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Bakugou wouldn’t say he was freaking out...but he was freaking out. He had thought of everything he could possibly put in a bento. He made onigiri that looked like pandas, but Tokoyami wasn’t a child so he’d probably think it was stupid. He then made shrimp tempura but put that aside as well. He’d never seen Tokoyami eat seafood, so for all he knew he had a seafood allergy and that would be embarrassing. He then made katsudon but then decided against it. Katsudon seemed like too much for just a birthday lunch bento. What if he tried too hard and Tokoyami felt awkward and broke up with him.
Bakugou slammed his hands on the countertop and turned to his dad, who was packing away the countless meals in tupperware and labeling them for later that week, he knew what to make. It was perfect, the answer had been staring him in the face for so long and he only knew what he needed to do. It was perfect!
Bakugou put the finishing touches on the bento and puffed out his chest. Seedless grapes cut in half and rearranged to look like mini hearts with slices of white bread on the side.
“Katsuki...are you sure about this,” his dad said pointing at the bread.
“You’re right!” he yelled, “Whole wheat is much healthier. I should’ve used that instead!”
“N-no. I mean all because he has the head of a bird doesn’t mean he should be fed like one. Besides, bread is bad for birds.”
“I see,” Bakugou said calmly before slapping the bento box across the kitchen, “FUCK!”
“Katsuki! You’re making a mess, just put regular things in it. You already made enough food to eat for three days, take something from that,” his mom yelled from the lower cabinet. She was fishing out more tupperware.
“Are you crazy! It has to be perfect or it won’t mean shit!” His mother did not know the absolute significance of tomorrow. October 30th. Tokoyami Fumikage, his boyfriend’s, birthday. The day the Earth was blessed with a beautiful, bird-headed, prince of darkness.
And Bakugou didn’t have jackshit prepared.
He would have, but in his defence, the Cultural Festival took up a lot of his time so he had nothing ready and it’s not like he could just ask someone to do it for him.
“Katsuki, do you know his favourite foods that might help you out,” his dad said clearing the counter of countless ingredients, “You two went on a date last week right? What did he eat then?” Bakugou paled remembering their disastrous date. They didn’t even make it to the restaurant by the time it was ruined by countless busybodies.
“Okay, um what about in the dorms? What’s his favourite food there?”
“Sato cooks dinner so he makes the menu and we all eat it. And during lunch, he’ll eat whatever. But I think he likes apples.”
“Then give him an apple and stop making a mess in my kitchen,” Bakugou scoffed at his mom. One apple is not lunch. He needed something memorable, something that’d make the stoic teen go “wow” or some shit like that.
Bakugou eyes widened. He knew what to do.
“First, we bisect the apple like this,” the video said as virtual dotted lines came across the length on the apple. Bakugou nodded and cut the fruit accordingly, all he had to do make the base for bunny apple slices, then he’d change them a little to make them Dark Shadow slices. It was a perfect plan. He could throw together whatever else for the rest of the bento, but this! This would be perfect. After cutting the apple accordingly he smiled, sprayed them with lemon juice, and packed them away. Now all that was left was to buy a gift….fuck.
XX
Leaving his parent’s house and boarding the train, Bakugou already decided he couldn’t ask them. His mom would probably laugh at him for not having anything yet and his dad would suggest something deep and from the heart. Bakugou didn’t have time for that Hallmark Christmas movie bullshit, consumerism was winning today. But he still had negative three ideas.
He knew what not to get his boyfriend, that part was easy. He didn’t need clothes or anything like that, what was Bakugou gonna buy? Another black scarf? But how do you shop for someone who seems to just go along with a lot of things. He didn’t know anything about gothic novels or horror stories and he was pretty sure whatever horror movie he could think of, Tokoyami either owned it or had seen it more than five times. He needed help.
As much as he hated doing this, he walked to the one place he told himself he’d never go to as long as he lived. The domain of his mortal enemy, the bane of his existence, the absolute madman. Hawk’s hero agency. Walking in he sighed and went up to the receptionist desk.
“Oh Bakugou Katsuki, we’ve been expecting you,” that didn’t sound ominous at all. Bakugou nodded and entered the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. As the elevator climbed in height, so did his anxiety. He knew the adult hated his guts even if he didn’t deserve it. All he did was insinuate he was a cannibal in front of many people and apparently “defile” his mentee. As the door opened he took a deep breath and made his way to the large office.
“Come in Bakugou,” Hawks called before he could even knock. The teen gulped before opening the door and walking in. The lights were turned off, the only source of light being the large open window behind Hawks. His wings were fully extended giving him the look of some angel, no one specific angel.
The Angel of Death.
“Fuck are you doing!” Bakugou said flipping on the light switch, “‘We’ve been expecting you,’ bullshit! You’ve probably been waiting in this office every day since the date for me to come in you big ass weirdo,” he said taking a seat across from the man.
Hawks leaned back in his seat, “You can’t prove that. Anyway, my answer is yes. I’ll tell him that love isn’t always meant to be and you don’t have to worry about breaking his heart. He has me after all.”
“First of all, work on your phrasing, you sound like you’re about to be a rebound or something you creep. Second, I’m not here to tell you I’m breaking up with Fumi,” he smirked as Hawks jolted at the nickname, “I’m here to ask for your opinion on his birthday present.”
