'Okay Izuku.'
'Just... just push some buttons and then hit the call button.'
That's it. He'd already done it at least once a week since he'd come here to Beacon. He'd already talked to his mom so many times. It had been a rather regular occurrence all told as he'd wanted to keep his mom in the loop at the very least. It only seemed right after all; his mom would've gotten really worried otherwise.
So it shouldn't be so hard to do it again, right?
... Well, except for the fact that he was getting set to apologize for... for a lot of stuff that he'd been keeping behind him while here at Beacon. He was still grateful to Blake for helping him come to terms with all this. Really, who would've thought that a discussion about The Man With Two Souls would've ended up getting to the heart of one of his own failings... one that concerned your mother, no less.
After this call, he'd have to thank Blake again...
Though being grateful for having this opportunity realized didn't stop him from being nervous about actually following through with it. His mom loved him, he knew that to be true from the very bottom of his heart but... man... he'd known she's been hurting for a long time. She'd been as hurt by his inability to see your dream through for the longest time as he was. His frustrations were cause for her sadness, his pain was hers.
'How exactly do I 'just' start a conversation like that?'
'Oh hey Mom, I just called to check in to see how you were doing, tell you how Beacon was going and then apologize for all the emotional torment I put both of us through for pursuing my dreams, not to mention the financial strain, and about how I'm sorry to have been such a tremendous block of stress and sadness in your life.'
Yeah, simple.
Still, he never let a task being difficult stop him from going through with it before. Especially if it was the right thing to do.
And Gods, it was the right thing to do.
So with a deep breath he pressed a few buttons on his Scroll and brought it up to his face, waiting for his mother's image to come up on the other side. One ring, she had just noticed it. Two rings, she had picked it up or pulled it from her pocket. Three rings, she'd seen his name on the new contact ID and-
"Izuku, my baby!" Izuku winced a little bit as he lowered the volume of his Scroll slightly. Really, he had to remember to do that before calling her.
"H-Hey mom!" He answered back somewhat skittishly as the familiar, smiling face of Inko Midoriya filled his vision.
"Oh it's so good to see you Izuku! I was hoping you'd call soon, it's going to get busy here in an hour or so when I go off to work and I wouldn't want to have to put off talking to you this week!" Izuku saw that his mother, indeed, was getting ready to go off to work. "How are you Izuku? Did the Lien get through earlier?" He couldn't help but smile; his mother asked that every time he called and every time, without fail;
"Yeah mom, the Lien got through, same as always." Izuku saw his mother sigh slightly as her smile widened.
"That's good! I always get so worried because maybe I've forgotten to put in the right amount for the transfer or maybe I made a mistake when punching in your card's number."
"Well... you shouldn't worry mom. You haven't made a mistake so far..." Or ever, really...
"Well that doesn't mean I can't Izuku." She said with a slight laugh as he watched her do her hair up. "So how's my baby doing at school? Are your grades still good? Did you make any new friends... have you met more girls?" The last question, as always, is tinted with that slight conspiratorial and concerned edge, his mother's worry about him being on his own still somewhat present...
Gods it was awkward. Did he just cut right to the heart of the matter or did he play along? I mean, it'd probably be a slight shock for him do just 'unload' on her but... well, he wanted to do right by her and if he stalled, well, that wasn't going to do him any good... except maybe for him to work up the nerve.
"Well... I guess I have actually. I met these two girls from the year above me, Coco Adel and Velvet Scarlatina. They're pretty cool people..." He started by answering his mom's question, and the other end of the line was just so silent.
"... Oh no my baby's meeting older women now..." His mom's whispered under her breath as a 'dire' expression came over her face. He just shook his head, trying to get away from that particular discussion, as he did his best to smile.
"A-Anyway! I'm going to throw a birthday party for my teammate Pyrrha yesterday." This seemed to be enough to snap Inko out of her spiraling panic as she looked at him, his mother's face breaking into a smile.
"You are? Oh Izuku, that was so nice of you! I hope she enjoys it? Have you gotten her something nice?... It isn't too nice, is it? Or it isn't-"
"I got her a locket I carved myself and put our team's picture in mom." Again his mother sighed in relief as she let him talk about the party at length, the woman's smile growing more and more as she listened in. Hearing how happy Izuku sounded, it just made his mother so happy... it hurt that he'd have to bring it all down to something so depressing. Speaking of...
"I also ended up having to convince one of my other friends, a girl named Blake, to get in and enjoy the party. She's... a bit shy and reclusive, but she's really smart and... really a good person." Izuku said, scratching the back of his head as Inko seemed to be getting just a bit worried again.
"O-Oh, is she? T-That's nice Izuku..." Izuku knew what his mom is thinking but, rather than get off track by correcting her again, he just sighed.
"Yeah... she... we had this discussion a little while back while we were talking about this book we read... and it... kind of made me realize something." His mom just blinked, her worried expression dropping away as she saw how upset he seemed to be getting. "Mom... I'm sorry."
"... What?" She asked, seemingly bewildered, as he look at her through the Scroll.
