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Izuku had only one plan on the eve before his birthday: find Todoroki Shouto.
Okay, the plan was a bit more involved than that. He wanted to spend his birthday with Todoroki, and maybe normally birthdees didn’t plan their whole day, but Izuku was working on doing things for himself and not others. What he wanted to do most of all was spend the day with his favorite person (and maybe tell said favorite person how deeply his favoritism ran) and also kiss him.
That was very important to understand. Izuku wanted to kiss Todoroki Shouto on his birthday.
It wasn't too much to ask.
Unfortunately, Izuku did not wake up on the 15th to All Might's electronic voice telling him it was time to start the day but a pounding demand at his door with a mixture of loud and quiet voices that pulled Izuku’s brows together as he rubbed his eye, waking up, as a key sliding into he lock. He watched, a bit still half asleep, as the door opened first to reveal Iida—which explained the key—and then Kaminari, Ashido, and Sero. The last two were both holding trays, and Izuku was about to ask them what this was all about when the four of them shouted,
“Happy Birthday!!”
All things considered, waking up to breakfast in bed was not a bad way to start the day.
Once he saw them off and had thoroughly conquered his closet for his best look—he had wooing to achieve—he made his way downstairs to find said birthday target. Only as soon as the elevator announced his presence to the first floor, and Izuku zeroed in on red and white hair at the counter in the kitchen, speaking with Kacchan—most likely asking what he had to do for Kacchan to take pity on him and make him breakfast—Uraraka and Tsuyu obstructed his line of sight.
“Deku-kun! Happy birthday! Tsuyu and I were just about to come and find you!”
“Oh?”
He almost thought that he had forgotten he had maee plans with her, but no, Izuku was very dead set on not making any plans on his birthday, except The Plan to convince Todoroki to kiss him that didn’t make him feel quite as desperate as he did now.
Just, “Todoroki-kun are you doing anything today?”
“No.”
“Great!”
And then drag him out of the dorms because the place could never catch a moment of peace, and if he was to be rejected, Izuku didn’t want the whole class to know.
He also maybe didn’t want to completely spring it on Todoroki and pressure him into kissing him or anything—that’s where the wooing came in. Izuku’s special daytime adventure with said best friend/crush involved ensuring Todoroki saw him in the best possible light by the end of it where there were no question at all whether or not Izuku was good boyfriend material (or at least worthy of a first kiss, though given this was Todoroki it would probably be his 58th kiss or something. Beautiful people got kissed more, that was just the way of it.)
Todoroki was already dressed too, so all Izuku needed to do was wait for Kacchan to finish cooking and then whisk Todoroki away. He figured they start off somewhere easy and mundane, like the mall, and then work their way up on the romantic scale. Izuku didn’t restore a whole beach to its full romantic glory for nothing. He could do this.
However, before he could push forward and swallow his nerves over asking Todoroki out (not like that), Uraraka and Tsuyu were still standing in his way, both staring at him as if he missed something—given how long he might have been looking over their heads probably stated that he was.
“I’m sorry, what were we doing?”
“Going to the movies,” Uraraka said. “They’re re-releasing All Might Terrors of the Night for just one day, and it’s your favorite so we just have to go.”
“They are?”
Izuku was fairly certain he would know something like that. Even with school work, he stayed up to date on all things All Might related, especially if it was one of his favorite movies that really only had a small cult following compared to All Might's higher grossing films, which would explain the one day thing, but not how he missed it.
“Are you sure?”
“100 percent. We already got our tickets and everything. We just have to head out now so we make it in time.”
Izuku wasn’t against early showings, but he was still pretty sure it was a tad early to go see a movie. However, the earlier he went, the faster he’d get back and put Operation Kiss Todoroki back into play. Though speaking of movies, they were sort of romantic, and he and Todoroki (and Kacchan, sometimes) were working through a bunch of old All Might content. It was the perfect start to his plan.
“Is anyone else coming along?”
“Nope!” She grabbed his arm. “Now come on! We have to go if we don’t wanna miss the train.”
As he was dragged out, he got a smattering of more “Happy Birthdays,” that he tried to respond all to, though if Uraraka wasn’t leading him toward the door, he could have just as well fallen on his face when Todoroki wished him a happy birthday too, tucking his hair behind his ear so that Izuku could see more of his beautiful face. What a gift. Todoroki was truly blessing him today of all days.
Uraraka’s constant tugging kept him from saying right then and there what he wanted from Todoroki for his birthday. But it was all good. The day was still young. The door closing between them said nothing about their future together.
Izuku was right to suspect they left too early for the movie, but Uraraka claimed that that was perfectly fine because they had time to buy snacks at the convenience store next door instead of being up-charged for the same box once inside.