“Well I already got him the best thing ever so you should stop trying and go live in the mountains in exile for your shame,” This guy was a piece of work, “You can’t even regurgitate food correctly for your young and you think you can find a better gift! Ha! You can’t top this!” He said pointing to a large body pillow printed with him on it.
The pose was completely benign, but upon further inspection, Bakugou realised the shirt he wore in the print had a picture of Tokoyami sleeping on it and inscribed all around the pillow was the phrase baby bird. At that point, Bakugou would rather have him give Tokoyami a body pillow with a more sexual pose on it. It would somehow be less creepy.
“Yeah, I’m sure he...won’t file a restraining order for this,” Bakugou said backing away from the pillow. It smelled weird as well. Like some type of cologne mixed with what he could only assume was someone’s personal scent.
“I’ve slept with it for the past week, it smells just like me!” Bakugou was going to torch that thing the first chance he got, “Baby birds need to smell like their parents.”
“You’re not his dad!” Bakugou yelled marching out of his office.
XX
“Oh you’re in Shouto’s class,” Endeavor said as he passed Bakugou in the lobby. Bakugou stopped with a huh and looked to the flame engulfed man. He immediately frowned, remembering the number one hero clearly as being Hawks’ accomplice in ruining his date.
“Oi, what do you buy someone for their birthday, you owe me an answer,” he said crossing his arms.
“Oh. Um well, young man, I would get them…”
“You’ve never bought anyone a present, have you. No wonder Todoroki hates your ass.”
XX
“Kacchan? What are you doing he-” before he could finish the phrase Bakugou pushed Midoriya inside his dorm and closed the door.
“Look! This is the ONLY time I will EVER ask you for help. I need you to help me- okay there is too much All Might stuff in here,” Bakugou said looking around the room. It reminded him of that American show his mom liked to watch with people who hoarded a bunch of shit, “As I was saying. I need you to help me find a gift for Tokoyami.”
“Why don’t you just ask him what he wants?” Midoriya asked sitting on his bed. Bakugou rolled his eyes pulling out the desk chair.
“Are you dumb or are you stupid? If I ask him, then he’ll give me an answer. What if he says nothing!”
“Then...you get nothing,” the clueless fluffball ducked as a notebook was thrown at his head.
“No one ever wants nothing! They say that but it really means, ‘Think of something yourself asshole’, I can’t let him know I have nothing the day before his birthday! Do you have any idea how that would look!” He yelled gripping his hair like it was his last shreds of sanity.
“Okay, Kacchan, I know it’ll sound cheesy. But Tokoyami really likes you, I don’t think he’ll care if your gift was something really plain or something really cool. He’ll like it because you gave it to him and because it’s a token of your love,” a freckled faced smile was added to the end of the kind sentiment. Deku was right, as long as it came from the heart it would be fine.
“Wait a minute, didn’t Todoroki get you a limited edition All Might poster for your birthday?”
“That’s not the point Kacchan.”
XX
“It’s obvious! Get him something sexy,” Bakugou didn’t know why he assembled his coalition of male friends (Mina would recommend something like another date, he couldn’t ask her) they were also useless, “He’s kinda small, but his butt is pretty nice, get him-”
“Have you been looking at Tokoyami’s butt?” Sero asked already reading his tape to keep Bakugou back.
“In my defence, it was for science. I needed to know if he had a real dick or not and I ended up seeing his ass when I pulled down his box- and I’m going to shut up before Bakugou kills me,” Kaminari squeaked hiding behind Kirishima as Bakugou made a motion to grab him.
“Just get him a skull or something. Oh, maybe a skull shaped candle holder! That’s nice and gothic right? Or maybe ask Jirou what to get him,” Sero said with a shrug, “They have the same aesthetic, right?”
“You fool! Jirou is a combination of her father’s rock aesthetic and her mother’s punk aesthetic. She, therefore, is punk rock. Tokoyami is goth. They do have a few overlaps, like skulls, but are two completely different aesthetics! Gosh Sero, it’s like you know nothing,” Kirishima chastised, “And Bakugou. He loves you, just get him anything that comes from the heart. I know it sounds cheesy but-”
“Yeah, I’m gonna stop you right there, I’m getting deja vu from this. Besides, I think I know what to do.
XX
“So do you like it?” Bakugou asked as he watched Tokoyami flip through the pages. It was finally the day of his birth and the pair were having a picnic lunch complete with many assorted foods and featuring Dark Shadow cut apple slices with caramel sauce. After all the talk about it coming from the heart, Bakugou went plain and simple. He made a coupon book.
Yeah, it was kinda childish, cutting out paper and making fake coupons for different things like “One free hug in public” and “One free massage” in there. He did have a backup present (apparently skull candle holders were in high demand), but seeing the smile on Tokoyami’s face told him he could save the candle holder for Christmas.
“Yeah, it’s really cute Bakugou. Thank you. Even if it is a little childish, it beats that weird pillow that Hawks gave me. Remind me to send it home please.”
XX
“Hey, Endeavor! You ever get the feeling someone is talking about you. I feel it right now.”