"I said I'm sorry mom... and I'm sorry I didn't say that until just now, after all these years." Izuku clutched at his chest a bit as he took a deep breath, steeling himself. "Mom... I've noticed how upset you've been over the years because of me. How I've made you worried or scared while I was pursuing my dream... how stressed you were about how I was hurting myself during the training at Birch or how you were worried about putting money together to get me in... I noticed it. I saw how much stress I was putting on your shoulders... and I didn't do or say anything about it... because I knew I wasn't going to stop pursuing my dream…"
"But... but just because I got here doesn't make everything I've done to you right. It doesn't make all the times I saw you cry because I was crying or upset right. It doesn't make it right that I never said thank you or that I was sorry for putting us both through that... I know it sounds empty because I'm still here at Beacon and I'm going to keep on trying to be a Huntsman... but... but I just want you to know how sorry I am for all of that. That I never stopped to thank you for what you were putting yourself through..."
There was a dead silence that strained the conversation as his mother just stared at him through the Scroll, shell shocked.
"Izuku..." He watched as tears streamed down his mother's cheeks as her expression turned from surprised to upset, the woman shaking her head fervently as she turned those emerald eyes on him. "No! Don't apologize to me, baby! I'm sorry! I'm your mother, it's my job to worry about your safety or about money! It's your job to chase your dreams or be what you want to be at your age! You shouldn't have ever seen me like that! It's my job to have that on my shoulders, not my son's! So please don't apologize Izuku, I'm sorry that I put that on your shoulders and that you've been carrying it!"
At that point tears were streaming down his own cheeks as he shouted back at the Scroll.
"Mom, I can't accept that! You've done so much for me, how could I accept that you need to apologize because you didn't hide how much it was hurting you from me?! You're not just my mom, you're a person too... and I put you through so much! You can't sit there and say that it was okay for me to do what I did because I'm your son, it isn't right! Besides, you said it yourself, you hoped that I would stop pursuing that dream because you thought I was going to be hurt! So I'm sorry!"
"I'm sorry I said that Izuku! Yes, I know I thought that, but I said it as part of my way of apologizing to you for even thinking that! I didn't believe your dream was possible when it was and it stopped me from being behind you all the way! That's why I'm okay honey, that's why I'm glad you're at Beacon making all of these friends and being so happy! So I'm sorry I ever said that, I didn't want to put the idea in your head that it was 'your fault' that I felt that way!"
"Well I'm sorry mom but it is my fault that you felt that way and I should've been more considerate of that!"
"Well I'm sorry-"
"No I'm sorry!"
"Izuku don't interrupt your mother when she's apologizing!"
"I'm sorry mom!"
Izuku really should've known what was going to happen. If there was anyone he was like on this planet, it was his mom. So it went that he and his mother spent several minutes going back and forth, sobbing like crazy people and apologizing to each other in circles.
"Izuku Midoriya." There was an authoritative tone Izuku didn't hear often from his mother in those two words as they both finished apologizing. He looked into his Scroll to see his mother, tears staining her cheeks and eyes red, as a stern look was in her eyes... but a kind smile was on her face. "You... are my wonderful little boy. I know you wouldn't mean to hurt me in any way... and honey, I know that I was worried. I know that I was scared... of course I was. I thought there was a chance you were going to die if you kept at this too long. What mother wouldn't be horrified?" Izuku frowned and tried to look down to the side, though his mother's stern look kept his eyes locked with her. "But... I could have told you to stop. I was the parent and you were the child. I could have forced you to go to a normal school and be a normal child..."
"But... honey... you are still a young man. You deserved a chance to chase your dreams... even if they weren't feasible. I figured if you did graduate from the Combat School that you could just go into engineering. It's a good job that makes a lot of money here in Mountain Glenn... but instead, you got your chance to live your dream. Sure, we didn't know it... but... if you have the chance to be happy, if you have the chance to live your dream to its fullest... then Izuku, no amount of money I spent or stress I went through was not worth it." Izuku swallowed a little as he couldn't help but smile at his mother's words. "Izuku... I appreciate that you want to say you're sorry, I really do... but right now, you don't have to. You're happy... and for me, for 'your mother'... that's all I need. Not an apology... just a smile." He choked a bit as he felt tears fresh in his eyes again but, nonetheless, he gave his mother a wide smile, one that sends fresh tears streaming down her cheeks as well.
"Now... now I have to get to work... Gods I hope I'll be able to clean up before I get there, I must look like a wreck..." They both chuckled as Izuku wiped at his eyes. "Izuku... I'll call you later, okay? We'll talk more then, alright?"
"Yeah mom, sure... I love you." The smile on Inko Midoriya's face was nearly blinding as she closed her eyes, dropping a few tears, before nodding.
"I love you too, Izuku." With that, the conversation ended and Izuku released a sigh, wiping at his eyes as he tried to clean himself up a bit before heading back into the building.
"Wow Weiss you really went above and beyond with these decorations. Place looks like a real fancy-pants' pad now, ribbit ribbit."
Indeed, even Izuku was a bit surprised when he walked into what, during the day, was Professor Oobleck's classroom. Chosen because there were no doors that lead into Port's, er, 'Grimm Storage' area and because there wasn't a guarantee that Aizawa wouldn't just sleep through the evening and end up overstaying in his own classroom, Oobleck's classroom was considered the best possible room for them to rent out for their party that met the various requirements and would be, well, private.
However, apparently Weiss didn't decide to take up decorating duties for nothing. What was once a classroom was rather snazzily decked out from top to bottom and, as Tsuyu said, it looked like a really fancy party. The more expensive decorations and party touches were evenly distributed and really brought a different light to the usually drab classroom. Heck, there were coasters nearly everywhere for the drinks that people might've wanted and the centerpiece of it all were the tables laid out to house the, well, no other word for it but 'buffet'. The various snacks, food, drinks and, of course, the two cakes were all arranged in an artful and pleasing manner, the cakes in the center and the food and drinks evenly distributed, so that it had a sort of parallel look to it. The plates and cups that were selected even matched in color, or complemented the color of, the tablecloth that Weiss had insisted they buy for the event.
