Category: Friendship Fluff
Characters: Mina Ashido
Mina whined miserably as she paused on the sidewalk to stare up at the inky night sky. It was actually quite beautiful that night; only a few wispy gray clouds disrupted the glittering expanse of stars, which was clearer than usual. The white light from the full moon illuminated the shadowy areas that the dull yellow lamplight couldn't reach, filling the world with a silver glow like gleaming fairy dust. On typical nights, Mina would probably find the sky beautiful and calming. Instead, she could only be irritated that she had to look upon it at all.
"This sucks!" she exclaimed angrily and kicked a discarded soda can. The aluminum can bounced down the sidewalk several times before striking a trash bin with a metallic ring. Sighing, Mina trudged over to pick up the litter and toss it into the receptacle. She then groaned and planked against the light pole beside it, pressing her forehead into the iron-wrought, thin construct. "It's my birthday…"
Mina knew it was selfish to complain about the turn of events. By all rights, she should be grateful that she'd landed herself a small, week-long internship opportunity during the summer vacation. But did it have to be the week of my birthday? She complained with another disgruntled groan. She would only turn seventeen once! It was already bad enough that the students lived in the dorms even during vacation since the debacle at the summer camp the previous year, so she didn't have much opportunity to celebrate with her family.
"But now I can't even celebrate with my friends," she moped aloud. She glanced at her smartphone despite knowing it would depress her further. It was nearly midnight; no one would be awake at this hour. She'd hurried out early that morning to arrive for her internship, so she hadn't seen any of her classmates that morning. "Oh well," she sighed deeply and peeled herself away from the light pole. "There's nothin' for it. Gotta go home!" she encouraged herself. Heavy-hearted and exhausted, Mina staggered down the empty streets towards home.
"I'm hooooooome," Mina called hollowly as she shuffled through the dormitory doors. Not that she was talking to anyone in particular. She slipped out of her shoes and set them in the entryway beside the rest of her classmate's shoes before hefting the suitcase containing her hero costume over her shoulder. The clock on the wall ticked the seconds by; a glance informed Mina that it was moving close to midnight, and her birthday would soon draw to an anticlimactic and melancholy close. Mina's eyes were lidded as she scratched her cheek. Despite the tiredness plaguing her body, she had no care to go to bed in such a sorry state. She tossed the metal suitcase onto the couch, bouncing a few times before settling on the cushions.
Her footsteps echoed in the empty halls of the first floor as she proceeded towards the kitchen. Snacks were always effective at chasing away gloomy thoughts. With the oncoming of night, the shadows had crept in to shroud the dormitory in its dark clouds. As she padded through the entryway, she fumbled for the light switch on the wall. She slapped the area uselessly for a few seconds, cursing under her breath, until she finally felt the smooth enamel-like covering under her fingertips. "A-ha!" she smiled triumphantly and flipped the switch. Light blazed in the room, flashing her vision a brilliant white. She flapped her eyelashes repeatedly to allow her eyes to adjust to the sudden illumination.
That's when everyone sprang out of their hiding spots.
"Surprise! Happy birthday!" they chimed in unison. A dozen party poppers exploded, filling the air with confetti and colorful streamers, and balloons flooded in from the other entrances to bounce joyfully across the ceiling.
"Eeeeeeek!" Mina screamed shrilly, drawing up one leg and shielding her body with crossed arms on reflex. Her eyes rolled around in her sockets, unable to focus on the sea of faces that has sprung up so suddenly. Slowly, her limbs inched down as the realization slowly dawned on her. "Oh… Oh...! You guys-!" she hiccuped as sobs threatened to explode in her chest. Her eyes flooded with tears, and they quickly broke over the barrier of her lashes to stream down her cheeks. "You guys! Thank you so much!" she howled and sprang forward to embrace the closest person, who just happened to be Katsuki.
