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Hitoshi never liked July 1st.
He supposed it used to be a fine day; when his parents were alive that is. They’d wake him up with promised breakfast, and he’d get two gifts – each small, for his parents never had much to give anyways, but it was enough for him – He’d open the gifts carefully, and slowly, savoring the moment with his parents. And then, him, his mother, and his father would walk hand in hand to the park where they’d spend most of their day.
Then, on July 1st, when he turned four, his parents were killed.
He never celebrated July 1st since.
Hitoshi was immediately placed into a foster home, sharing two foster parents with five other kids. But it wasn’t bad; his foster parents were lovely people, a bit skittish around the edges, and his foster father would sometimes stay out later than a normal business man should, but they were fine people.
He liked them.
It was on July 1st at 7:15am when his quirk manifested.
His social worker was promptly called at 7:30am, and he hasn’t seen that foster family since.
He never liked July 1st.
Since that, he’s bounced around far too many foster families than he’d care to admit. Hitoshi would get kicked out for doing the smallest of things; to asking a question or eating before called, and his family just continuously got worse. Until, he was left with a couple who had ten children in their care; including Hitoshi.
The new foster parents left everything to the eldest; her name was Yuna Koizumi. She was in her last year of high school and had a telepathy quirk, able to read minds of others easily. How Hitoshi loved her. She never looked at him as if he was a villain, was never afraid to answer his questions.
For the first time since his parents died he was ready for July 1st to come, because Yuna would plan something special.
He woke up on July 1st to the paramedics arriving to the house, and Yuna was placed on a stretcher.
Her funeral was held later that week.
Hitoshi never found out what happened to her, their foster parents claimed it as a suicide, but Hitoshi didn’t think so.
He did know, however, that he really hated July 1st.
So, when he woke up July 1st, and began slowly getting himself ready for school, he was less than happy about it. Sure, his life had got increasingly better since he got adopted by Hizashi and Aizawa, he had two wonderful siblings Eri and Shouto whom he loved to death. But, something kept telling him something was going to go wrong today.
Something always goes wrong on July 1st.
Hitoshi walked out into the dorm common area where the rest of his class was eating breakfast, ready to make the commute to school,
And when he caught his brother’s eyes, he thought that maybe today wasn’t going to be such a bad day.
Shouto rose to his feet instantly, abandoning his breakfast and bounding towards Hitoshi with a small gift in his hands, ignoring the looks everyone else had been giving him. Shouto gently passed the gift to Hitoshi with a soft smile,
“Happy Birthday,” he said, smiling.
Hitoshi was barely able to say thank you to Shouto before the rest of the class exploded with Happy Birthdays and demanding to know what he wanted.
After the initial shock of it being his birthday had subsided, and Kirishima’s complaining that Hitoshi didn’t tell them sooner or they would have all gotten him a gift, they finished breakfast and walked over to the class. Where they waited for Aizawa to arrive.
“It’s no big deal, I promise,” Hitoshi reassured softly when everyone was in their seat, “I don’t really celebrate my birthday,”
“That’s so sad!” Ashido cried, “Let’s go out this weekend, me, you, Kami, Kiri, Sero and Bakubro! It’ll be great!”
“I’m not going,” Bakugou growled only for Ashido to shoo him.
“Of course you are! How about it?”
“Uh, yeah, I don’t think my family has anything planned,” Hitoshi murmured, heat gently rising to his cheeks at the prospect of going out with friends for his birthday.
Ashido gave a loud whoop before sprinting back in her seat, making it just in time considering Aizawa swung the door open and dragged himself in like he always does.
“Good morning, class,” Aizawa muttered behind his scarf.
“Good morning, Mr. Aizawa,” The class echoed back.
Aizawa got to the podium, leaning against it for support, “Before we begin,” a mischievous glint in his eyes as he met his gaze with Hitoshi, “Happy Birthday, kid,”
Hitoshi felt his heart swell and he couldn’t help but let out a shy smile, “Thank you, Mr. Aizawa,”
Homeroom continued without a hitch, as Aizawa began going over how final exams were going to go. Just as he was beginning to discuss how moving from the 1A dorms to the 2A dorms were going to work; a knock on the door interrupted his speech.
“Come in,” he sighed.
“Ay! Eraser! Sorry to bother you!”
Present Mic sauntered through the door, skipping with each step.
“Your class doesn’t start yet,”
“I know!” Present Mic stated, “But someone really special wanted to come in, she couldn’t wait till tonight,” the voice hero turned around and gently called out, “You can come in, no one in here bites,”
When called, a blur of white rushed past and promptly hid itself behind Present Mic, causing said man to chuckle.
“He’s right there, go,” Present Mic urged, surprising the class with how quiet his voice could get. He sidestepped out of the way and the class gasped at the small child that was clinging to his leg.