Further, Izuku wasn't the only one who wasn't aware that the theater was playing the movie either. They had the whole place to themselves, and Izuku didn’t see any other showtimes, at this theater at least. He was really starting to wonder how Uraraka found out about it, but soon enough the opening credits started to roll, and well, it was one of Izuku's favorite movies. It didn’t matter how he came to see it on the big screen.
When they left, Uraraka furiously typed away on her phone, so much so that Tsuyu had them stop at a claw machine so she didn’t run into anyone. Tsuyu also happened to be incredibly good at the game, winning each of them a toy before Uraraka released a breath, saying they could go back to the dorms, which Izuku was happy with.
It was practically noon. He and Todoroki could get lunch together somewhere quaint. Maybe share a milkshake if Izuku pretended he forgot to order one for himself but really wanted one. Todoroki never said no to him, and that way, if they were both drinking at the same time, Izuku could gauged how comfortable his friend was with their faces so close together. Maybe Todoroki would realize right then that Izuku’s face was a face worth kissing too, and Izuku wouldn’t have to do anything else except close his eyes and accept Todoroki’s 59th kiss.
He was practically bouncing in his seat the whole train ride back thinking about it. Todoroki used chapstick, so he knew his lips were going to be soft. Izuku, in preparation, had started wearing it too. Even going so far as buying a cherry flavored one since he knew Todoroki liked sweet things. He’d have to remember to grab it from his room before he left again.
However, the more Izuku thought about kissing Todoroki, the more his mind started to wander to other things he could do with Todoroki. Like hold his hand and sleep on his chest—have Todoroki sleep on his chest, oh god—and go on long walks and see the stars and.
Izuku forced himself to be still. He couldn’t get ahead of himself. Todoroki was very studious. He might not want to date. After all, despite being the best looking, most kindest, all around the perfect package of a man, he still was single, to Izuku’s knowledge at least (Izuku had yet to deal with the possibility of Todoroki seeing someone already. He didn’t want to ruin his birthday spirit). Izuku would be happy, over the moon, if Todoroki simply agreed to kiss him. It would make his day perfect.
Some of their classmates were waiting for them when they entered the lawn as they approached the dorms. No Todoroki. Izuku was ready to greet them all with a wave before heading off to find his man—FRIEND. Todoroki was still only his friend.
However, Aoyama beat Izuku to a quick send-off, holding up a basket. Shoji held blankets, drinks, and other odds and ends. Tokoyami was the one to speak, asking Izuku to join them all on a picnic.
Izuku really wanted to say no. Probably to a rude degree. But it was just last week he was talking to Todoroki—ironically enough—that he missed going on picnics like he had when he was younger. There were probably others around that heard and now they were trying to do something nice for Izuku on his birthday. Milkshake kisses would have to wait.
Izuku smiled at the group, letting Uraraka part, though Tsuyu claimed she was hungry too, and they were off to the back hills of UA to set up and enjoy themselves.
It ended up being a good thing Tsuyu came. The trio had packed way more food than what could be eaten by all of them. A great selection of snacks, sweets, and drinks. With a few actual bentos thrown in with perfectly cooked fish and rice to better tide them over for the afternoon.
It was also a perfect day. Blue skies with fluffy white clouds and a gentle breeze. Maybe instead of going to the mall, Izuku could take Todoroki somewhere outside to enjoy it. They rarely got to enjoy good days like this unless they were doing their internships on parole. Maybe something like the zoo. Todoroki was fond of penguins, and Izuku believed there was an exhibit at the zoo just outside of Musutafu. It would be kind of a long ride, but he would get to sit next to Todoroki the whole time, with their thighs pressed together and ankles hitting. Todoroki would ask how his day was going because he was attentive like that, and Izuku would explain to him the whole plot of the movie from this morning, swearing that they would have to watch it soon too. Maybe the zoo's gift shop would have those animal ear headbands. Todoroki would probably choose cat ears and oh, Todoroki with cat ears looking over at Izuku with endearingly mismatched eyes to ask him if he put them on alright, caused Izuku to give himself brain freeze over how hard he sucked his drink right then and there.
Todoroki was dangerous.
Izuku had a habit of ignoring danger. He’d waste all his birthday money on buying the giftshop out if he could. Leave it to Todoroki to be too cute to handle.
As their meal was finishing, Izuku full—but not too full—and talking amicably with Aoyama about the dance class he was going to with Ashido, a shadow cut across their collection of blankets. Izuku didn’t have to turn around to recognize that form, though he did just as fast, beaming at the man before him.
“All Might!”
“Happy Birthday, my boy,” All Might said. “How has your day been?”
“Great! Uraraka-kun and Tsuyu-kun brought me to see a movie, then I had lunch with everyone here, and next I’m going to go find Todoroki-kun to see if he wants to go to the zoo.”
“I didn’t know you enjoyed the zoo.”
