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It's not every day that you see a huge tent pegged into place with eight flags on it billowing in the wind on Yuuei turf.
And it's certainly not every day that said tent is a brilliant hot pink and practically dripping with sparkles.
And so it's only natural, really, for several students to be milling around it within minutes like confused moths; one second they're idly chatting and heading to their dorms or the common room to while away the hours between class and sleep and even more class (or, alternatively, for the night owls, just between class and class), and the next second they're looking on in awe at the castle looming over them as Class 1-A resident Mina Ashido sets her arms akimbo and beams back at them, with other Class 1-A resident, Momo Yaoyorozu, at her side with a hand on her forehead, face shining with a layer of fresh sweat.
Yeah, Izuku decides, scratching the back of his head as he takes in Mina's costume—fucshia, plasticky looking platform boots, electric blue tights, and a dress adorned with the same pattern as her hero costume, except much more iridescent, with the bits of purple camouflage glimmering like facets of a disco ball in the setting sun as she pumps her fists and begins to rile the crowd up—certainly not every day.
"What the fresh hell is this?" he hears Katsuki mutter up front. Izuku, however, prefers to take refuge a little closer to the back, if only because the crowd of students has become so congested that he's afraid of losing what's a potentially good spot to observe from if he decides to get too cocky and aim for the front row to...whatever this was.
(And, of course, if only because a certain two other 1-A residents, still damp with sweat from an endurance exercise they've just ran back indoors from, only to have their feet hit the dirt out here again within minutes, are sharing the same space as Izuku at the current moment. And holding his hands. That too).
Mina smirks and responds by flicking Katsuki in the nose, then miraculously flinging herself backwards in one swift, graceful motion before he can retaliate, and he's reduced to just mumbling, "fucking weirdo," under his breath while Denki tries to stifle a snicker with his hand.
"Glad you asked, Sriracha Sauce!" Mina winks as Katsuki goes nuclear at the nickname and Izuku hears Eijirou mumble, "Hmm, you're right, he is pretty ho—never mind," as Denki just stares back at him quizzically and mutters, "Dude, what?"
"It's a party!" Mina continues. "Y'know, since we all passed our exams with flying colors—"
"Um, excuse me," a certain simpering voice that simultaneously both sets Izuku on edge and makes him groan internally drawls out, interrupting Mina, "but didn't a certain, ah—grape-looking dimwit from your prestigious class 1-A fail his written exams due to his seating arrangement between two girls getting him kicked out?"
Mina blinks at Neito. "Yeah, so as I was saying, since we all passed our exams with flying colors—"
"My point is," Neito butts in again, making Mina roll her eyes in agitation, "your precious little Class 1-A doesn't deserve a party! It's high time that we, the unsung heroes, get credit for our achievements without you lying upstarts in the way, so you'd do best to pack up your ugly little tent and—"
"EH?!" Yuuga shrieks in horror, red face cupped between his hands. "QU'EST CE QUE J'ENTENDS?! UGLY?!"
Mina stares at Momo. "You mean you weren't the one who made the tent?"
She shakes her head as she side eyes Neito shrilly laughing as Yuuga proceeds to rant an entire wall of exasperated French at him. "I just added some accomodations to make it more spacious. All that glitter is surprisingly taxing to reproduce, though...can we eat soon?"
Mina sighs. "Yeah, if the two pretty boys can shut their mouths for a minute."
Kyouka shrugs. "Told you we shouldn't've invited 1-B."
"Oh come on!" Mina pouts. The sun is gone completely by now, so that only the starlight is able to illuminate her dress. But her boots are glow in the dark. Go figure. "Itsu-chan and Ibara-chan are sooo coool! Plus, look at Kiri," she adds, snickering. "He's having the time of his life."
Surely enough, Tetsutetsu and Eijirou are now joined at the fist and giving each other shit-eating grins.
"Bro!"
"BRO!"
"No."
Izuku lets go of both hands he's holding out of surprise, and the next thing he knows, Tenya is pulling both him and Shouto out of the way to let their teacher through. Tenya gives a quick bow.
"Ah! Aizawa-sensei!"