It looked nice without looking super expensive and everyone was really digging it. The music also probably helped... though that seemed to be less Weiss and more everyone just fiddling around with the Scroll they all had set up to stream a CCT station for the room.
"Eh, it'll do. It's nothing like an actual Atlesian Soiree but I think Pyrrha will probably appreciate it." They all nodded in agreement. "I'm just glad that we did send Nora out with Pyrrha; we probably would've had a time and a half with her trying to keep her from devouring those two cakes."
"Yeah, how horrible..." Ruby muttered as she stared at the two cakes Izuku baked, her mouth clearly watering as the sweet aromas wafted off the cake.
"Nuh uh, little sis. Gotta wait for the birthday girl to show up before any of us can get any cake." Thankfully, Yang had been on hand to keep a firm grip on Ruby's cloak, the younger girl just whining in defeat as she continued to stare after those cakes like a dog denied a treat.
"You won't have to wait long Ruby, according to Nora she and Pyrrha just arrived back on campus. They'll be here soon." Izuku offered in a conciliatory manner to the young girl, causing Kacchan to scoff from the other end of the room.
"Better hurry the Hell up. I got my ass dragged here and I'd like for Red to just get her damn gift already so I can get out." The explosive Huntsman muttered as Ren cracked open an eye to look at him, the Mistrali young man seated not so far away.
"Have some patience Katsuki. This is an event for all three of our teams. It'll do good for us to relax and enjoy ourselves with our peers." Bakugo just scowled slightly but, tellingly, didn't bite back against Ren. Instead he just crossed his arms and continued to lean up against the wall while Ren just grinned. "Did you figure out what you were going to get her, by the by?"
"Course I did!"
"Was it still just cash?"
...
Bakugo's face just went red as he cussed up a storm under his breath, Ren just smiling knowingly from his seated position. Shoto, on the other hand, just blinked a few times in confusion as he looked to his partner.
"Is it inappropriate to use Lien as a present? I'm afraid I'm not overly familiar with what is and isn't a good gift, so..." Shoto asked his partner as Ren just shook his head.
"Not at all Shoto, Lien is a fine gift if you're not certain what to give someone. I was just having some fun at our teammate's expense."
"You two can go fuck yourselves." Bakugo muttered as he kicked off the wall and went over to the buffet to get himself a drink. Before anyone else, namely Yang, could pile in a set of footsteps was heard coming down the hall, one distinctly a set of high heels. The entire room quieted down as the footsteps approached and, lo and behold, you heard two very familiar voices.
"So Professor Oobleck wanted to see us when we got back?"
"U-Uh huh! He, uh, he said that he wanted to discuss our grade on our test! Yeah, he said he wanted to talk to us about that!" They all couldn't help but slap their foreheads at Nora's fabricated lie.
"Oh dear, I hope it isn't anything too serious." Thankfully, Pyrrha was a rather trusting person and it seems she bought into Nora's little tale... or was just indulging her. It was hard to tell. Ruby Rose quickly ran up to the light switch using her Semblance, turned off the lights, and then quickly jumped back into her hiding place. Finally, Pyrrha and Nora approached the door and, opening it, Izuku could practically see Pyrrha's furrowed brow.
"Hello? Professor Oobleck? You wanted to see us?" The former tournament fighter flipped the nearby switch and-
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PYRRHA!"
"AAAAAAAAH!"
Izuku was privately thankful that there wasn't anything metal nearby for Pyrrha to send flying out from her surprise. What was certain however was that there was a slight 'flash' of a Scroll's camera going off as Yang chuckled to herself. "Aaaand saved..."
"E-Everyone?" Pyrrha seemed to recover her wits as they all smiled at her, some softly chuckling at her surprise as she looked around. "Oh! Y-You all didn't have to, it wasn't-"
"Of course we had to Pyrrha! It's your birthday and, as friends, compatriots, teammates or otherwise, it is all of our duties to celebrate the anniversary of your birth in order to show how much you mean to us! To do otherwise would simply be a travesty of poor taste!" Tenya declared nice and loud as he swung his arms about, Blake just shaking her head from her own hiding position as she cracked out a book.
"What he said. It's no problem to celebrate your birthday Pyrrha. So come on, your team put a lot of work into this." Pyrrha blinked in surprise as she looked between the three of them and, after some hesitation, a smile cropped up on her face as she allowed Nora to drag her down to the party floor to join in with everyone else.
Time to get the party rolling!
xXxXxXxXxXx
By the time Izuku'd noticed that Yang Xiao Long had turned that predatory gaze upon him, it was already too late. Before he could make himself look busy or try to get distance between him and her, the blonde young woman had him by his arm and was tugging him out onto the makeshift dance floor.
"Come on Slugger! You can't just leave Tenya all here on his lonesome! Come on, let's see if your dance moves are half as tasty as your fightin' moves!"
"UH YANG I REALLY DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S A GREAT IDEA I MEAN I'VE ONLY JUST REALLY STARTED LEARNING HOW TO DANCE!" Yang looked over at him, a slightly surprised expression on her face that rapidly turned coy as she continued to pull him to the dance floor.