Izuku had not been to the zoo since he was seven on a class trip, but he wasn’t going to tell All Might about his super important plans of making out with Todoroki before he fell asleep tonight.
“What’s not to like?”
“I suppose,” All Might, “I myself have not been for many years, but if young Todoroki-kun has already made such plans with you, I wouldn’t want to impose anything on you.”
His mentor seemed a bit put out and down at the prospect of Izuku hanging out with Todoroki and not thinking to give him some time to spend with him on his birthday, which Izuku had not considered. Izuku was pretty used to spending his birthday alone and eating dinner with his mom when she got done with work. It was already unbelievable to him that his friends on three occasions had already surprised him by spending time with him on his birthday. Therefore, his mentor falling in line with everyone else made sense.
Izuku wouldn’t want to disappoint him.
“I haven’t asked Todoroki-kun yet if he wanted to go,” Izuku said, quickly calculating and changing his plans again. The day was still had plenty more left of it, sort of. If he spent an hour or so with All Might, he could come back and still have enough time to get Todoroki’s attention, and they could do something else. Maybe just head to the beach! It was rather close to here, and maybe because they were at the beach, Todoroki would wear a swimsuit and not wear a shirt, but because he burned so easily, he’d ask Izuku to put sunscreen on him. Izuku would be very diligent rubbing lotion into Todoroki’s back muscles, working it in really well so his friend didn’t burn (of course!).
“I’d be happy to spend time with you,” Izuku finished, pushing half-naked Todoroki down into the recesses of his mind, dutifully ignoring the thought as it moved on from just half-naked Todoroki to half-naked Todoroki dripping wet in the ocean.
All Might smiled, and then Izuku realized he was still with his other friends and rushed to start helping clean up the mess they had made, though everyone was very understanding and basically pushed Izuku toward All Might to get him to leave faster. Izuku thanked them all again before he started following All Might to a car? For some reason, Izuku assumed they would be going back to the teacher’s dorms, not off campus, again. But he had already promised his mentor he’d go with, he didn’t want to seem unappreciative by telling him he'd rather stay here.
It also took Izuku an embarrassingly long time to realize where they were going as All Might drove them away, only putting things together when they passed his old park and middle school.
All Might said, “your mother was sad she wasn’t going to see you today. I hope you’re not upset with the surprise.”
A surprise for his mother? Izuku was more than okay with that as long as he wasn’t surprised by any more unexpected plans throughout the day. He and his mom had planned to meet for dinner early next week to celebrate, and Izuku was even going to pose asking if he could bring an important friend along depending on how good his operation went today (considering how poorly it had progressed, not likely), but he was excited to see his mom for sure. The fact that it was going to be All Might and his mom in his childhood home was a bit too disconcerting—he had made sure to burn any drawing he had once made where All Might filled in as the role of Izuku's dad, especially after he had been accused of All Might actually being his dad. How embarrassing for him if his mentor found out!
Only slightly less embarrassing than what he walked into because while All Might said this was a surprise for his mom, she had already made plans, so it seemed, by spending the day alone, crying over photo albums of him.
Scratch his plan of bringing Todoroki over on Tuesday. He had to figure out how to burn the picture of himself in the sink naked. Absolutely mortifying.
At least All Might seemed to appreciate the photo albums, once Izuku and his mom had a good long hug. And despite the embarrassing nature of seeing himself so young and overzealous for his mentor, Izuku couldn’t say he had a bad time, accepting his mom's lemonade and small snacks as they all chatted, so much so that when he saw the time on his way back the bathroom he reacted most sensibly: panic. His day-long date (not-date) with Todoroki was drawing unreasonably short. He had to go!
He rushed all the way back to the living room, ready with an excuse that got him out, only to find All Might and his mom already standing. All Might held his mom's hand between his and thanked her for her hospitality in letting him join their day. In any other scenario, Izuku might have thrown himself into a fit over his mom's blush and the sincerity of All Might's voice, but not today. Today was Izuku’s day to blush and stammer. Thank you very much.
Luckily, the pair parted as soon as they heard Izuku enter the room. He and his mom shared another tender hug, Izuku promised to still come by next week, and then he and All Might were off again.
Izuku resisted the urge to tap his heel on the floor of the car the whole ride.
So he wouldn’t see Todoroki naked and wet. Oh well. Izuku probably wouldn’t survive that much anyways. He could still corner his friend and ask him if he wanted to go out to dinner and then they could take a walk on the pier. That was super romantic. Izuku could pull out Todoroki’s chair for him and order dessert for them to split—Izuku could feed Todoroki strawberries from across the table. Todoroki could feed Izuku strawberries across the table. He would get his kiss yet.
However, instead of driving them right back to Class A's dorms, All Might drove them to Ground Beta. Izuku didn’t realize such a thing until he jumped out of the car, ready to race toward the doors, only to awkwardly turn around to ask if he missed something. Perhaps All Might thought Izuku needed more practice and had let himself go by not taking training into account on his birthday. Of course, Izuku needed to stay in shape.
