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Midoriya was spending some time with Iida in his room that evening, when his cell phone buzzed, calling their attention. He glanced at the screen, frowning at that unexpected name.
“It’s Yoarashi,” he said.
That was strange. Yoarashi never called him before, since they usually talked through texts. He couldn’t help but feel worried as he answered the call.
“Midoriya?” he heard Yoarashi’s loud voice on the other side.
“Yoarashi? Is everything alright?”
“Yes, everything is fine!” he made a brief pause. “Well, actually, I could use some help.”
“Help?” repeated Midoriya, calling Iida’s attention. “What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing is wrong!” he explained quickly. “No need to worry!”
Midoriya let out his breath, a little relieved, signing for Iida that everything was fine.
“That’s good… What do you need, then?”
“I want to give Shouto a present… You know, since our first anniversary is next month.”
Had it been that long already? Midoriya felt lost in time.
“Since you and Iida are close to him, I thought maybe you could help me think of something I could make.”
“Ah, of course! Tenya is here with me, I’ll turn on the speaker so he can hear you too.”
He did as he said, and soon Yoarashi repeated his words to Iida, who thought about it.
“We could meet this Saturday, if you want,” he suggested. “I believe it’ll be easier to think of something with the three of us together.”
“That sounds great! Thank you so much!”
As soon as Yoarashi ended that call, Midoriya and Iida exchanged amused glances.
“Enthusiastic as always,” said Midoriya with a small laugh.
“That’s true.”
Midoriya placed the phone on his bedside table, then proceeded to cuddle with his boyfriend for the next hour.
They met with Yoarashi that weekend, as planned. The weather was cold that day, and still, there he was, wearing a t-shirt with short sleeves, as if he was as immune to the cold as his partner.
“I’m so glad you two came!” he said to them. “I thought I was good with gifts, but I just can’t think of anything nice.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Iida. “We’ll think of something.”
“That’s right,” agreed Midoriya. “Where should we start looking?”
Yoarashi looked at him for a second, then smiled awkwardly.
“Ah, I think I didn’t explain it that well…” he said. “I don’t want to just buy him something this time.”
Iida and Midoriya looked at him, slightly confused.
“How can I say it…?” he proceeded. “I want it to be something special… Something I made for him myself.”
“Ah, like a handmade gift?” asked Midoriya.
“Yes!” agreed Yoarashi. “I just have no idea what to do.”
Iida thought about it for a bit, but ended up shaking his head.
“Let’s find somewhere to sit,” he suggested. “We shouldn’t stay outside for long in this cold weather.”
The other two agreed, despite the cold not being a problem to Yoarashi. They entered a small coffee shop, ordering a hot beverage to each before finding a place to sit.
“Are you particularly good with any crafts, Yoarashi?” asked Iida.
Yoarashi lowered his eyes.
“That’s the problem…” he said. “I never did anything like that.”
“It certainly complicates things…” said Midoriya. “But if you’re willing to learn, then you should be able to do it.”
“I don’t think it’s that easy,” Iida gesticulated in Midoriya’s direction. “We should think of something simple to learn, or else, no matter how much he commits himself, he won’t be able to make it in time.”
“That’s a good point,” agreed Midoriya.
They spent the following minutes taking sips from their cups and making suggestions, but all of them ended up having some kind of problem. Midoriya frowned: what could he suggest? Except for the garage kits he assembled and painted himself, he couldn’t say he knew much about manual works. He started to absent-mindedly play with the scarf around his neck, and it suddenly shed some light on his mind.
“How about a scarf?” he suggested. “It’s a nice gift, and he’ll remember you whenever he uses it.”
“But he wouldn’t need it, because of his quirk,” reminded Yoarashi.
But Iida also liked the idea.
“I don’t think, in this case, that the value of the gift should be measured by its usefulness,” he said. “What matters is that you took your time to make it for him. That’s what makes this gift something special, right?”
Yoarashi considered those words, realizing there was truth to them.
“I think you’re right!” he said, opening a smile. “Maybe I should make him a scarf… I could choose the yarn, then knit it myself. Sounds good!”
Iida and Midoriya looked at each other, satisfied with that result.
“So, shall we go buy the supplies you’ll need?” said Iida.
Yoarashi agreed. They left the coffee shop, searching the streets for a handicraft store. Inside it, they asked the attendant about what they would need to make a scarf, and she briefly explained it to them, showing a few needles of different sizes, suggesting one of medium width. After that, she showed them where they could find the yarn, and that’s when the first challenge began: choosing a color.
“How about white and red?” suggested Midoriya.
“Wouldn’t it end up looking like a peppermint candy, though?” asked Yoarashi.
“Ah, you’re right!”
They laughed together, showing different colors to each other, debating which ones would go well together. Iida started to feel a little worried: he loved Midoriya, but was also aware that his taste for clothing could be a little… Peculiar. And, considering the colors he was picking, if he didn’t do something about it, Todoroki would end up wearing an entire rainbow around his neck.
“I don’t think Shouto would use something too eye-catching,” he intervened. “Maybe you should stick to a single color. It’ll be easier to make, too!”