"Oh? Learning to dance are we Izuku? What, trying to learn how to impress the ladies before the big dance?" His face immediately went beet red at Yang's insinuation... well, he was trying to learn how to dance for the big Vytal Dance coming up next semester so... she wasn't wrong, he guessed? Seeing that reaction caused Yang to bark out a series of 'very' entertained laughs as she just grinned at him. "Well come on then Slugger, let's see how good you've gotten? Show us all how you shake what the Gods gave ya!" With that Yang shoved Izuku out onto the dance floor, leaving him somewhat nervous as everyone turned their attention on him. Ruby, still laughing, started whistling for him to start dancing, a gesture followed up by a lot of his other friends.
Tenya just gave Izuku a look of manly understanding as he did his best to awkwardly dance.
Izuku suspected that it'd look a lot better if it wasn't for Tenya's usual body language getting in the way, causing him to awkwardly jerk about rather than go with the flow of the music. His face remained beet red as he tried to think of his way out of it.
Izuku felt a rush of determination as he was dragged out onto the makeshift dance floor by Yang. It always seemed like Yang was the one who had him on the back foot, that the highly socially competent young woman just constantly had him on the ropes when it came to poking, prodding and teasing him. It was never harsh or ill-meant, but it never ceased to make his face turn red when the young woman would just start pushing all his buttons in rapid order and him felt like that there was little he could do.
It gave some motivation, here and now. Why just let Yang be the one having the fun? After all, he... kind of knew how to dance a little bit! Maybe it was time he got a little bit of payback and got to see Yang blush for once!
Before that thought could make him chicken out, he swallowed the lump in his throat and allow his arm to go slack so that Yang's next pull ended up practically dragging him right into her.
"What's wrong there Slugg-" Before Yang could do much to respond... well, it wouldn't necessarily be wrong to say he basically moved in to do to her what he did to both her and Bakugo during his fights; toss her own body weight around. Except in one case he was tossing her over his shoulder but now, with a combination of light footsteps keeping in rhythm to the music, he switched his grip so that, rather than being dragged about the hand by Yang, he got her in his grip. From there he pulled a pretty simple maneuver; he pulled in somewhat close to Yang and spun a couple times, his quick steps and the momentum of her pull causing the both of them to whirl about. It was a little bit disorientating at first but, eventually, he took one big step out and, with the hand holding onto Yang's, whipped her out.
To Yang's credit, and his, she managed to keep from completely falling over as she planted her feet, the both of them barely connected by their hands. It was actually rather comical as the quick series of spins ended up with Yang's hair a little disheveled.
Okay, so, just like the movies; after his momentum ceased he ended up pulling Yang back in, the blonde brawler giving a quick 'ah' as her feet awkwardly stumbled about from the surprise dance he'd ended up inflicting on her. To his surprise he ended up basically leading this as Yang seemed to be too surprised and a bit out of her depth when it came to dancing like Weiss taught him. The scene that thus played out for everyone is that he, Izuku Midoriya, ended up leading Yang about on a makeshift Tango while the blonde girl was pretty much helpless but to follow his lead, lest she end up falling flat on her butt.
To say that everyone else was entertained would've been an understatement.
"Come on Yang, you tease Izuku about his dancing and then you go in looking like a limp noodle, ribbit ribbit?" Ruby's cheeks puff out as Tsuyu tossed that out, the sister and Frog Faunus equally amused to see the usually in control and cool Yang Xiao Long having utterly lost ground to Izuku of all people.
"Wait, hold on, just give meeeeeee-" The dance just ended up going on despite Yang's protests, by that point most of the more exuberant party goers just laughing or hollerin' for Izuku, free entertainment before their eyes. Tenya himself took the moment to stop dancing and sneak away from the makeshift dance floor himself. Eventually Izuku's own boldness ended up draining out as he realized that he'd been holding hands and dancing with a girl and, face flushed, Izuku ended up giving Yang one last spin. He kept a hand on her shoulder to keep her from falling over, her hair whipped about her hair so as to obscure her face as the young woman gave a few uncertain steps following the entire affair.
"So... uh... was that good dancing Yang?" Izuku ended up awkwardly asking, not quite possessing Yang's talent for teasing. Yang gave a quick 'Huh?' at Izuku's prompting, her mind seemingly back on the dance floor herself before she suddenly just started laughing.
"O-Oh! Yeah, totally! Got me good there Slugger, looks like whatever lessons you're takin' are paying off!" Yang gave another quick laugh as she readjusted her hair, turning around as she headed off for the buffet. Izuku couldn't help but frown slightly; despite her initial shock, it seemed like Yang recovered pretty quickly. Heck, Izuku didn't even really get a chance to turn the tables on her and get her like she usually got him.
Though he wondered for a moment if he spotted a deep shade of red on her ears as she fixed up her hair.
xXxXxXxXxXx
"Not big on parties I'm guessing?" Blake blinked as he approached her, the black haired young woman looking up from her book, The Modern Sage coincidentally, and just shaking her head with what amounts to a friendly smile.
"Nah, 'fraid not. Don't get me wrong, your team did a great job but... eh, I've never been much the celebratory type." Izuku frowned a little as he crossed his arms.
"Never? That's... not exactly a great thing Blake. Did you ever celebrate your birthday?" Izuku saw Blake paused for a moment, her eyes having moved to go back to her book after she answered him. Sighing slightly, though with a slight smile that indicated she wasn't too annoyed, she closed her book and pocketed it as she scooted over a bit to offer him a spot against the wall.