"...Yeah," he mutters dryly without looking at Tenya as Tooru groans, "Aw, man! Busted!" and proceeds to advance through the now dead silent crowd.
"Ashido. What is this?"
"Oh! A, uh...tent?" she laughs nervously.
"Ashido."
She wails in despair, clenched fists shaking in the air. "It's a party! It was supposed to be a party! Y'know, with like food and music and juicy gossip?! C'mon, Sensei, don't you like gossip?"
"Only when it involves reasons for expulsion."
The crowd gasps collectively (well, except for Katsuki—he's just muttering something along the lines of, "he wouldn't fucking dare," and Neito, whose gasp quickly turns into shrill laughter, which in turn is quickly muffled by a giant fist smacking him in the face along with an apology from Kendou), and Mina slowly sinks to her knees, tears pooling in her eyes.
"Don't you think, she's uh...overdoing it?" Shouto asks Tenya and Izuku, who are still both currently under Tenya's grip, because obviously they're too polite to tell him to let go, and he's too polite to not let go unless they request him to do so—yes, that's it—and Izuku gives a half shrug with the shoulder connected to his free hand.
"Ah—that's Ashido-chan for you."
Shouto still looks confused. "But...he's not really going to expel her."
"I doubt it," Tenya says, frowning, as Mina begins bawling and incoherently defending herself, garbled by her tears as the rest of the Class 1-A girls rush to her protection—"Sensei, please forgive me for being so straightforward, but Mina only had good intentions about this—" "Ashido-chan's just a bit riled up right now, ribbit—she was so excited for this, she was planning it for about a week and it was all she'd ever talk about with the rest of the girls—" "Sensei, are you really going to resort to expulsion? Isn't that a bit extreme—"
Shota frowns. "What? No, girl, I'm not going to expel you."
Mina gapes up at him in disbelief, then lets out a small, incoherent squeak, then heaves a huge sigh as she cries some more, for some reason ("I can't stop! They started coming and now I just can't stop!") as Tooru shushes her and (supposedly?) sets a hand on her shoulder and tells her it's okay.
Shota sighs. "You...should pack up, though."
"Ah, what?! But come on, Shota, this looks fun—!"
"I didn't ask for your opinion, Hizashi."
"I mean, I was thinking! Maybe we should throw our own party for the staff, you know—?"
"Feel free to forget to invite me, then."
Hizashi makes an unimpressed 'tch' noise as Shota walks back through the throng of students and into the building and grabs him by the hand, arguing, "Just think about it! there's probably at least one store nearby that sells balloons with our faces on them, anyways..."
"That sounds terrifying..."
Their voices fade out as Mina, now recovered but still puffy eyed, groans, rolls her eyes, and yells, "Alright, Aoyama! You heard the man. Pack up camp!"
"That certainly was...something," Shouto says as he and Izuku and Tenya head back to the dorms.
"Heh, yeah," Izuku laughs nervously. "Poor Mina, though, she seemed so excited...but it's fine. I'm not too good at parties, anyways."
"Oh? Midoriya-kun, you sound like you're speaking from experience. How many parties have you been to?" Tenya asks.
"Uh!" Izuku freezes up; the only thing that crosses his mind that's even vaguely like a party are the July mornings in his house each year, as Inko Midoriya slices up a homemade cake adorned with All Might's face on it and Izuku thanks her with a kiss before retreating into his room and poring over videos and journals. Just like every other morning in July. Or every other morning, really, for sixteen years of his life (well—fourteen, really. The thought of eating something with his mentor's face on it just doesn't seem to settle right with him anymore, so now he just settles for the traditional coat of vanilla icing. And desperately hopes that his mother's scrapbooks are far out of reach whenever the former symbol of peace comes over to visit).
"Uh—sixteen," he answers dumbly before slapping his forehead as Tenya and Shouto both look on in shock.
"Sixteen! And you say you're not used to parties?"
"I..." Izuku sighs helplessly. "No, that came out really wrong, that's not what I—"
"If it helps, I've been to at least twenty," Shouto says. "And I'd gladly pay not to go to another one."
"Ah! It must be because of your—your...ah." Tenya trails off hesitantly and clears his throat, trying again. "Your—er—"
"You can say father," Shouto mutters. "I really don't care."