“You’re allowed to take a break,” All Might said to that line of thought. “You could probably take more. Your friends just said they were here and asked me to bring you.”
That made sense and was rather considerate of All Might. He made sure to thank him twice before he was jogging up into the gym. Izuku didn’t know what to expect when he walked in with Kacchan flagged on either side of him by Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Jirou, and Hagakure.
“You’re late.” Kacchan said.
“I’m sorry?”
“Whatever, go change.”
Izuku didn’t want to sound dumb in asking what for. Everyone ahead of them was in their hero costume. Izuku must need to be in his too?
“We’re sparring,” Kacchan said without the need for the question. “Five against one. Try to keep up.”
Izuku didn’t need to be told twice. It wasn’t often he’d get the chance to fight Kacchan one-on-one, let alone sparring against all the others too? It was a great opportunity! He still wanted to have time to see Todoroki, but it was a bit early for dinner so this was fine. Maybe if they didn’t go somewhere too fancy. Todoroki might not mind sitting next to Izuku in a booth, but then Izuku would have a harder time staring at him and watching for the moment Todoroki realized he liked his food. He also had such a nice smile on his face when he did. It made Izuku sometimes want to kick everyone else in the kitchen out so he could be the only one on the receiving end of such joy.
On his way back from changing, he thought about asking the others if more people were going to join, but he also didn’t want to seem unappreciative for who did make it. The others were probably busy today. They had school work and internships and whatever else to take advantage of on their day off. Besides having to figure out how five people were going to attack his sole one was almost too much to handle himself.
It was great though. Very rarely was it necessary for him to go all out and unleash more than one of his quirks at a time. There wasn’t the threat anymore, which he was thankful for, but it made for a fun challenge taking on all of them.
Yaoyorozu was a great strategist and used her skills to point the others where to go. With Hagakure’s new costume, he had only his senses before he was narrowly missing an attack that caused him to lose his bearings. When he did so, Jirou was ready with a counter and offensive, and Kirishima had no qualms about getting into a fistfight with Izuku, so Izuku had to be extra ready to brace any attacks made by him.
And Kacchan, well Kacchan gave him a black eye.
But it was by accident!
Izuku got distracted during their fight and a punch he would normally block 99% time, he didn’t. At least Yaoyorozu was nice enough to make him an ice pack to hold against his cheek on their walk back to the dorms, and really, Izuku had worse—don’t tell Kacchan this, but his punch was rather weak—it would be bruised tomorrow, but now it was only a soft and a tad swollen red.
He wondered if Todoroki wouldn’t kiss him now because he was injured. Seeing as Izuku got injured all the time, maybe that was the kind of deal breaker that kept Izuku from advancing from best friend status to boyfriend status. Granted, Izuku wasn’t quite sure what his friend's type was. He knew Todoroki was gay (truth or dare, thank you Ashido) but it never got extrapolated beyond that, and whenever someone would ask Todoroki, he would blush, scratch his face and almost mutter, a very Izuku thing for him to do, before changing the subject.
At the very least, Izuku hoped, he was into the kind, awkward nerds that happened to have a six-pack (unrelated) and were short. Just for the kissing thing. Izuku didn’t want to wonder what kind of boys (or girls, if Todoroki experimented before he realized he was gay) he had kissed before tonight. Probably many. Todoroki was a charmer for sure. He could ask Izuku any time if he wanted to practice. Izuku might not know the first thing about kissing, but he would learn from Todoroki. He would even go so far as become the number one Todoroki kisser and ruin him completely for all others.
Now there was a thought. Todoroki only wanting to kiss Izuku. Only wanting to be with Izuku. Telling Izuku how lovely he was and how smart he was for coming up with his birthday pla—
The common room was dark.
The whole dorm looked to be without power. An attack? In the middle of the day/late afternoon/night (Izuku, upon thought, had no idea what time it was). Danger sense wasn’t going off. He called on his other quirks just in case, turning partially to begin delegating with the others. The lights flipped on, flooding the space, and blinding him for a moment, matched by a rather deafening
“Surprise!”
“Eh?”
Izuku’s too many quirks snapped back into place as confetti fell from the rafters and balloons took up arguably too much ceiling space as his friends blew horns and cheered happy birthday to him again.
Kacchan pushed the back of his shoulder
“Come on, Nerd, don’t act so surprised.”
But it was a surprise party. Surprise was in the name.
They had thrown parties before in the past for their friends, but the birthday person was always roped in, so they knew what was happening. Izuku had been so focused on getting his first kiss, he hadn’t even thought about celebrating the day with the others.