"Well, it's not that. I celebrated my birthday every year back when I lived with my parents. It was... alright." Izuku saw Blake was trying her best to play it cool as she combed a strand of hair behind her ear, a distant smile on her face. "I wasn't super social even as a kid, but my dad would still do what he could to invite a whole bunch of kids over to see if I could make friends... I made some. They were friends I'd have for a long time..." Blake sighed a bit as she looked over at him.
"So... life happened as it usually did and I ended up not staying with my parents anymore. I ended up kind of living on my own as my own person... at age fifteen. I think you can imagine that didn't go too well." HE nodded in response as Blake looked off to the party, a sad smile on her face. "I still had my friends and they were a big help at the start... I really couldn't have survived long on my own without them by my side. But, well, I think you can guess that things with them didn't exactly go so great judging by the fact that I... well, I don't have those friends anymore..." She paused as she considered that, a frown crossing her lips as she looked off to the side.
"What's the matter Blake?" Izuku saw her amber eyes swivel about as she thought... but she just did her best to give him a smile and shook her head.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." That Didn't exactly help Izuku all that much but he saw Blake turn her attention back to the rest of the party. "So yeah. I haven't celebrated much of anything for a couple years now. That's for the best right? You get older and you stop having parties and celebrating the fact that time passes some arbitrary marker. Don't get me wrong, I'm not gonna turn my nose up at you guys for having this celebration, especially not with how happy it's making Pyrrha." They both glanced over to the birthday girl in question, who was just laughing and smiling away as various party went go up to her and forced her into some various festivities.
"That... that's a good thing to have, and I'm happy that we could do this for her. I just... I dunno. I guess it just isn't for me anymore. Do you understand what I mean?"
"I think I understand a little at least." Izuku replied calmly as they watch the ongoing party, Blake just smiling a bit as she shook her head.
"Surprise, surprise..." There was a slight laugh there, but he just shrugged his shoulders as he continued.
"It's probably not that surprising that I didn't exactly have big birthdays myself. I wasn't great at making friends when I was a kid either. The fact that eventually it came to light that I was... thought to be Broken didn't make things any easier, especially when how fervently I was sticking to my dream. I guess people didn't want to hang out with the weird, Broken kid who was in way over his head. Just me, my mom and, sometimes, my dad." Blake nodded quietly as she waited for him to continue, as he took a moment to sheepishly scratch at the back of his head before doing so.
"To be honest... I didn't really think of birthdays as being the celebration or the decorations, at least not when I got older. To me... it was about being able to know that there were people out there who cared that were happy that I was around and wanted to celebrate it. It... it really helped sometimes." Izuku took a slightly shaky breath as he looked out at the larger party, smiling at the energy and excitement. "And I think everyone deserves that. To know that you make people that happy. That's all this party is when you think about it; our way of telling Pyrrha that we're glad we met her and that we became friends."
"... That's... that's a nice sentiment, Izuku." Blake said with a nod as she looked back out at the birthday girl in question.
"... That's not just true of Pyrrha either. That's true of everyone here at the party." Izuku turned to look at Blake and offer her a sheepish grin. "I'm glad you're here Blake and, more than that, I'm glad you're my friend. You don't have to do anything special or act crazy while you're here. Just being here, showing that you care too, is more than enough..."
"Plus hey, there's cake." There was a moment where, as Blake was staring at Izuku gob smacked, he saw her mouth something to herself. 'Friend' was his best guess though he readily admitted that reading lips wasn't his forte... or a skill he possessed much skill in at all. Still, from this close, he could practically hear it under her breath. Eventually Blake's surprised expression turned to her more casual, neutral one, though with a slight grin tugging at her lips.
"It must be pretty good cake too, if Katsuki's willing to stick around just to eat it." At that, Bakugo turned from his position supporting the wall to glare at the two of them.
"I'm not just here because of Deku's shitty cake." He muttered before he walked on off. It was kind of hard to take him seriously when he said that through a mouth full of said cake though.
"... Come on, let's have some ourselves before the others swallow the rest of it whole." Blake said, a slight shake of her head as she pushed herself off the wall to walk over to the buffet. Izuku couldn't help but grin himself as he went over to join her.
xXxXxXxXxXx
'...How long has it been,' she wondered, 'How long has it been since you've felt this much joy and happiness?'
While this wasn't her first birthday party... she'd forgotten when was the last time she truly enjoyed one.
It's not because of the quality of the food or the party. No, she'd had much better in recent years.
It's because of the love and warmth that was put into this party. She knew that every provided gifts, even Izuku who didn't have much to spare. (I'm sorry!)
That was the first time in so many years that the party was for Pyrrha Nikos a friend, not for Pyrrha Nikos, The Invincible Girl.
While her parents did love her, and she would never admit it to them, it had been a long time since they put in their own personal effort to make the best birthday party they could. In recent years, they'd bought their expensive gifts and cake from other places rather than create it themselves.
Here though, she knew that Izuku was the one to create the cake, and that despite having little time to prepare their own gifts, all 10 of her friends, and Bakugo, tried their best to create meaningful gifts for her regardless of the price.
... she didn't want that feeling to ever go away. For so long, her title has been hanging over her... but now, bit by bit, it was starting to fade.
