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Shouto Todoroki didn’t really get the fascination everyone had with holidays. To him, it was just another day.
If there was one good thing to come from holidays, however, it had to be his girlfriend’s excitement.
Now, Mei Hatsume was already naturally a very excited person. She bustled around their apartment much like her lab, full of energy and purpose. Her eccentric personality had calmed some since they had graduated, but Mei wouldn’t be Mei without a bit of...excited behavior.
But when you add cute little animals and a shit ton of chocolate to the mix, she went from excited to downright hyper (Reminding Shouto why he only let Mei have a small amount of chocolate, normally).
As out of touch as he was concerning holidays, he did have something planned for Easter for the two of them. Initially, he wasn't quite sure if Mei would enjoy it, but with a shrug, he decided it was worth a shot. With him being a Pro Hero, and Mei being a professional support item and gear designer, the couple didn't have as much time together as they'd like. Both of them understood that their careers were busy and hectic, but it didn't make it suck any less.
They made sure they had the same weekend off, Shouto planning their excursion several weeks in advance. That way, they could spend the whole day together.
And Shouto had very meticulous and detailed plans for the day.
~ ☆ ~
First things first: waking his girlfriend up the best way he knew how. He’d gotten advice from Bakugou and Deku, of all people, on how to accomplish this. Bakugou had suggested breakfast in bed, and Deku had agreed that the suggestion was a good one. As Shouto was the main one cooking out of the two of them, he agreed. He had called his sister for advice as well, and she went to great, painstaking lengths to make sure her little brother knew exactly what to do for Mei.
Shouto's internal clock woke him up at its usual time, just as the sun was rising. Mei was splayed out in a starfish position on the other side of the bed, which never failed to bring a smile to his face. Pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, he quietly slipped out of bed and headed for the kitchen. Mei's only response was grumbling something and rolling over to lay on her front instead.
He made pancakes, bacon, & muffins, and arranged them all on a tray before heading back to the bedroom. Setting the tray down on the bedside table, he sat down on the edge of the bed next to Mei. The pink haired engineer had rolled back onto her side in the time Shouto had been in the kitchen, cheek pressed against the pillow. Shouto leaned down, pressing light kisses against her forehead and cheek until she grumbled, gently swatting at him.
"Shouuuuu…." she whined, scrunching up her nose and squeezing her eyes shut. "That tickles."
He chuckled softly, pulling away now that she was awake.
"Sorry." he said, tone very much not sorry. Sitting up a bit, he informed her, "I made you breakfast."
Mei's golden eyes opened at the promise of food, sitting up as well so she could see what he'd made. Her expression lit up in happiness at the spread on the tray.
"Was this your idea?" she asked, snatching a muffin and stuffing it in her mouth.
Shouto shrugged as he moved the tray from the table to her lap. "My idea, but I had some help. Fuyumi, Bakugou and Midoriya all gave me advice."
Mei giggled, smiling widely. "We should go visit your sister sometime, it's been a while since we last did. And I can tell her how sweet her little brother is." she cooed, leaning over while tugging her boyfriend in so she could kiss his cheek, before sitting back again.
"Now, help me eat all this. I'd feel kinda weird if I didn't see you eat anything." she said, picking a piece of bacon and offering it to Shouto. Shifting to sit beside her, he bit the piece of meat directly out of her hand, flushing ever so slightly as he chewed. Mei's only response was a giggle.
Besides the fact it was in bed and not in the kitchen, breakfast continued in it's normal fashion for the two of them; Mei's chatter filling the space between them as Shouto nodded at what she said between bites of food.
When the two of them finished, Shouto urged Mei to stay in bed while he gathered the things they'd need for the day, along with their outfits. Mei, understandably, looked at him suspiciously.
"What are you planning?" she asked, pointing a finger at him accusingly.
"Just trust me." he replied, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Mei's sigh followed him as he left the room, and walked into their rather enormous closet. The investment had been Fuyumi's idea, and he'd had no real reason to tell her no.
He picked up one of his favorite things to see Mei wear, a yellow sundress that was just as bright as her golden eyes. Mei didn't dress in anything beyond grime covered cargo pants and tank tops very often, and the first time Shouto had seen her in dress, he'd been completely floored.