“That makes sense,” agreed Yoarashi.
“I also think you should be the one to pick the color,” he added to Yoarashi, placing his hand on Midoriya’s shoulder. “Wouldn’t it make the gift more meaningful if you chose a color you thought would look good on him?”
“Ah, yes,” agreed Midoriya. “That would be really sweet.”
Iida sighed, relieved. Todoroki’s gift was safe for now.
Yoarashi spent the next few minutes looking at the different tones of yarn. Sometimes he grumbled to himself, before changing his mind and looking for a different color. After a while, though, he approached them with a satisfied smile, a dark turquoise ball of yarn in his hand.
“How about this one?” he asked.
It was a beautiful color, and not too flashy. Iida agreed with a nod.
“It’s a good one, in my opinion,” he said.
“I think so, too!” agreed Midoriya.
Yoarashi’s smile widened.
“I’m glad you agree!” he said. “This one matches the color of his left eye. It’ll look cute on him!”
Iida smiled: it was impossible not to notice how much love Yoarashi felt for his friend. It made him happy for them.
“How many should I take?”
They went after the clerk again, seeking guidance. According to her, two would be enough, but they added one for safety measure. It was Yoarashi’s first time knitting, after all.
“Alright!” said Yoarashi, as they left the store. “Now I just need to learn how to make it!”
“I don’t think I can help much with that,” admitted Iida.
“Me neither,” agreed Midoriya.
Yoarashi offered them a wide smile.
“It’s fine!” he said. “You’ve already helped me a lot!”
They accompanied Yoarashi to the train station a little after that, wishing him luck with the gift as they said their goodbyes.
Uraraka and Asui stared at Todoroki, a little surprised.
“A gift for Yoarashi?” repeated Uraraka.
The three had gathered in her room, after Todoroki sent her a message asking for help.
“I’m not good with these things,” he admitted. “I just can’t be romantic, even if I try.”
Uraraka frowned. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to help, but to come up with something so suddenly…
“Didn’t he tell you about anything he’d like?” asked Asui, placing a finger on her mouth.
Todoroki thought for a while.
“I don’t know…” he said. “Nothing comes to mind.”
“This makes things more complicated…” said Uraraka.
The three of them stayed silent for a while.
“Now that I think of it…” said Todoroki, calling their attention. “He once said he’d like to try my cooking.”
“Then, why don’t you cook something for him?” asked Asui.
“I don’t know how to cook,” he admitted. “I mean, I can fry eggs and things like that, but…”
“No, no fried eggs,” interrupted Uraraka. “Let’s think of something that feels more special.”
“But if he cooks something, he’ll have to worry about side-dishes, and other stuff,” reminded Asui. “It won’t be simple.”
“That’s true,” he said. “And there’s no way I could just take a whole meal with me on the bus.”
“Why don’t you bake something, then?” suggested Asui.
“That’s an option,” agreed Uraraka. “Does Yoarashi like sweet things?”
“Yes,” said Todoroki, “especially if it’s made with chocolate.”
Finally, they were getting somewhere.
“That settles it!” Uraraka clapped her hands, satisfied. “We just have to find a good recipe with chocolate in it!”
“Maybe a cake?” said Asui. “You can’t go wrong with cakes.”
“Sounds good,” said Todoroki.
The three looked at each other, agreeing with the idea.
“Alright!” said Uraraka, taking her phone out of her pocket, typing on it. “Let’s look for some nice recipes, then!”
Asui and Todoroki approached her, glancing at the screen, one from each side. They spent long minutes like that, until Uraraka let out a frustrated grunt, slapping her forehead.
“Wait!” she said. “What are we doing?”
“Looking for a recipe?” said Todoroki.
“Exactly!” she stared at him. “Did you guys forget that we have someone in our class who knows more about baking sweets than any of us?”
Todoroki and Asui looked at each other, realization falling upon them at the same time.
“Sato,” she said.
“Yes!” said Uraraka, getting up, offering them her hands as support. “Come! Let’s go to his room!”
Yoarashi had started from scratch for about a million times, and still, every time he started a new line, it seemed to get bigger than the previous one. Not only that, but sometimes he’d make something wrong, that would result in a hole that only grew bigger, to the point he had to start yet again. He didn’t know what he was doing wrong… He was following the tutorials as well as he could.
There was a knock on his door, and a second later, his mother entered the room, looking a little worried.
“You’ve been so silent today…” she said. “I came to see if everything’s alright.”
“It is!” he said, then his smile dropped a little. “Almost…”
She took a better look at what he had in his hands, approaching him, curious.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“A gift for Shouto! It was supposed to be a scarf.”
“A scarf?” she widened her eyes in surprise. “Since when do you know how to knit?”
“That’s the problem, I don’t!”
He lowered his eyes, feeling defeated. It was frustrating, especially after Iida and Midoriya did their best to help him.
“If it keeps going like this, I’ll never finish it in time.”
His mother turned her eyes from him to his ugly, sad scarf, taking it in her hands.
“Why don’t you ask your nana for help?” she suggested. “She likes to do this kind of things.”
Yoarashi stared at her with widened eyes. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? He got up from the bed, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek before hurrying to the phone.