"What the-? Oi!" he exclaimed irritatedly, but made no move to pry Mina off as she wrapped her arms around his broad chest and squeezed him within more force than a boa constrictor. "O-Oi, Pinky, I can't breathe-!" he groaned and staggered back into the kitchen table. Mina just continued to cry loudly with tears and snot pouring down her face.
"I'm so gratefuuuuuul," she moaned as she rubbed her face into the fabric of his tank top. Katsuki grimaced and pushed on her head to get her to stop.
"Oi! Knock it off! You're getting that shit all over me!" he whined. Mina ignored the continuous rough nudges of his palm into the side of her head, too busy wallowing in gratitude and happiness. Katsuki eventually relented, just resting his palm on the top of her head. "Sheesh… Such a crybaby…" he tutted.
"Aw, Baku-bro, you're so sweet," Denki teased over the blond's shoulder. Katsuki snarled like a rabid dog, making Denki squeak and scamper away to take solace behind Eijirou's sturdy frame. "Eiji! Protect me!" The redhead laughed amiably and patted Denki on the head reassuringly. Mina finally managed to reign in her emotions and pulled away from Katsuki, leaving smudges of tears and snot all over Katsuki's tank top. He looked down at it with a disgusted scowl, and while he was distracted, Hanta scampered over to strap a colorful, conical paper hat onto his head. As the string snapped taut against his chin, Katsuki scowled at the boy, baring his gums.
"You guys," Mina repeated, pausing as a few more petulant sniffles slipped out of her. "You guys, I had no idea. I'm so happy," she sniffed. The elated bubbliness still propagated through her body like champagne flowing through her veins, making it seem like she was floating on air. It was amazing how she coil go from horribly blue to overwhelmingly joyful in a matter of minutes.
"You didn't think that we would forget your birthday, did you, Mina?" Momo smiled as she strolled over. Mina shook her head vehemently, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands to finally cease the flow of tears. Momo flashed her a kind smile and brought her in for a firm but comforting hug. "We knew you'd be upset that you upset because your internship would prevent you from celebrating… So we planned this late-night party for you!" Momo gestured to the kitchen table, where a layered birthday cake sat surrounded by a pile of wrapped presents. Mina's tears threatened to renew when she clapped eyes on the fruits of their friendship and generosity, but she managed to suppress them with a small whine.
"That's right!" Izuku smiled broadly and scampered over to fix one of the party hats onto her head. "Happy birthday, Mina!"
"Hurry, hurry, light the candles!" Tooru cried, coming up behind Mina to all but push her into the chair in front of the cake. "It's almost midnight! We have to sing to her before it becomes tomorrow!"
"Tooru, is it really that big of a-" Fumikage started, but quickly snapped his beak shut when the invisible girl whirled around to shoot him an equally invisible glare.
"Yes! Yes, it is!" Sato scrambled to light the seventeen candles decorating the birthday cake. Once they'd all been ignited with small, flickering orange-yellow flames, the students quickly circled up around Mina and began to sing, rushing the verses a little as the time inched closer to midnight. Mina squirmed in the seat, unable to suppress the big, stupid grin stretching across her face. Being sung "Happy Birthday" always gave one a strange sense of embarrassment and exhilaration. As soon as they finished, Mina leaned forward to blow the candles out. When the last flame sputtered and disappeared, the group of young adults cheered triumphantly.
Their cheers morphed into startled shrieks as the blaring ring of an air horn blasted through the small space. Twenty-one pairs of owlish eyes whirled to the entryway to see their teacher standing there, holding the air horn and looking quite irritated. He said nothing, his gaze sweeping across the room until it settled upon the birthday cake.
"What kind of cake is that?" he asked and promptly discarded the air horn. As the class laughed and began tearing into the birthday cake, Mina waited to eat her. Instead, she leaned back in the chair to drink in all the happy and smiling faces around her. After savoring the celebratory atmosphere, she leaned in to shovel the spongey cake into her mouth.
Totally the best birthday ever!