She knew that the day that she will be defeated in class is coming. She didn't know when or who, but it was inevitable. Whether it would be Shoto, Yang, Nora, Weiss, Katsuki, Izuku, or anyone else, that day will come.
When it did, she would finally be free of the burden, "The Invincible Girl."
xXxXxXxXxXx
Taking a quick break to see what Weiss had gotten up to in trying to keep the party in order, Izuku was slightly surprised to see the Heiress doing her best to clean up a few problem spots that had crept up as the Party had gone on; while the amount of trash wasn't huge thanks to the limited number of people, there was still is a fair amount piling up and Weiss seemed to be doing what she could to ensure that nothing ended up forgotten, lost or, worst of all, spilled before the party's done. They all had an agreement to keep to, after all, and it seemed like Weiss was determined to see that the party went off without a hitch.
Seemed like Weiss was taking her partial role as Party Host quite seriously... to the point where, in the moment, she seemed to be taking up a bit more than she could chew, a good number of plates, some trash and cups stacked up in her arms as she maneuvers around the class turned party room.
"Hey there Weiss. Need some help?" Weiss turned to face Izuku as he approached, the white haired Heiress standing up straight as she could as she looked at him.
"Well, I wouldn't necessarily say that I need your help, Izuku... but I'm certainly not going to turn it down." Izuku grinned as Weiss muttered the second part under her breath, him reaching out his hands to take some of the trash and dishes from Weiss' grip so as to ease off the pressure on the young woman. There was an almost imperceptible sigh of relief as he reach in to help Weiss, one that she seemed to do her best to ignore while the two of them did what they could to lightly clean up around the periphery of the party.
"So, have you been enjoying the party Weiss? I haven't seen you doing too much with everyone, so I was just wondering if you were bored or something?" Weiss shook her head as the two of them kept up their work, the white-haired Heiress just taking more and more trash and stuffing it into bags.
"Hardly Izuku. While I can't say that I've ever had to so personally handle so many aspects of a party myself, we mostly left that to the servants, I am enjoying playing host for our friends. Seeing the fruits of our labors, my decorations, the choice in music, the food and, of course, the cake make so many people happy or lift their spirits has been a treat. There's a certain satisfaction to managing a party well, after all." Izuku nodded in agreement, after all it was good to see that so many people had enjoyed his cake, but it still seemed odd.
"Well... I mean, I guess that's true, but I haven't seen you dance or join in with a lot of the fun yet. I understand that we're managing the party but that doesn't mean we have to spend our entire time managing it." Weiss paused for a moment as that was brought up, rapping her fingers against one of the table counters, before she shrugged.
"I'm aware... but we did make our promises to Professor Goodwitch. Besides... well, it's not that I don't enjoy parties but... festivities like these aren't quite what a person of my position would be used to in Atlesian Society." Now Izuku was the confused one as he tilted his head, Weiss sighing as she put a stack of plates down. "The parties in Atlas, especially at the social rank my family occupies, are less about dancing or eating a fourth slice of cake like Katsuki Bakugo over there-"
"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!"
"JUST ADMIT YOU LIKE THE CAKE YOU BRUTE!"
"OVER MY DEAD BODY!"
"... Anyway. It's less about that and more about forming strategic alliances and bonds. There's more of a purpose to parties in Atlas, things usually have a higher stake. Don't misunderstand me, it's not that this doesn't look fun but... mmm... well, I suppose I'm just more used to playing the host than playing party-goer. It's the... role I'm more comfortable in." Weiss said, somewhat distractedly, as she shoved a stack of paper plates into a trash bag.
"Well, isn't being a good host also about going out there and talking to people? I think that's involved somewhere too, right?" At Izuku's question, Weiss froze up a bit, the young woman biting her lip slightly as she put some plates into a trash bag.
"Yes, well, you are correct Izuku. That is indeed part of being a good host... but I can't say it was a part of being a good host that I was ever particularly... good at." Izuku thought she might've been reaching for another word but he couldn't be certain. He just watched as the Schnee Company Heiress shrugged her shoulders as she continued working. "Besides, what does it matter if I'm going out and talking? I can be a good host and make sure that Pyrrha's part is going perfectly in other ways."
"Well... I mean, if you ask me, I don't think Pyrrha is necessarily worried about the party going perfectly. Seems to me that she's having fun as is." They both turned to see Pyrrha laughing and smiling with some of their other friends as they wished her well. "... But I do think she'd be worried if she saw that you weren't having fun with everyone else, Weiss." Izuku saw Weiss fidget with her fingers slightly, the Heiress casting her gaze about.
"Maybe... but Izuku, we made a promise about keeping this place Tidy and... it would be better if we kept on top of it." Izuku just shrugged as she said that, offering a friendly smile as he did so.
"Well hey, I was pretty much set sticking around to clean up afterward anyway Weiss, so it's not like I'd have a problem with helping you clean up later. Come on, there's nothing really all that wrong with stopping to have fun at a party Weiss... if you'd like, you and I could even dance! I know it's something you're good at and that you enjoy, so maybe just take some time to dance a bit?" The young woman turned to face her, her light blue eyes scanning over him as she seems to hesitate.
Whether it's because his words got through to her or she found his smile infectious, Weiss seemed to deflate as she heaved out an irritated sounding sigh. Though it was hard to take its tone seriously when a little smile preyed upon the Heiress' face while she shook her head.