As combined, Todoroki, Uraraka and Asui met in Sato’s room the day before their anniversary. They had already bought the ingredients, and Sato helped them choose a cake that, according to him, was tasty and considerably easy to make.
“This is a large recipe, so I thought we could bake it in two separate trays,” he said.
“One for Yoarashi, and one for us!” decided Uraraka.
Todoroki frowned at her.
“Shouldn’t I be the one deciding that?”
“You wouldn’t deny us a cake, would you?” she said. “Not after everything we did to help!”
Todoroki sighed, but ended up laughing to himself.
“Of course not…” he said.
“Ochako gets serious when there are sweets involved,” said Asui.
“Can’t say I’m surprised…” he agreed.
Uraraka glared at them, puffing her cheeks.
“I can hear you!” she said.
Sato laughed at that brief exchange, then approached Todoroki.
“So, Todoroki, you’ll be the one doing it,” he said. “I’ll just be your guide.”
Todoroki wasn’t feeling too confident, but ended up agreeing.
“Sure.”
First, he made the batter, checking the ingredients all the time to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. Sato tried to make him relax, saying that he was paying attention to any possible mistake.
Todoroki finished the batter after long minutes of anxiety, putting it in the oven. He sighed in relief, only to remember he still had to prepare the filling.
With Sato’s guidance, he prepared the chocolate mousse, placing it on the fridge to harden a little. For some minutes, they could do nothing but wait, so they spent it chatting, until Sato warned Todoroki that the cake should be ready.
When they opened the oven, a delicious smell filled the room. They took both trays out, placing them on the counter.
“It’s looking good!” said Sato. “Now, you just have to cut the top and take out the middle.
“Is it too difficult?” asked Todoroki, uneasy again.
“No, you just need to be patient and do it slowly, so the cake won’t crumble.”
That didn’t make him feel better.
“Alright, I’ll try,” he said.
Sato helped him cut the top third of both cakes, then he proceeded to remove the middle using a knife, taking it out piece by piece. He was probably taking long than he should to finish that task, but his friends didn’t rush him. When he finished the first one, the result was far from perfect, but the second one looked a little better.
“It seems this one will be yours,” he indicated the uglier cake to Uraraka.
“As long as it tastes good, it’s fine by me!”
After that, came the final steps: filling the cakes, — easy — placing the top layers back in place — easy — and covering the cakes with what was left of the mousse, without destroying them completely — a nightmare and a mess, wouldn’t want to do it again. To give it a final touch, he put some chocolate rasps on top of the mousse.
“It looks pretty good!” said Uraraka.
Todoroki had to agree: despite Sato’s help, he was still unsure if he could do it, but now, seeing it finished in front of him, he felt proud of himself.
“That’s true,” agreed Sato. “Now we only need to taste it.”
Suddenly, Todoroki wasn’t feeling that confident anymore.
“I hope it’s not too bad…” he said.
“Relax, man,” laughed Sato. “You did everything right.”
“I want to take the first piece!” asked Uraraka.
They cut one of the cakes, taking a piece each. Todoroki stared at it for a few seconds before finally gathering the courage to take a bite…
It wasn’t bad. At all.
“It’s so good!” said Uraraka, her eyes sparkling.
“It’s fluffy and not too sweet,” agreed Asui with a smile. “I’m sure Yoarashi will like it.”
“I told you that you did it right,” said Sato.
Todoroki smiled at them, feeling grateful for all that help. Sato took the second cake, carefully putting it on top of a sheet of baking paper, and then inside the paper box they had bought earlier, which was specific for carrying sweets like that, placing it in the fridge.
“I’ll keep it in my fridge overnight,” he said to Todoroki. “Just come and get it tomorrow before you leave.
Todoroki agreed, then Uraraka’s loud laugh called his attention, making him look at the girls over his shoulder.
“You’re so passionate about cakes…” commented Asui to her girlfriend, cleaning a few crumbles from her cheek. “Maybe I should bake one for you sometime.”
Todoroki smiled fondly at them, then turned to face Sato.
“Thanks for the help,” he said.
Sato offered him a friendly smile.
“Don’t mention it.”
With some effort, Yoarashi finished the scarf in time. It took him most of his free time, but the result made it worth it. Thanks to his nana, he realized the many little things he was doing wrong, and she patiently explained it to him until he managed to do it right on his own. He folded and wrapped the scarf in a pretty, colorful paper, then left for the train station, a happy smile on his face. He could barely wait to see Todoroki’s reaction, and how the scarf would look on him. Yoarashi could already picture it, but nothing could compare to seeing it in person.
As for Todoroki, he retrieved the cake on Sato’s room on the next morning, then left to meet Yoarashi. He took the bus, sitting with the paper box on his lap, still feeling a little cold to the touch. He remembered his friends’ reactions on the previous night, and was anxious to see what Yoarashi would think of it. He could already picture his face covered in mousse and crumbles, and had to hold back a small laugh.
Both of them looked at the gifts they were carrying, which were, at the same time, so simple and so special in their own way, smiling to themselves.
That would surely be a nice way to celebrate such an amazing year.