the cord. It was a necklace with a silver pendant adorned on it. The pendant was shining at Midoriya as he stared at it. He flipped it over and saw an engraving on it. It was the head on his hero drawing they worked on together—it featured the hood they worked on, with the big ears and dark eyeholes, and the face mask over the jaw. All the lines of the engraving were clean cut and sharp, giving the insignia a certain edge that Midoriya thought was insurmountably cool. He couldn't put into words how much he loved it. So he instead clutched it into his chest and buckled over himself in tears, silently sobbing.
Inko was surprised at the quality of the necklace. She marveled at the engraving on the medallion, recognizing it from her son's journals. She put her hand on his back and rubbed circles, allowing him to work it. Once he recovered, Asui reached into her pocket.
"Izuku, look," she held out an identical necklace, with the same green cord and silver emblem. She flipped hers over to reveal a frog graphic engraved on the pendant and then put the necklace on. "See? Now we have matching necklaces, ribbit."
Midoriya's eyes threatened to burst again, but he instead got up and pulled her into an embrace, "Thank you… thank you for the best birthday ever…" he whispered to her. Asui wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes, enjoying their moment together. Inko took pictures.
They pulled away and Midoriya put on his necklace. Inko asked for a picture and the two posed together, matching necklaces in clear sign. They put their arms on each others' shoulders as they smiled.
Eventually, the party had to end. It was time for Asui to go home. As she was heading out, Midoriya offered to walk her to the train station.
"So," Asui began as they left the apartment, "how was your birthday?"
"It was great," he responded, looking down at his necklace. "I'm really glad you showed up for today. I didn't even know that you knew when my birthday was."
Asui giggled, "I asked your mom so I could plan this. I was just hoping that I hadn't missed your birthday, ribbit, then I would have to wait a whole year to pull this surprise on you."
"Wow, you were prepared for this, huh? So, um, when is your birthday?"
"February 12th," she smirked, though it was a bit difficult to tell. Midoriya had picked up on the fact that she didn't really express her emotions well, but had studied her face well enough to pick up on her more subtle way of emoting. No, he wasn't staring… "So if you wanna pull something like this, you're gonna have to wait."
"There's no way I could do something like this," Midoriya muttered, "You'd see it coming from a mile away."
"That's true, ribbit. Then maybe you could step it up." She winked at him, and he went red in the face.
"I-I don't think I could do better than this…" he murmured. His darker thoughts that he had been suppressing were banging at his door. "Not today not today not today not today…"
"Huh? Of course you could, Izuku."
"Not now not now not now…" his mind was swarming. "I… I'm just not capable of all that much," he mumbled remorsefully. "Not in front of her not in front of her not in front of her notinfrontofher notinfrontofher notinfrontofher…"
"Hm?" Asui was puzzled, "Sure you can! You just have to believe you can, ribbit."
"Notinfrontofher notinfrontofher notinfront—" the dam broke. "I can't do anything right!" he shouted at her, his eyes clenched, pouring tears, and his fists balled up at his sides. "I don't even know why you spend time with trash like me! You're such a great person! And I'm just uselessly trailing behind you, holding you back! You deserve better than me! I'm nothi—" he was cut off by a slap in the face.
"Idiot! You're wrong! What are you saying?!" she exclaimed, shocked by his sudden outburst. "I wouldn't hang out with you if I didn't believe in you! You're a phenomenal person! You put yourself down like this without realizing what you're capable of! You're not trash, far from it!" She took a deep breath to stop her own tears. "Izuku, you're the smartest person I know. I've seen your hero notes—you're a brilliant tactician and quirk analyst. You've thought of things that even the pros haven't! And you're on track to getting a quirk and becoming a hero right now. You're going to be a fantastic hero someday. But if you truly believe what you just said, you'll just stop yourself from achieving greatness. You're better than that. You deserve better than that. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise." She smiled warmly at him.
"Th…ank… you…" he barely managed to choke out. She put her hand on his shoulder.
"I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true," she reassured him, afraid that he would try to refute her.
"I…'m sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry for burdening you with my problems."
"Huh?" she looked him right in his puffy, bloodshot eyes. "These aren't your problems anymore. Listen, I'm your best friend, ribbit, you can tell me when you're feeling down. I'm here to help, and helping you isn't a burden on me. If anything, your happiness makes me happy." He sniffled, regaining some semblance of self before returning her gaze.
"I'll tell you what," she continued, pointing to his necklace, "if you ever feel upset, I want you to grab this pendant and think of me. Think of me and think happy thoughts. I'm here for you. Don't ever forget it." He clutched his necklace in his hand as she hugged him, his tears finally drying up. They walked together the rest of the way in a pleasant silence before Midoriya bid Asui farewell as she boarded her train.
And he smiled, holding the necklace all the way home.
Man these chapter's just keep getting shorter and shorter, huh? Next chapter should be longer. Speaking of next chapter, it's my favorite one so far, so keep an eye out for that I guess. Hope you enjoyed!