"I—ah—yes," Tenya finishes hastily, turning pink. "Your father. However, Todoroki-kun, I feel like this situation is otherwise, considering it was specifically for other peers our age to attend—"
They suddenly let go and look on in horror as Tenya starts vibrating, only to breathe a unified sigh of relief as they figure out it's just his phone. And come to think of it, Izuku feels something vibrate in his back pocket as well. They're a few feet from Shouto's room when he pulls out his phone, too.
ashido mina: yo! SPECIAL TEXT FOR CLASS 1-A EYES ONLY. meet up at my dorm in 10! the tent might be gone, but nothing's stopping us from still having the time of our lives!
Before Izuku can even finish comprehending the message, a new one pops up on his screen:
ashido mina: and dont even THINK abt skipping out on it. i didnt plan out the games for nothing. i CAN and i WILL make your life MISERABLE BY TEASING YOU ABT NOT COMING. YOUR REPUTATIONS ARE ON THE LINE.
ashido mina: cya!! ❤ ❤
Izuku sighs. "Well..."
"Looks like your party count is going up to seventeen," Shouto murmurs as Izuku promptly turns a rich shade of scarlet.
"...Did I say something wrong?"
They're barely half an hour in when Tenya declares it's past curfew.
"Alright, LIGHTS OUT! As class president I've taken it upon me to—"
"To what?" Mina scoffs. "Be a total wet blanket?"
Tenya huffs indignantly. "I—"
"I mean, really, the party's just started," Mina declares as she gives a thumbs-up to Kyouka, who proceeds to turn the volume on the small, hot pink (go figure) boombox in the corner, and syncopated electronica fills the room. Even Tsuyu starts tapping her foot.
Izuku's seated on Mina's bed, bare feet being tickled by the fuzz of her leopard-patterned blanket as he sits next to Ochako and she proceeds to pepper Deku-kun with questions about his boyfriends.
"Does Todoroki-kun actually, like...talk to you? How was your first kiss? Or was that the one in the cafeteria we were all cheering you on for? Does Iida-kun snore in his sleep? I bet he's a snorer."
And Izuku gladly provides her with the answers: Yes, yes it was amazing and yes it was in the cafeteria, and yes. It's all good-natured, I-care-about-you nosiness more than anything, and having a familiar face—and one of his closer friends, at that—at his "seventeenth party" allows his nerves to unwind a little.
Mina gasps. "Wait! Is it because...because I'm a bad host?"
"What? Ashido-san, far from it! I simply want to ensure we all go to bed on ti—"
"'CAUSE THAT MEANS IT'S TIME FOR A FEW HEAVY ROUNDS OF TRUTH OR DARE!"
"ASHIDO-SAN!"
"Ooh!" Ochako bounces up and lands on the heart-patterned carpet where Tsuyu is sitting, squishing her cheek against Tsuyu's shoulder. "I'm so excited! Deku, last time we played...things got wild." She gets that steely look emblazoned on her face and Izuku shoots up for a second in fright before realizing Ochako's probably not even aware of it.
"Ochako, your face," Tsuyu points out.
Ah, yes.
"Oh—thanks, hon," Ochako's expression becomes much calmer as she laughs nervously. "Sorry, Deku. We just have a lot of secrets here in the girl's side of 1-A."
"Hmmph. I can respect that," Eijirou says as he seats himself onto the hearts as well.
"Yeah, your secrets are all shit, anyways," Katsuki huffs.
"Dude, I didn't mean it like that!"
With the ambience of the two bickering in the background, Mina triumphantly turns flicks off the light and sets a single flashlight in the middle of the packed circle 1-A has created on her rug.
"Ooh! Scary!" Tooru applauds.
"I can appreciate the atmosphere," Fumikage admits.
Mina plops down next to Tooru and grins. "You guys wanna spin a bottle, or just pick and choose?"
"Don't give a shit," Katsuki declares.
"Bottle!" Momo says, ignoring him. She has to say it twice for clarification due to the sticky bun stuffed in her mouth.
"I dunno, picking on others seems fun!" Hanta grins. "Gives me a chance to get back at the people who called me boring."