Uraraka was the first one to bounce in from the crowd, strapping a hat to his head and telling him to come in and enjoy himself. It was enough for Izuku to close his mouth and smile as bright as can be, thanking everyone for doing all this—it was that or crying, which he was pretty close to doing, but the excitement over what came next trumped any touched tears.
There was cake and presents and party games. Izuku was pulled this way and that as each of his friends wanted to talk or do something with him. Izuku knew, tangentially, that people supported him in class and liked being around him, liked being Izuku’s friend, but something like this really cemented everything for him, that he truly was blessed to get to have all this.
Also, Todoroki was in black—he normally wore black—but this was distracting altogether. He seemed relaxed and unguarded in his conversations with their friends. Izuku knew that like Kacchan, Todoroki’s social battery went rather quick, but he did enjoy spending time with the others, and Izuku liked seeing Todoroki happy.
However, whenever Izuku tried to take a step away to corner his friend (his plans were ruined, there was no longer anytime for swooning), someone else managed to snag him, or Todoroki looked to be enthralled in a conversation that Izuku felt a bit sheepish interjecting. The only thing that seemed to keep him from going crazy was the fact that a couple times when he searched out Todoroki, he found Todoroki's eyes already on him. Tonight wasn’t the first-night Izuku discovered such a phenomenon, Todoroki always seemed to be looking for him in some way, and where before Izuku took it as he being one of the few people Todoroki trusted ardently and liked to find and recognize, tonight it gave him a bit of hope.
Todoroki didn’t sit right next to him when he opened his presents, but he was close enough that Izuku could read his expressions with each of his gifts. He had to do well to school his own features whenever he opened something Todoroki didn’t approve of (or correctly assumed Izuku didn’t need or want)—not that Izuku didn’t appreciate all his gifts. He loved every one, even though he wasn’t quite sure what he would do with a small gumball machine. He didn’t really eat gum, and the only time he thought about chewing a pack was when Ashido gave him and some of the other’s bubblegum after school one day, and they had a competition over who could blow their bubble the largest. Izuku lost, but what he gained was realizing how pink, pink, pink Todoroki’s lips were as he scraped gum off them with his teeth to re-chew and try again at popping a bubble (and Izuku’s heart, if such things were poppable).
Over the tiny candy dispenser, he met Kacchan’s easy, knowing, smirk. All the gifts, minus the trips out today, were anonymous, but Kacchan wasn’t one to keep his victory a secret. While Izuku didn’t care for sweet chewing gum, he did know Todoroki kept a pack of it in his bag ever since then, and it had been a point of utter despair for Izuku. Kacchan was a jerk. See if Izuku bought him a nice and thoughtful gift next time his birthday came around.
After gifts, there were three options of cake, courtesy of Sato with the help of Ojiro and Koda. They were phenomenal. The best birthday cake(s) he had ever had in his life. Somehow he did manage to get an extra bit in his slice and managed to sneak it onto Todoroki’s plate when the other finished theirs first. They had been sharing food for forever at this point, so it was nothing new to do. It didn’t imply anything. Only Todoroki’s mouth quirked up because the extra bit Izuku gave was chocolate, and the only thing Todoroki loved more than chocolate-flavored desserts were strawberry ones, which if you asked Izuku, the cakes were sorely missing out on. He thought he deserved at least one strawberry-themed cake for his strawberry-themed friend—that was probably a weird comparison, but if Izuku was going to spend his birthday with his favorite people, he wanted to make sure they enjoyed themselves too, and Todoroki had somehow become his favorite-est of people.
Next year. Next year, Izuku would definitely demand a strawberry cake, or maybe, since he would be turning eighteen, he could convince Aizawa (and his mom) to let him leave the dorms for the day (or weekend if he was on his best behavior this coming year), and instead of spending it being tugged around, he could spend it at a nice, quiet vacation spot where he could have all the windows open to let in the fresh mountain air, and simply enjoy life, and 100 percent have Todoroki there with him. Maybe by then Izuku could catch up to him on kisses and who knew what else. He had to press both hands to his cheeks to derail that thought.
As it was, Izuku still hadn’t successfully gotten his first kiss.
The others around him had started putting all the food away—“sit back down Deku-kun, it’s your party”—and the others were debating if they were going to finish the night with Mario Party or a movie. Currently, Iida was hosting a very important vote that only half of the class seemed to be paying attention to. It took Izuku only half a second to realize that of the people setting up the living room, there was a distinct lack of red and white hair.
“Where did Todoroki-kun go?”
Ojiro stopped beside him, holding a stack of dirty plates, only making Izuku realize he hadn’t actually looked around to make sure he was speaking to someone. Luckily, Ojiro also happened to have the answer for him
“He said it was getting a bit warm in here for him, so he stepped out for a bit. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”
Ah, so it was a lot of excitement for one night. Izuku could understand that. As much as he was looking forward to … video games appeared to be winning the poll, he also wouldn’t be upset if everyone called it a day and they all went off to bed. However, according to Ojiro, Todoroki hadn’t said he was tired, just warm, which meant he hadn’t gone upstairs to decompress after the evening's festivities but rather he was just warm. It meant he just stepped outside to take a breath of fresh air and sit with himself for a bit, before coming back inside and enjoying … a movie, so it seemed. Maybe.
