Izuku probably should not have been surprised that his birthday would cause so many waves by this point.
But waking up to find that all of his co-workers had sent him a bunch of happy birthday texts and promising to give him the gifts they bought him when school was up again made him show his phone to his mother.
He had honestly thought that in his earlier morning delirium that he had hallucinated the texts, only for his mother to tear up and congratulate Izuku on having such wonderful co-workers, which in turn made Izuku start crying.
His favorite heroes had gone out of their way to get him birthday gifts? He hadn't even had his morning tea, and he was already crying today.
Why did everyone have to be so invested in his birthday gosh dang it? It was bad enough that the people in the districts spent time and money either making something for him or getting him something they knew he'd like.
Now his co-workers were doing it too?
Shaking his head he helped his mom put the food on the table so that they could have breakfast before he left for work and his mom started to get everything ready for his birthday party with his friends.
Izuku, dimmed slightly thinking about them.
Awa-Kun had been willing to hang out with Katsuki again a couple of days after Katsuki confessed about their full history, and it was awkward but at least it didn't feel like Awa-Kun was only there to watch over Katsuki.
Uki and Jiji hadn't spoken with Katsuki or met up with him, and Izuku really didn't begrudge them for that, he absolutely understood where they were coming from even if it hurt to not be able to see all of his friends at the same time.
Jiji had privately asked him more about what had happened between him and Katsuki, and the two of them talked about it in late night phone calls.
Izuku had spilled a lot about the bullying Katsuki had done, including explaining that was where he got the name Deku-Sensei from, since that was almost exclusively what Katsuki used to call him.
Jiji had let him ramble on and on about it sometimes.
Izuku really hoped that it meant that Jiji might be coming around about Katsuki, though he wouldn't force Jiji to, and if nothing else it was probably good to have someone outside of his family know more about it.
His mom ruffling his hair brought him out of his thoughts and he made sure to hug her before texting Kurogiri to get to the district he was working in that day, and texting with Joseph to make sure that everything was ready for Togata's birthday in a couple of hours.
Happily pocketing his phone when he got a confirmation text, though he made sure he texted Kurogiri about when he'd need to open a portal at the Togata's apartment.
Knowing what Amajiki's gift was going to be, Izuku was sure Togata would never forget today for the rest of his life.
If someone ever gave him something like that, Izuku just wouldn't know what he'd do with himself.
Mirio had been looking forward to his birthday.
Well, he always looked forward to his birthday, when he was younger his dad would take the day off and the two of them went out and did something together for the first time before coming back home and baking a cake together.
And once he became friends with Sunny, they'd take him along and then have a sleepover either at his place or Sunny's.
And last year was a complete blast since they had enough people this time around to do some bigger group activities with Nejire, Yuyu, Miyake and Oz around now.
This year wouldn't disappoint either, normally his dad didn't really tell him what he plans he'd made for him, the surprise being half the fun for Mirio, but with his recent slump his dad wanted to check in and see if he wanted to have a party at all.
Mirio was glad his dad wanted to check in, because when Mirio did think about it, he couldn't say he wanted something so high energy like they normally did.
So, his dad suggested making the cake first this year then taking them all to the sheep farm that Deku-Sensei took him to, maybe catching a train to go and do a walk though one of the local trails before supper at a small ramen shop.
He absolutely adored the idea even though his dad was hesitant to suggest it at first.
When he asked about that his dad explained that he didn't want Mirio to feel pressured to let them into a space that he'd claimed for himself as a safe space.
Mirio had to hug his dad after that and tell him he was the best dad he could have ever asked for.
Deku-Sensei's farm had become a safe space for him, with him going with Deku-Sensei there to talk about the feelings he had that he didn't feel ready to share with Inu-San yet.
And maybe if his dad asked a week ago about bringing his friends there, then Mirio probably would not have agreed to taking his friends there.
However, with the sheep, near everyday therapy, and support he was getting at all sides Mirio felt okay with sharing a place that made him feel safe enough to confess a lot of his darker thoughts.
