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Toshinori was walking down the halls of U.A., feeling content after a hard day’s work.
The students were progressing really well, slowly getting the hang of controlling their quirks and using the environment to their advantage. It was incredibly satisfying to witness.
He was just about to turn a corner to head to the teacher’s lounge for a cup of tea, before he would inevitably have to down to write some reports on what exercises his students had engaged in earlier that afternoon, when he heard excited voices inside the 1-A classroom.
He frowned. He thought all of them had already gone to the dorms for the day.
“Okay, so does everyone have one?” Toshinori recognised young Ashido’s cheerful voice rising above the others’.
“No,” young Uraraka replied. “Bakugou-kun’s hasn’t arrived and Iida-kun hasn’t even bought his yet. Apparently, he can’t seem to choose between a kangaroo and a bear.”
“But wasn’t the bear one taken already?” young Asui asked all of a sudden.
“I think Tsuyu-chan is right. Isn’t Kouda-san’s a bear?” Young Yaoyorozu’s chimed in.
“Let’s go back and sort this out,” young Jirou offered, putting an end to the discussion.
Toshinori heard shuffling and the scraping of chairs being pulled back in place and he ran to the corner to hide. He couldn’t have any students see his true form, after all. If they found out he had been eavesdropping on a group of female students’ private conversation, the situation could escalate rather quickly.
Despite the fact that they were going the opposite direction, their voices still carried down the large, empty hall.
“Could someone explain to me how this whole kigurumi sleepover thing came to be?” young Hagakure asked the group.
“Oh, right, you were sick after playing around in the rain a week ago and had to miss a few days of class!” young Uraraka commented.
“Yes, Ojiro-kun hasn’t stopped teasing me since.”
“Well, if you really want to know…” young Yaoyorozu started, only to be interrupted by young Ashido.
“It was his idea in the first place!” A few gasps were heard, but young Ashido continued unabashed, “What? She deserves to know, don’t you think? Especially since it was all a plan to cheer her up!”
“Oh my goodness, Ashido-san! You shouldn’t have said anything! Ojiro-san went through so much trouble to try and keep the real reason a secret!” young Yaoyorozu said.
“She was going to find out sooner or later, but I’m sure she’s happy to know. Right, Hagakure-chan?”
Their voices were becoming faint so Toshinori knew he was in the clear when he heard them going down the stairs.
He breathed a sigh of relief. That had been a close call. He should really be more careful in the future.
As he glanced around the hall, he decided to just forego the cup of tea at this point and made his way to his own room, ready to tackle the long list of reports he needed to write by the end of the week.
But, however hard he tried to focus, his mind kept going back to the girls’ conversation.
What were they talking about? It seemed to be about animals at first, but then they mentioned some kigurumi?
After a few minutes of pointless staring at the mostly empty document on the screen of his laptop, Toshinori gave in and opened a new tab on his browser.
He quickly typed the word he thought he had heard and was met with thousands upon thousands of, mainly, retail shops which sold these sorts of… onesies with hoodies?
The more he scrolled down the first few sites in the list of results, the more he understood what his students meant. The designs were definitely cute and he certainly saw the appeal of being wrapped up in such cozy-looking fabrics. He could easily see himself sleeping in one of these.
His eyes were drawn to the fourth site on the list, though. This one sold only feline-related designs and there was even a “create your own kigurumi” option at the bottom of the page.
He hesitated for a couple of seconds, mouse hovering on the tantalising link, before clicking on it.
Just to see what it’s all about, he tried to convince himself.
All excuses went out the window as soon as he saw the colour wheel on the side, really. There were over two dozens of fake fur options, ear styles, tails with and without fur. The list seemed endless.
His eyes became glassy as he read every single item on the customisable list.
Without wasting another second, he started creating his very own kigurumi, seeing what worked well with what.
Needless to say, he never came back to the open document to write the reports.
Those could wait. Fashion could not.
To say that Toshinori was disappointed when his delivery arrived two weeks later would be an understatement.
Apparently, he had made a mistake in his order. When he was customising away the other day, he had clicked on the option of “hoodie” thinking the kigurumi wouldn’t have one if he didn’t.
But no. It meant that the design he had created got made into an actual, regular-sized hoodie instead of a kigurumi.
He had been so excited about it! When he calculated when the order would be delivered and realised the timing would be just perfect for Aizawa-kun’s birthday, he had spent an extra hour designing one for him, too!