With the class split up in different directions and no one allowing Izuku to help with anything anyways, save for the unavoidable tie that was about to happen, Izuku found himself taking a moment for a quick breath of air too.
Sometimes, Todoroki really did want to be completely by himself, but he swore to Izuku once that he would tell him if he didn’t want him around, ruining his peace, but he had yet to do such a thing. Izuku might be a tad too overconfident in his birthday boy shield to think today would be no different, but he had gone into this day expecting that he would get to spend the whole day with Todoroki, only to see him a handful of times in passing only. It was lame and now it was too late for them to even think about leaving campus to go for a walk. Izuku had to get his win where he could.
At least the stars here were bright. Constellations twinkled above him as he walked around the porch, finding Todoroki standing, leaning against the rail looking up. He was so pretty like this. The white of his hair glowed, and Izuku knew that if he turned to Izuku like this, it would be like he had silver starlight in his eyes.
It kind of made Izuku falter a bit.
Izuku didn’t have starlight in his eyes. No one ever looked at his hair and thought it was spun by angels themselves. He might have been confessed to, once or twice, but it wasn’t with the fervor people threw themselves at Todoroki, which generally made Izuku mad, but now made him hesitate and wonder if there was a reason for that. Izuku had heard people call him scary. A force to be reckoned with. Insane. Izuku had the scars across his body to prove it.
Izuku had gotten so wrapped up in this plan of his, giving his first kiss to the one person he trusted the most, the one person he knew he could love if he let himself, that he hadn't consider all the factors that might make Todoroki not want to kiss him. Izuku was rather plain. Before this class, people didn’t really like him and that might catch up with him one day again. He wouldn’t want to dim Todoroki because of it. Izuku had trouble stopping once he believed in something. He had a nasty habit of over-collecting and wrote everything down to the point others might find it creepy. He was not at all what someone might consider a catch, and yet here he was, about to ask Todoroki if he might think of Izuku as one, regardless.
Izuku knew without a doubt that if Izuku asked Todoroki to kiss him, Todoroki would. He did whatever Izuku asked him with no hesitation or second comment. He wasn’t rude. But it might not mean anything to him either. That potential bubble pulled the anxiety that he had simply pushed away as soon as he had decided he was going to do this. He had wanted this day to be perfect, but so far the day had been anything but. Perhaps Izuku should listen to the universe that so desperately didn’t want Izuku to kiss Todoroki and go back inside before he got hurt, and this birthday just became one of many he tried to forget.
Only, “Midoriya? Todoroki spotted him, which Izuku wasn’t really hiding, so it was his fault completely. “I’m sorry, have you been standing there long? I can come back in if they’re ready.”
Izuku gripped his hands side by side. He wasn’t ready to go back in. Even if Izuku didn’t go through with kissing Todoroki like he wanted to tonight, he still hadn’t been able to spend one on one time with his best friend, and hell, Izuku wanted to be alone with Todoroki, even if it ended up hurting him or he became a scared shit. Whatever came first. Besides, Izuku had made a habit of ignoring what the universe had planned for him.
“No, everyone’s still cleaning up. I came out here looking for you.”
“You found me.”
Izuku thought it was resolutely impossible for him to lose Todoroki. If Izuku didn't sit ahead of Todoroki in class, Izuku would fill his notes with pretty Todoroki side profiles and hearts throughout the class, unable to look away or at anyone else. As it was, Todoroki was always the first name he hoped for whenever they got split up into group projects, and he was the one he waited for when they all came back from their internships. Izuku was sort of addicted to him, in a way. He just wanted to be near him, that was all. As long as Todoroki was okay with it, Izuku would find a way to be there too.
Izuku braved finishing walking to the empty spot next to his friend, wrapping his hands around the rail and looking up. The moon was full and the stars around it really were bright. If Izuku hadn’t already made a wish on 17 candles, he might try and make one here, but he didn’t want to be overzealous, just a bit more brave, please.
“Did you have a good day?”
Izuku tore his attention away from the wishes and found Todoroki’s eyes on him—they might not have even left. He was right about the starlight in the silver, usually dark, paler in its pools tonight.
Izuku swallowed, then nodded. “I didn't expect all this today.”
“Good. I thought I had blown the secret once or twice.”
“For the party? I had no idea.”
Todoroki shook his head. “The movie. I thought for sure you were on to me when I told you I was going to force my father to buy a movie theater chain. But then Kaminari and Kirishima told me you can just rent a theater. That was way easier to do. And cheaper, granted I would have wiped out my whole savings account if that’s what it took to give you a perfect birthday.”