"Hmm. Well, as your gracious host, I'll allow the boys to have it their way—just this once," Mina warns them as Denki and Hanta high-five each other. "Don't get any ideas."
It's time, Izuku supposes as he slides down onto the carpet as well, his hands finding his way into Shouto's and Tenya's. At least they seem just as comfortable as he is about being at a party—comfortable meaning not at all comfortable. Although he supposes for Tenya it's just anxiety about not going to bed on time. And for Shouto it's just his usual avoidant nature (and a strange gravitation towards the snacks table).
He feels...strangely happy, really, to be one of the few invited here, but then the sense of burning shame takes over as he realizes he's excited over something so trivial.
Come on, seventeenth party, he tries to convince himself. Seventeenth party.
The more he says it, the more real it seems. It almost feels as tangible as the fingers he's interlaced his own ones between.
"Alright, Tokoyami-kun, you're my first victim! Truth or dare?"
"Dare," he replies flatly as Eijirou applauds him. "Nice! Didn't know you had it in ya!"
"Ah—trust me, he does," one of Mezo's mouths counters in response.
And just like that, the festivities begin, and Izuku sits through Fumikage being forced to prank call a pizza place (he accidentally ends up placing an actual order, though, and they all frantically scramble for the phone to cancel it before the Yuuei staff ends up knowing they're still wide awake), Tsuyu very bluntly admitting that she once had a dream about marrying Ochako (it takes roughly half an hour to coax Ochako down from the ceiling after that), and Denki electrocuting an entire, Class-1-A-sized bowl of popcorn in under 10 seconds (impressively enough, he isn't incapacitated this time. But Kyouka still makes fun of him regardless).
And before he knows it—perhaps it's from the sugar high resulting from the sticky buns, perhaps it's merely sleep deprivation considering it's two in the morning, perhaps its both—Izuku starts laughing along with them.
Seventeenth party.
It does seem real now. He's never felt more at home.
"Hey Kami! Your turn now!" Mina says as she proceeds to scoop a handful of popcorn and shove it in her mouth.
"Oh, uh. Hmm...I mean, we only have three left...hey, Midoriya! You game?"
"Of course I am!" He's high on euphoria. His mouth speaks before he does.
"Right! Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"About time," Kyouka declares. "All of you boys are cowards. You keep picking dare."
"Uh..." Denki falters. "Any of you gals got a truthy question?"
"It's gotta be juicy," Mina says. "Hmm...ha! I've got it. Midoriya Izuku," she says, leaning across the circle so the flashlight is shining directly under her chin, "tell us about one life-changing incident you'll never forget."
And just like that, under the spotlight, the euphoria dissipates instantly.
"I, uh..."
The first one that comes to mind is undeniably life-changing—it's literally changed his body, and it's the reason why he's here. And only one other person in this room knows. And it's supposed to stay that way, so he can't possibly—
Wait.
One other person.
Izuku's mouth goes dry for a second before he swallows and begins speaking before he'll regret it.
He's already regretting it as Katsuki gets up and announces, "Gotta go to the bathroom, don't bother to catch me up on this dumb shit," and leaves.
"Not everyone's born equal. I learned that at the age of four..."
He catches himself the first time he almost says quirkless, and nearly stops talking altogether. After quickly switching it out for "my quirk just wasn't as strong back then," he continues his story of how Bak—Bakurou, resident tormentor of his life for fifteen years straight, beat him in an unprovoked fist fight—no, no—it really was provoked, actually—after all, Izuku's the one who said he was being mean, said he shouldn't bully the quirkless and stood up to defend one of his victims—and before he knows it, the retelling flurry of quick flashes and punches, both physical and verbal, slip him back through time, to a time where he's never felt as powerless yet so full of hope, because life is cruel and never lets children give up until their spirit is literally crushed to powder inside of them—and even then it still clings on, desperate yet hurting—and he can almost feel the searing pain from the hits that landed on his forehead and chin and nose. He can almost feel the hot tears of defeat rolling down his eyes.
He can almost...
"M-Midoriya—?!"
...No.
He is.
He quickly jolts back to reality, and realizes that his entire face is warm, sticky, and dripping with saltwater. He quickly swipes them away with a pajama sleeve and rasps out an apology to the sea of shocked faces in front of him.