And to think Aizawa-kun would’ve probably loved it. Toshinori had chosen a panther because he knew how much Aizawa-kun loved all cats, big or small, but also because it was the animal Toshinori associated with him the most.
The panther was stealthy, always lurking in the shadows, waiting for its prey to make itself known, which, to Toshinori, it was pretty much what Eraserhead did for a living. He was well-known for being a night patrol kind of hero, unlike himself.
He sighed. It would have to do since he didn’t have enough time to order another one.
When Kayama-san approached Toshinori and told him the principal had organised a little something for Aizawa-kun’s birthday the next day, he was absolutely delighted.
Since November 8th ended up falling on a Wednesday this year, the get-together was really just a little dinner party over at the principal’s house.
Aizawa-kun was probably going to hate being the centre of attention, but Toshinori was sure his present was going to bring him some happiness. Maybe Toshinori could even get a smile out of him with it.
When all the teachers arrived and prepared everything to surprise Aizawa-kun, they all started talking about how hard it had been to shop for him and chatted about what they had ended up buying.
Toshinori refused to say anything and couldn’t help but smile at his colleagues complaints as he set the table.
When Aizawa-kun arrived and they all jumped from behind the furniture to scare him, his expression remained as stoic as ever.
“Would it kill you to act even the tiniest bit surprised?” Yamada-kun complained loudly.
“Why would I? You do this every year,” Aizawa-kun argued, his face showing signs of tiredness as always.
Nezu, perceptive as ever, suggested they had dinner first and opened presents later, so as to save Aizawa-kun from being the centre of attention for such an extended period of time.
And so they sat and chatted as they ate, everyone exchanging funny stories and things that had happened both inside and outside the school.
It was a rather relaxing environment to be in, abandoning whatever worries they had at the door and just being with them like this, not as teachers or pro heroes, but as friends.
After a few more complaints from Yamada-kun, Aizawa-kun sighed in defeat and finally stood up and walked to the coffee table, where all of his gifts were waiting to be unwrapped. He took a seat on the sofa and opened box after box silently.
They all quickly gathered around him, getting excited in spite of the fact that Aizawa-kun’s face remained the same as he thanked everyone for their generosity. The only reaction was that of a raised eyebrow at the final box on the pile, Toshinori’s messy handwriting a clear contrast with the beige wrapping paper he had chosen.
He knew everyone expected flashy from him, but he could dial that down for somebody else’s sake. This wasn’t about him; it was about Aizawa-kun, who was currently breaking the dull-looking paper and about to take the lid off the box.
At first, he said nothing as his gaze finally landed on the hoodie. But when he took it out of the box and saw the ears and the little detail of a paw on the zipper, his eyes widened in genuine surprise.
“Is this…?” Aizawa-kun started asking and raised his head, cutting off whatever he was about to say because in that moment, Toshinori put on his own lion hoodie on.
“I got the idea when I overheard some students talking about kigurumi. Do you know what they are?” To which Aizawa-kun just nodded. “Good, well, I wanted one, and then realised your birthday was just around the corner and thought, ‘Aizawa-kun would love a panther design!’ But then I made a mistake with the order and, as you can see it’s not a kigurumi, it looks more like a regular cat than anything else, and-”
Toshinori had a whole speech ready in apology for his silly mistake when Aizawa-kun stood up from the sofa, taking off his own jacket and replacing it with the hoodie Toshinori had gifted him.
Aizawa-kun was silent as he changed, but they all heard the words left unsaid: I love it, thank you.
Toshinori stood in awe, happy that his gift had been so well-received. Kayama-san got her phone out, motioning for him to stand closer to Aizawa-kun, who was taking a closer look at the little paw.
“Hey, why don’t you pose for the camera? Make a little roar or something!” Yamada-kun suggested and, surprisingly, Aizawa-kun complied. Although his expression did not change in the slightest.
Toshinori got near, thinking that Aizawa-kun had heard him and copied the pose, a happy smile on his face. Kayama-san snapped quite a few photos, babbling about how she would love to post them online. She still shared them in the chat group they had, plenty of phones beeping and vibrating with notifications at the same time.
Just as Aizawa-kun took his phone out to check said pictures, Toshinori approached him from behind and placed his arm around his shoulders. What Toshinori didn’t realise was that Aizawa-kun had no idea he was standing there and almost dropped his phone when he felt Toshinori’s heavy hand landing on his shoulder.
So, yeah, maybe Aizawa-kun was expecting the party all along but the accompanying yelp and look of pure horror he got from Toshinori’s unexpected surprise was just the best reaction they could’ve asked for.