His friends could use some time with the sheep too and he loved the idea of taking them around Hokkaido and exploring a little of the separated island with all of his friends before having a bowl of ramen with them.
So, he was pretty pumped once July 15th finally came and had accidentally woken Sunny up with him, but his friend wasn't upset with him, Sunny even helped him and his dad bake the cake.
Orange blossom had been the one they made this year, and it would probably have good icing if nothing else, and if it was more tart than sweet then they could give the rest to the workers since they would know what to do with it.
Sunny helping his dad smooth out the white icing before letting him spread the crushed candied orange peels.
It looked great and they had finished it right before everyone else had arrived.
Nejire of course jumped at him with a hug, and she was carrying whatever present she got for him in a big colorful bag hidden by the tissue paper.
"Happy birthday Mirio-Chan!~" Nejire cheered while he hugged her back.
Yuyu and Miyake entered after her each carrying gifts of their own for him "Happy birthday Mirio." Yuyu said her voice a bit weary, which made sense since she looked the most bothered wearing her thick coat.
"Thanks guys, don't worry about the heat for much longer, we'll be leaving in a few minutes." Mirio promised, letting go of Nejire, Yuyu looking extremely relieved.
"We better Stripper, I ain't fixing to melt today." Oz grumbled moving to enter as well, a box under his arm.
"So where are we gonna go Mirio-Chan? Huh, huh?" Nejire questioned a slight bounce in her step as she followed him over to the kitchen area.
"You'll see soon enough Nejire-Chan, want to help me box up the cake? I don't want anything to land in it." Mirio requested and she was more than happy to help him.
Sunny and Oz briefly shared a look before Sunny crossed the distance and showed him his phone.
And Mirio couldn't help beaming when he saw the two of them getting along then helped Nejire tie a ribbon on the boxed-up cake.
"Will we have cake or open presents first once we get there?" Miyake inquired fanning Yuyu with his tail.
"Presents." Mirio answered before he noticed the wisps of black and purple mist "Oh! That's our ride over there." Mirio told them.
Aside from his dad and Miyake the others stared wide-eyed at the portal, Miyake merely thrilled "I was wondering how we would get to Hokkaido and back before tomorrow, Deku-Sensei asked the person with the teleportation quirk to take us there and back?" Miyake asked him.
"Yep! It's how Deku-Sensei's been taking me out and about for our talks." Mirio happily confirmed with a nod of his head.
"Is that really safe?" Yuyu asked looking at the floating flat oval from both sides, slightly dubious.
"Totally! You just have to hold your breath and it will be fine, well you might get a bit dizzy if you aren't used to being so weightless, or massless really." Mirio commented with his hand on his chin.
"Deku-Sensei uses this quirk every day to get to work and the districts all over Japan then to the place he's staying for the night." Miyake informed them "If it was not safe then he would not permit us to think about using this way of travel." Miyake further elaborated.
"It is, and we should move quickly since we can't expect them to keep the portal open for us forever." His dad told them, already holding a coat in one hand and the boxed-up cake.
With very little prompting the others walked through the portal one by one, and unfortunately different levels of dizziness, Oz and Yuyu getting the worse of it.
Nejire though looked mostly alright and gasped as soon as she saw the paddock.
"Sheep!" Nejire exclaimed shooting off and jumping the fence into the sheep pen to start cuddling with one of the lambs.
Miyake observed the surroundings with his head tilted, his tongue darting out "Is this Deku-Sensei's farm?" he asked, using his tail to keep Oz upright.
"Indeed, I'm guessing you heard of this place before Miyake-Kun?" His dad guessed, since he had mentioned that Miyake had known Deku-sensei the longest out of all of them.
"Deku-Sensei has mentioned his farm before." Miyake confirmed with a small nod.
Joseph, the boss that Deku-Sensei introduced Mirio to last time they talked, came over soon enough and started up a conversation with his dad.
While the rest of them began to drift to either the table that was set up for them, or joined Nejire on the other side of the fence, and started to play with the sheep.