“You rented out the theater for me?” If Izuku wasn’t gripping the railing, he might have swooned, or at least started drawing conclusions that didn’t need to be made. “Why didn’t you come? You would have loved the movie.”
“I was supposed to,” Todoroki said. His words were slightly clipped and rushed. “But they were doing it all wrong, so I had to make sure they didn’t mess anything else up. Sero showed up with pink streamers. Pink! Your favorite color is red, or whatever combination your preferred All Might Era is at the moment. It’s definitely not pink. The idiot.”
Izuku hadn’t even noticed the color of the streamers. Pink or red or any other wouldn’t have mattered a whole lot to him, but the fact that Todoroki cared so much did nothing for that hope that Izuku had just rightfully squashed.
“It didn’t help that you kept coming back ahead of schedule. I was almost hoping for a villain attack to get you to slow down, so we had more time to perfect everything.” Todoroki scratched his face, “but maybe I didn’t do a good enough job planning everything. Uraraka and Iida said it was good, but Bakugou called me an idiot, so maybe not.”
Todoroki then turned fully to face Izuku, bowing his head to say, “I promise next year I will be a better friend and send you places with our friends you actually want to go to instead of my awful ideas. A picnic? Stupid. Quaint. You deserve more than that. Bakugou did say you liked the fight, minus getting punched in the face, which by the way, do you need ice for it? I can ice it, so it won't bruise so badly tomorrow.”
People who claimed Todoroki didn’t talk, simply didn’t know Todoroki enough to get him to speak. However, he only ever rambled in two scenarios: when he was incredibly passionate about something—usually a tv show or book—or if he was panicking, which he may have picked up from Izuku, and Izuku might have found it just a tad endearing. But that didn’t mean he should let his friend languish over thinking Izuku didn’t have a good day. He had a great one.
Izuku put his hand on Todoroki’s shoulder, pushing him up, so he was standing once more. He still didn’t quite meet Izuku’s eyes, letting his hair fall ahead of his face to obscure him more, but at least Izuku could look at him head-on.
“I had a great day,” Izuku said. “Really, I wasn’t expecting any of it at all. I was completely surprised by it. People didn’t really care all that much about me before, so it’s incredible to me that I have friends who do care. If you planned this all, then I’m grateful. You’re a very kind person. I’m lucky to have you.”
Todoroki still didn’t fully reveal his face to him, but he did tuck some of his hair behind his ear, and said, “you should have never had to deal with people who didn’t realize how amazing you are. You deserve good things, Midoriya. There’s nothing to thank me for. We all love you.”
Float might have escaped Izuku, just a bit, hearing Todoroki say love and you in the same sentence to Izuku, and yeah he was talking about platonic love and that was definitely important—super important to their class and all they had gone through—but Izuku wanted, needed, Todoroki to say it to Izuku again. Maybe not tonight. But in the future. He would simply perish if he didn’t.
Luckily, he found the porch again. He hoped it wasn’t too obvious that Todoroki almost caused him to float into the stratosphere with such a simple admittance. Todoroki seemed to be preoccupied with something else. A redness to his ears that tucking his hair behind hadn’t helped.
Did Izuku mention today that Todoroki was simply effortlessly pretty? A small spreading blush over the bridge of his nose, reaching for his cheeks. Gosh, Izuku could just kiss him.
Which, Izuku had come out here for a reason, after all. He could say it. Try.
“There is one thing I didn’t get to do for my birthday that I was sort of looking forward to,” Izuku said, back to squeezing his hands together to convince himself not to lose his nerve.
The quick flare of panic that repossessed Todoroki also did a good job of ending any anxiousness too.
“What? What else? There’s still time. I’m not above breaking curfew if it’s something you want to do badly. I still have one over Aizawa, so he can’t get mad.”
As much as Izuku was curious about whatever that was, he was finally going to complete his mission today. There was no turning back now. Not after Izuku found out that so much of his day was because Todoroki was thinking about him and how much Izuku might like something. Even if nothing came of this, it would be okay. Todoroki would still be his closest friend that cared about him ardently.
“We don’t have to leave,” Izuku said, which relaxed Todoroki somewhat. He was still ready to jump at a moment's notice, though, giving all of his attention to Izuku and what he would say next. Izuku let out a rushed breath, “I didn’t want to turn 17 without experiencing my first kiss.”
Todoroki blinked three times. Each spaced apart by a second. He then tilted his head. He said, “Midoriya, you turned 17, already. It’s too late for that.”
"No,” Izuku clarified, “I wasn’t born until 11:47 at night. My mom used to joke that I was almost a July 16th baby. Therefore, technically, I’m still 16 right now.”