"I—I really didn't mean to change the mood, I'm so—"
"You were...bullied. Horribly," Tenya says under his breath. "For how long?"
"Until, uh...until I got into Yuuei. He kind of stopped after that."
"Serves him right," Shouto says, speaking for the first time in hours and sending a wave through the sea. "To realize that the torment can never outrival sheer talent."
Talent. It pains Izuku.
If only he knew.
And it makes him cry even more.
"Ah—!" Shouto hastily unlaces his hand from Izuku's and wipes away at a few tears before looking away, flushing. "Is it something I—?"
"No..." Izuku shakes his head. "N-no. It...it feels good to let it out, actually."
"I'll never forgive him," Tenya says. "I don't know him, but I'll never forgive him."
"I..." Izuku heaves out a sigh that's mixed with both frustration and relief. "Yeah," is all he can manage. Maybe another day. "Thank you, both of you."
"Really, it's nothing!" Tenya says, his voice strained just a bit more than normal. "Even if I don't know him—" he says, making sure to clearly enunciate each word.
Or—or maybe it doesn't have to wait another day. He's onto me.
Shouto squeezes his hand a bit harder than normal.
They're both onto me.
And so he heaves again, the sigh now just pure relief as he allows his hands to slide back into theirs and Ochako begins to go on a long-winded speech about how, exactly, she's going to punch this Bakug—Bakurou into the next stratosphere—and to his surprise, Tenya and Shouto begin to join in, Tenya offering advice on how his reciproburst can add momentum to balance out any of Ochako's weightless moves, and how Shouto's sheets of ice and fire can provide a veil of distraction. And before he knows it, the rest of the class is joining in as well, all providing a myriad of ways Izuku Midoriya's anonymous bully can get punted into outer space. It only stops when there's a noticeable explosion followed by sparks flying out under the cracks of the bathroom from down the hall that everyone peers out momentarily to see, and Katsuki slams the door open, snapping that, "Your girls' damn toilet's fucking broken," and sits back on the rug between Denki and Eijirou, who both fix him looks of disapproval.
"W-well—!" Mina brushes a tear from her eye—the last of the tears that ever came from this game, Izuku hopes—and claps her hands together. "We've got two more to go! Mido-kun! Are you ready?"
Izuku nods. "I..." He swallows.
"I choose both of you."
"Hey!" Tooru protests. "That's against the rules!"
"Ah, shh. Let him. He's earned it," Mina says back.
"Ah—yes?" Tenya blinks. "Midoriya-kun?"
"What is it?" Shouto asks.
"Oh, uh, I wanna ask if—no no no! Wait, wait." And he ends up laughing, he ends up laughing at his mistake instead of beating himself up about it. "I messed up. First you need to choose. Truth or dare?"
"Midoriya—" Shouto begins—
"WHATEVER YOU'D LIKE!" Tenya finishes diligently, which only makes Izuku laugh even harder.
"What if whatever I like is whatever you'd like?"
"A—ah..." Tenya holds a hand up and falters.
"Truth," Shouto cuts in, "since it was a question you wanted to ask."
Izuku smiles. "Fair enough. So...I, uh—" He coughs. "Do you—"
"Midoriya-kun, don't hold back!" Tenya encourages.
"Right!" Shouto says, more enthusiastic than anyone in class 1-A save for maybe his two boyfriends have ever seen him before.
"Are you...happy?"
"Well..." Tenya pauses, his chin between his index finger and his thumb. "That's a vague question, Midoriya."
"I—yeah, I know," Izuku says, feeling his face burn. "I meant for it to be. Just...just interpret it however you want."
"The way I want to interpret it right now...yes," Shouto murmurs.
Tenya turns to him. "Hmm?"
"Yes," he repeats.
"In what context?"
"In...well—" Shouto leans over and pecks Izuku on the cheek as a few "awws!" and one "why did I sign up for this damn shitshow" emanates from the crowd.
"I'm happy in this way," Shouto finishes, and Tenya can't help but grin, which can't help but make Izuku grin as he rubs his cheek and blushes.
"Excellent reasoning, Todoroki-kun," he says as he leans in so his lips meet Izuku's other cheek.