One of Eri’s small hands gripped onto Present Mic’s pants, and her other was holding a tiny, minuscule present that was badly wrapped in blue and silver wrapping paper.
Eri started walking through the aisles, keeping her head down and her white hair covering her eyes. She only stopped to give a large smile and wave at Shouto, before continuing her trek till she stopped in front of Hitoshi’s desk.
“Happy Birthday, Hitoshi!” Eri said, bouncing on her feet and placing the badly wrapped gift on his desk.
Hitoshi would be lying if he said that he wasn’t about to cry, reaching over he messed up Eri’s hair with a choked laugh, “Thank you, Eri,”
Hitoshi could briefly hear Aizawa ask Present Mic why he brought Eri over, and Present Mic responding with an easygoing, “She wouldn’t stop pouting about not seeing Hitoshi till tonight,”. But Hitoshi hardly cared about that, he simply cared about Eri’s smiling face as she wished him Happy Birthday.
As soon as Hitoshi took one step into his house, Eri, quite literally, headbutted into him.
“Happy Birthday!” she mumbled incoherently into his stomach, wrapping small, tiny arms around him.
“Hello to you too, squirt,” Hitoshi murmured back softly, “and I saw you today, when you barged into my class,” his voice inflexed as he picked up Eri and threw her over his shoulder easily, she laughed when he spun around. “What was that for, huh?”
“I wanted to see you!” Eri said through giggles.
Hitoshi placed Eri on the couch when she let out a huff, “I was mad Shouto got to say Happy Birthday first!”
Shouto let out a laugh from where he was coming through the door, his laugh increasing when Eri stuck her tongue out.
“Yours means the most to me,” Hitoshi said, loud enough for Shouto to hear.
Said man flicked Hitoshi in the back of the head, before walking towards the kitchen.
“Me and Hizashi made food!” Eri said happily, jumping from the couch to grab onto Hitoshi’s hand. He allowed her to lead her towards the kitchen, quickly matching her step. “It’s the best food ever!”
Eri wasn’t wrong. Hizashi had cooked his favorite, and the entire night was filled with nothing but laughter and lighthearted conversation. Hizashi had even baked a cake, and Aizawa, Shouto, Eri and Hizashi sung him Happy Birthday. It’s been a long time since he heard that song.
Unfortunately for everyone, it was time for them to be heading back towards the dorm before curfew. They bid goodbye to Eri and Hizashi, with promises to see them both tomorrow and probably go out somewhere if time permitted.
Once outside, something began eating at Hitoshi, and he fidgeted uncomfortably.
“Do you think we can stop somewhere before we go back to the dorms?” He asked, “There’s a few people I’d like to see,”
Hitoshi never liked graveyards. They were filled with a heavy sadness and crying people, fresh dirt that implied someone had left the Earth, flowers of varying colors from family and friends who still visited with teary eyes and miserable expressions.
But, Hitoshi still came to the graveyard.
Aizawa and Shouto stayed in the car by Hitoshi’s request, him stating this was something that needed to be done alone.
Hitoshi brushed his fingertips against the tombstone, slight tears filling his eyes.
“Yuna Koizumi,”
He marched forwards, wiping away the tears from his eyes before stopping at another set of tombstones. These two right next to one another, purple flowers surrounded by what Hitoshi assumed to be friends that still came to visit every so often.
His parents laid here.
Since July 1st, on his fourth birthday.
Hitoshi was a man of few words. So instead, he knelt, and he cried.
They arrived at the dorms an hour late, and Hitoshi blamed himself entirely for how long he decided to cry for. Although, Aizawa continued to reassure him that it was all okay, but Hitoshi hardly believed him.
“I wonder if everyone’s asleep,” Shouto inquired aloud when they got to the front door to the common room.
“Doubt it,” Aizawa grumbled.
“The group chat is being unnaturally quiet though, but it’s too early for everyone to be asleep,” Hitoshi stated, walking through the doors when Aizawa finally managed to open it.
What met them was loud screeching of “Happy Birthday, Shinsou!”
Everyone from Class 1A had decorated the common room with purple balloons, and streamers, and a banner with neat, cursive handwriting that read, ‘Happy Birthday!’ that could have only been done by Yaoyorozu. On the table was a neatly made cake, most definitely baked by Sato and perhaps with the help of Kouda. Along the couch various gifts laid with colorful wrapping and notes.
Aizawa grunted from behind him, giving him a gentle push. “Go enjoy your birthday, kid,”
Hitoshi, as if he was the one being brainwashed, walked forward towards the table where he was engulfed with hugs and more cheers.
Tears filling his vision once again, and this time he didn’t hold them back.
It’s true, Hitoshi never liked July 1st. The date was a nuisance to him, and something bad always happened. He never liked celebrating, because he never had anyone to celebrate with.
But he guessed, that his birthday wouldn’t always be so terrible.
Happy Birthday Shinsou Yamada-Aizawa Hitoshi!