Todoroki seemed to accept that, mumbling about how he didn’t know his exact date of birth, wondering if that was important somehow before he spoke clearer, “Well, I can go ask some people for you, if you’d like. Maybe Uraraka,” his brows furrowed, “Bakugou? That purple-haired kid you like in the other class couldn’t make it tonight, but I’m sure he’s back in his bed by now, I will drag him over here if I have to.”
He then went back to mumbling, “Ashido did say we should have played those other games. Do normal people like being shoved in the closet and demanded to kiss?”
Izuku stopped Todoroki from spiraling further. “I don’t want to kiss anyone in a closet.”
Todoroki let out a relieved sigh. “So, you’ve already thought about who you want to kiss. Just say the word, and I’ll go get them. And you don’t have to worry about them saying no. They will be lucky to get to kiss you.”
Izuku might have been just a little more charmed by how earnest Todoroki was taking this whole thing. Though, considering all Todoroki had done for Izuku today, this might have been the easiest thing for him to do.
“I don’t need you to go and find me someone to kiss,” Izuku said. “I don’t want to kiss just anyone.”
“Oh . Were you waiting out here for someone then?”
Izuku couldn’t help but smile then. This was why he wanted to spend the whole day with Todoroki. If he had the whole day, Todoroki would have no doubt over who exactly Izuku wanted to kiss. That and the fact that Todoroki effortlessly made him smile. Made him happy. Made him enjoy his life. He wanted to spend many many more birthdays with Todoroki Shouto.
But first, he had to finish this one.
“I came out here looking for you.”
Again, Todoroki blinked, as if not quite making out what Izuku had said or was implying. This close, however, Izuku got to watch the moment he realized what Izuku had said with not so many words. Izuku wasn’t sure if he had ever seen Todoroki seem so surprised before. He certainly never heard him sound like this when he said, “ oh,” in complete understanding then.
“So,” Izuku said, stretching out his arms ahead of him, and resisting the urge to duck into himself, “will you kiss me?”
“For your birthday?”
Izuku started to nod but then stopped. He wanted more than just one kiss from Todoroki, and it felt unfair to put him in this position without him knowing the full extent of Izuku’s feelings.
“For forever if you want,” he said and immediately regretted it. Could he sound cheesier? Like an absolute sap. “I mean, I know you’ve had a lot of people ask you out before, and you’ve probably had 1000 kisses already, and I guess dating isn’t so appealing to you, and I dunno, if dating practical strangers is all that appealing to me either. I don’t know if I can fall in love like that. But if it’s you, I’m willing to try for you.
"Because you’re my best friend and most important person in my life, and like, I really, really like you. You’re all I’ve been thinking about all day—it’s kind of insane how much I think about you. Not at all healthy, probably, and I—
Todoroki was kissed him.
Todoroki's fingers ghosted over his cheeks, as if he was scared to press down or as if he didn’t quite know what to do himself, and Todoroki was kissing him. His lips were warm pressed against Izuku’s as they were and a bit cool once Izuku re-booted enough to take in exactly what was happening to try and lift his own hands to touch Todoroki too. Unfortunately, that was about when Todoroki decided to pull away. Izuku got to see him again with a small, perfect smile on his quite kissable lips with his eyes were closed, which was good. It meant he didn’t see the brief moment Izuku couldn’t help start chasing after him to kiss him again.
Izuku lied. He couldn’t give Todoroki up if he didn’t want this. He needed to be kissed by him again.
Todoroki chuckled. He said, “Don’t worry Midoriya, I can kiss you again.”
zuku pressed his hand to his mouth to keep any more unwanted words from stumbling out, which also had the negative effect of reminding him what the last thing Izuku’s mouth touched—Todoroki’s mouth!
He did it.
Operation Kiss Todoroki Shouto was a success.
Izuku had never been happier in his life.
“I think about you a lot too,” Todoroki ended up saying as Izuku recovered from his contact high—holy shit—Izuku was never going to recover from this. “And I really, really like you too, so hopefully your first kiss was as good as mine was just now, and you’d be okay with a second one, or a hundred.”
Izuku was more than okay with that.
“I’ve never been kissed as a 17-year-old before.”
Todoroki’s brows creased, “didn’t you just say you were—”
Izuku stole Todoroki's words, arms around his neck as he fell into him. Todoroki’s left hand, found his waist to steady him there while his free hand still reached to cup Izuku’s face as if Izuku was reverent, as if he wanted this as much as Izuku did. And maybe he did. Izuku’s second kiss was hot and cold, pressing smooth and unbothered over the cracks in Izuku’s own lips, smiling for Izuku when they parted, so Izuku had no choice but to kiss that smile again and again. Overjoyed when Todoroki laughed again. Over the moon because Izuku got exactly what he wished for.
Izuku didn’t really care if none of his future birthdays went to plan, as long as he got this. His favorite person.
As long as he was loved.