"Honestly, if you're going to badger me about this, I suppose I might as well. If only to get you to stop worrying, Izuku." Izuku just chuckled as he nodded, as if conceding to Weiss point, as he managed to bring her back to the party itself. The party was still ongoing and some people were still dancing on the floor as he and Weiss made their own onto it and they did their best to try to get back into the groove of the music playing.
His own efforts were pretty much average. Without Yang to work off of or to make his own dancing seem more impressive, it really wasn't much of a show. He still get some hollers from the crowd as the 'skittish church mouse' once again hit the dance floor.
But he pretty quickly worked out of people's attention by Weiss' own dancing. Graceful would be putting it mildly and he was quickly reminded why he decided to ask Weiss for dancing lessons in the first place. The Heiress practically glided across the floor as she spun and twirled, taking careful and graceful steps as she elegantly move along with the rhythm. Izuku smiled, and calmly backed out.
Glad that Weiss had allowed herself to actually relax a bit and enjoy herself.
xXxXxXxXxXx
Finally, after what seemed like an age, Izuku made his way over to Pyrrha, the birthday girl in question having set a plate of finished cake down as she dabbed her mouth with a napkin. Upon noticing Izuku approach the former tournament fighter smiled at him warmly as she quickly pulled out a seat for him. Izuku greeted her with his own smile as he took a seat down beside her, giving a small sigh as he relaxed his legs. He'd been up and about for most of the party, so getting off his feet, he was not gonna lie, felt 'really' good.
"A wonderful party you've put together, Izuku." Pyrrha said quite plainly as he took a seat, turning his head to face her with a somewhat befuddled, if still smiling, look on his face.
"What? Hah, don't be ridiculous Pyrrha. This was hardly all my doing. Weiss, Nora and I worked together to make this happen, all of us did this equally. To call this my own success is kind of being unfair to them, don't you think?" Izuku asked with a shrug as Pyrrha just smiled, looking over at their other teammates as they seem to have it out a bit.
"Oh yes, I've heard about that from Nora and Weiss, how all three of you split up duties... but Izuku, even if you all eventually did agree to this, it wouldn't have come about if you didn't bring the team together to make it possible. Because you wanted to throw me a party, everything ended up being put into place... Nora's wonderful little day out, Weiss' amazing decorations and your very delicious cake." Izuku couldn't help but smile as he scratched his cheek.
"Well thanks Pyrrha, I'm glad you liked it... and I guess you have a point. Still, I don't consider it that big of a deal. After all, I just wanted to throw you a good birthday party Pyrrha, it seemed like the least you deserved." Pyrrha's smile grew, the young woman turning her green eyes to all their friends, and Bakugo, as she heaved a happy sigh.
"That's why I want to thank you Izuku... so... thank you... thank you so much." There was a slight bit of emotion in that admission that surprised Izuku as he saw Pyrrha watching all of their friends. "As you can imagine my... schedule as a fighter made it difficult for my family to arrange things like this. Oh they'd always mark my birthday with gifts, very nice gifts too..." he saw Pyrrha raise a hand up to the necklace and tiara that she, at that very moment, was wearing. "But... it wasn't as quaint or as personal as this. Not after I had gotten my fame. My... friends... yes, friends back in Mistral also really couldn't help me celebrate either..." Izuku saw Pyrrha scratch at her arm as she spoke, causing him to frown ever so slightly.
Though that frown was blown a bit away as Pyrrha fixed Izuku with the widest smile he thought he'd ever seen on her face.
"But... to have everyone of our friends here at Beacon having such a great time together... just celebrating something even as unremarkable as my birthday and being so happy while doing so... it's... it's something to see." He saw Pyrrha take a deep breath as she gave a quick nod. "So... really Izuku. I have to thank you. You might say that you're thanking me with this party but... I don't know what I did to deserve it."
"Pyrrha... you really didn't need to do anything." Green eyes met as he spoke up, a warm smile on his face as he looked at her. "You're our friend. Nothing more was needed for us to do this for you and nothing more is ever going to be needed. Besides, you can't just call your birthday unremarkable; it's 'your' birthday, it's the entire reason you could become our friend. That makes it remarkable." Pyrrha's breath hitched for a moment as he finished, a slight gleam to her eyes as she just smiled back at him.
"Izuku... thank-"
"Okay ladies, gentlemen and Bakugo-"
"Go to -*OMPH*- Hell!"
"Already there whenever you're around Sparky." Yang fired back as she got everyone's attention. "Anyway, getting late and I 'definitely' want to see what the birthday girl here got as presents! So come on everybody, get your stuff and let's show Pyrrha a good time!" A small cheer erupted from the more energetic of the party goers as everyone grabbed their stuff and piled in around Pyrrha. The presents usually came in a few flavors; some things that were nice, some things that were useful and some things that kind of showed how awkward certain people could be.
Weiss and Yang actually seemed to be roughly on the same wave-length; each got Pyrrha small piece of jewelry to go with her current set. Nothing way too expensive for Pyrrha's taste but, in their words, it was pretty clear that Pyrrha had a thing for nice jewelry.
Which Pyrrha, to her embarrassment, couldn't exactly deny. Especially not when looking at the pair of earrings Weiss got her with gems in the studs that matched Pyrrha's eye color or the bracelets, colored much like the bronze parts of Pyrrha's outfit, that Yang got her.
"Oh, they double as like little bracers too so if you find yourself in a spot-"
"Of course you'd think of giving her bracers."