Mirio joined in and played around with the sheep and even introduced his friends to the sheep that he had known the best over his visits.
Then after a few minutes Mirio decided that it was time for presents and they all sat around the little picnic table that the staff must have dug out from somewhere.
He smiled opening the presents and he felt more tickled than anything else when most of them were for self-defense.
Pepper-spray bottles from Yuyu, a few different pocketknives from Miyake.
Mirio wasn't sure he wanted to know how or where exactly Nejire got a cattle prod, but the thought was sweet enough and he would definitely try the fancy butterfly-shaped chocolates later.
The gold sparkling ribbon was a nice touch to the cattle prod.
Oz's present was probably the most 'normal' gift, considering it was some custom merch and of course he was going to wear the new jacket modeled after the Midnight-Boys jackets.
The temporary hero themed tattoos his dad got him were quickly divided amongst them with plans of putting them on after they had cake.
"Okay Sunny, you ready to give me your present now?" Mirio asked, turning to Sunny, who had oddly chosen to give his gift last this time around.
Normally Sunny wanted to give his gift first to have less attention on what he'd given someone.
Sunny nervously ducked his head and squirmed before he passed over the box he'd been carrying and avoiding looking him in the eye.
"Don't worry so much Sunny," Mirio told him giving his best friend a side hug before unwrapping the present "I'm sure that whatever you got me is going to be... " Mirio continued words of assurance trailed off when he saw what was inside the box.
For a second Mirio couldn't understand what he was looking at, then tears began to build up in his eyes "S-Sunny, is that?" Mirio muttered in disbelief.
How else was he supposed to react though when he saw the comic inside?
A comic that he could tell from the cover alone, was about him that was no doubt a one of a kind.
Because the cover's image was of him way back when he and Sunny were younger, bright smile and a hand on his hips, the rising sun behind him and his other hand outstretched to the reader.
Lemillion the title read in bold letters, issue one, origins: the first of many.
"Its... hard to remember what people see in you most of the time, even if you don't have a reason to doubt them." Sunny hesitantly started to speak.
"I could spend hours and hours telling you how much your help meant to me, but I could never find the words that would actually let you understand that." Sunny sadly said as he fidgeted with his fingers.
"So, I-I asked Deku-Sensei help me make this for you." Sunny explained, gently removing the comic from the box and looking upon it while rubbing his thumb across the cover.
"Because then I could show you just how much you helped me get to where I am now," Sunny paused to swallow.
"And so, if you start to doubt yourself again, you have something you can hold in your hands to remind yourself that whatever is making you think that, is wrong and that you're going to be one of the best heroes out there." Sunny explained, raising his head.
An awkward lop-sided smile was on Sunny's face before he told Mirio something that made him start crying in earnest.
"That you're a hero that will always offer his hand to whoever needs it and help them reach for their dreams... just like you have done for me ever since we met."
Mirio didn't hesitate to throw himself forward and all but crushed Sunny in a hug.
Deku-Sensei's words came to his mind as his heart felt like it was going to burst right out of his chest from how big it was swelling up in his chest.
Because Deku-Sensei was right.
He didn't need Inheritance or anything else to be the hero he'd dreamed of since he was young.
He was already enough just as he was, and he had already saved people just by offering his hand.
That he had been Sunny's hero for years.
And maybe that would take time for those thoughts to fully cement themselves within his mind, but he had friends and family that would always be there to pick him back up when he stumbled.
On the news later that day.
Reporter: And in other news, police are stumped over sudden and seemingly random vandalism of one of one of the large apartment complexes.
Reporter 2: Indeed they are, today marks the third day that the local complex has been covered in 'glitter' toilet paper, though plans to have been made to watch over the building in an effort to deter further vandalism or catch the vandals,
Mirio: That's weird.
Oz, tired and covering Nejire's mouth so she doesn't out them: Yeah so weird Stripper.
Yuyu, hiding her phone after checking with Aizawa if they were still on for round four: The weirdest.