"Hey, you can look good and kick ass at the same time, Weiss-cream." A chuckle was shared between the group as Pyrrha thanked the both of them. Kacchan and Shoto were up next, with Kacchan giving her... a Lien card with 50 Lien. Before anyone could speak up, Shoto followed up with the exact same gift.
"I'm... sorry it isn't actually something, but-"
"It's okay, it's the thought that counts. Thank you both." Pyrrha's kind smile seemed to put Shoto at east, though Kacchan just muttered a quick 'whatever' before the both of them walked off. Ren and Nora quickly followed up behind them; Ren spotting a small tea set with several bags of tea leaves while Nora brought up an assortment of various sweets.
"Nora and I have... traveled a fair bit before. Seen a lot of stuff, tried some different things. These are some teas that I've had over the years. Good for you and very delicious."
"And these sweets are AWESOME! You'll love them! There's some stuff from Mistral, and Atlas and even this little thing I tried from a Vacuoan Vender once that was SO GOOD!" Nora jumped in as Ren finished, causing Pyrrha to chuckle and nod as she gratefully took the gifts from them. Tenya and Ruby followed the both of them, Tenya with a nice, red winter coat in hand and Ruby with something actually wrapped up.
"Now Miss Nikos, I'm aware that Mistral usually stays seasonably warm throughout most of the year, being closer to the equator than either Atlas or The City of Vale, but you'll find that it gets quite cold around here, thus making your choice of attire a poor fit for the winter months. I know you have the sum to probably add a winter wardrobe yourself, however, I thought that it would be both thoughtful and helpful if I were to get you a nice winter coat that looked like it would go very well with your usual taste in clothing." Tenya's hands gyrated through the air as he explained all that, Pyrrha just blinking slightly as he went through his explanation before smiling and taking the coat, slipping it on.
"Oh, well it is very nice Tenya, thank you." The young man just snapped to attention and gave a quick bow as he stepped back and allowed Ruby to practically shove her gift into Pyrrha's hands.
"Open it open it open it open it open it open it open it open it~!" Everyone, save for Bakugo and Weiss, laughed a bit at Ruby's excitement as Pyrrha did indeed open up Ruby's gift to reveal... a scope? "I found this in a weapon's magazine; it's a new top of the line scope that's made for your kind of rifle! It's really expensive but I was able to grab some design details from the magazine and parts of a blueprint from another and I was able to make this in the shop!"
"You... made this, Ruby?" Pyrrha remarked, looking at the fine craftsmanship on display.
"Yeah! It's got two settings so if you really need to aim for something far away, you'll really be helped a lot! I also penciled in little markers here and there to help you compensate for any drop in your bullets for the longer ranges! I hope you like it!" Ruby was practically vibrating with excitement over what she'd given, Pyrrha just giving a wide smile as she nodded.
"I really do, thank you Ruby." The young woman just pumped her fist.
"I told you she'd like it Yang!"
Yang just shrugged her shoulders, a 'how about that' expression on her face as Blake and Tsuyu walked up. From the Frog Faunus was a large plastic container full of food while Blake handed off a book, The Ancient Siege, to Pyrrha.
"It's an old family recipe from back when my family lived in the marshes around Vale. Humans that've tried it say they really like it too, so I hope you'll enjoy it, ribbit ribbit." Pyrrha gave a small smile and nodded, piling it on top of her already considerable pile of presents, while Blake just blushed and looked to the side.
"I'm not great with presents and such either but... well, Lien didn't seem right either, no offense." She said, turning back to Shoto and Kacchan, who each just shrugged. "So I thought I'd give you a book I liked. It's a little long but I thought it was enjoyable." Pyrrha nodded and, again, thanked the pair for their thoughtful gifts. Izuku swallowed nervously as he stepped up at last, holding the little wrapped box with his carved necklace in hand. He knew Ruby said that she thought Pyrrha would like it, but now after seeing what everyone else got her... well, everyone else except for Kacchan and Shoto, he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Pyrrha, as ever, just smiled reassuringly as she gracefully took his present and unwrapped it, opening up the box to pull out the necklace by its chain.
"It's... wooden." She said in some surprise, as did most other people, as he just sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
"Y-Yeah. I carved it myself. There's a little slot in there for a picture of... our team. I had the metalwork done by Ruby so it's also, kind of, sort of her second present too, I guess." Pyrrha blinked as she eventually managed to pop open the locket, gasping slightly when she saw the picture of their team inside. Most everyone else gathered around to see as well, and he could hear a few impressed whistles even as the locket was closed.
"Dang, even put the team flower on front. That's cheesy there Izuku... but dang." Yang's voice called out, clearly to some degree impressed, as was everyone else. He just keep scratching the back of his head.
"It really isn't all that much, it's just a little carving with some metalwork... but, well, I thought it'd be a nice way to keep us close always. I... uh, Pyrrha?" He was surprised when he saw a few tears peek out at the corner of Pyrrha's eyes, the young woman carefully gathering up all the gifts that were brought for her as she looks at all of them, a wide smile on her face.
"Thank you Izuku... thank you all. These are wonderful." Most everyone else smiled as Pyrrha laughed, brushing away the little pinpricks of tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes.
It really had been a fantastic evening, and that was just the perfect way to end it, it seemed.
"Happy Birthday Pyrrha."
E/N: A quick POV from Pyrrha via The Crumbling of the Invincible Girl by Supa.
-Shovern