~ ☆ ~
It was in their third year at UA. Shouto had finally gathered the courage to ask Mei out, with a little encouragement from both Momo and Midoriya. He'd been shocked when she had agreed and said yes.
He was pacing underneath one of the trees outside in the courtyard, waiting for his date. They had agreed to meet that afternoon, but Shouto had been too antsy to stay in his dorm, and had come early.
Soft footsteps alerted him to her presence, and when he looked up, he almost couldn't believe his eyes.
Instead of her normal, grease covered clothes, she was wearing a yellow doll-style dress, and her hair was pulled up into a ponytail.
He didn't realize he'd been staring until Mei snapped her fingers in his face, confusion taking over her expression.
"You...ok there, Todoroki?"
"Yeah! Yeah." he said quickly, shaking his head as if the action would clear his suddenly muddled thoughts. Offering her his elbow, he asked, "Shall we go?"
She nodded, a smile coming back to her face as she took his elbow.
~ ☆ ~
Taking the dress back to Mei, he held it up with a hopeful smile. Mei looked surprised for a moment, before laughing.
"Sure, I don’t see why not. I assume you have something planned, so why not look decent for once?" she chirped, before shooing him out and into their closet again so she could get dressed, and he could pick out his own outfit.
When they were both ready, they left their place, heading towards the train station.
“You sure you can’t tell me where we’re going?” Mei asked for maybe the fifth time since they’d left.
“It’s a surprise. You’ll like it, trust me,” Shouto said with a chuckle.
Mei pouted, but the expression lasted only a moment before it turned curious again.
“You know, I was kinda surprised you planned something for us at all. Holidays aren’t usually your thing.” she commented, the words more a statement than anything.
“No, but I thought...well, I thought I could make you happy but trying to plan something fun for us to do today.” the Pro Hero grumbled, looking away to hide the flush crawling up his face.
“Aw! You’re so sweet, Shou!” Mei crowed happily, throwing her arms around her boyfriend in a hug, uncaring if people stared.
~ ☆ ~
When they got off the train, Shouto had Mei promise to keep her eyes shut, prolonging the surprise to the very last second. The pinkette grumbled, but followed instructions, letting Shouto guide her.
“Can I open them yet?”
“Not yet.”
“How about now?”
“Almost.”
“Now?”
Shouto chuckled. “Ok, you can open them now.” he said, giving Mei’s hand a squeeze.
Mei’s honey-colored eyes opened, and she immediately gasped in delight. “A petting zoo! I haven’t been to one of these in years! Been too busy with my own babies...” she trailed off, shaking her head. She gave Shouto a grin, cheering as she pulled him by the arm to hurry inside, “Well? What are we waiting for? Let’s go in!”
He let her pull him, smiling a bit himself. He was glad the surprise was going over well, and Mei seemed happy about the location and activity he’d picked. Mei hadn’t been one for animals when they were younger, but as the years went by, she had grown to tolerate and like them more. Her excitement now was a good sign for the final surprise Shouto had planned for the night.
The zoo had many animals around the area that people could interact with, and there was a bright smile on Mei’s face as she twisted her head every which way to decide where she wanted to go first. Her head suddenly stopped on its swivel, eyes zeroing in on something.
“Shou, Shou, look at that bunny!” She said in a whisper-scream, tugging on his arm to pull him over to the rabbit enclosure.
The couple were eventually let into the enclosure, both of them sitting cross-legged on one of the patches of hay spread about. A few rabbits came over, sniffing at them curiously, until a braver one hopped into Mei’s lap.
“Aww!” she cooed at the animal, gently rubbing it around the ears.
It didn’t take long before the two were covered in rabbits, Shouto flopping onto his back while the animals crawled over him. Mei only giggled, snapping several pictures with her phone and sending them to the big UA graduates group chat. The chat was started by Iida and Momo, as a way to keep in touch with everyone, even after they graduated. Mei had been added in by default, as she had already been dating Shouto at the time, and it included most of the people from 3A, and pretty much all of their partners, if they’d had them.
Mei has sent a photo attachment “Bunny whisperer.”
Mei: I think they’re trying to steal my man.
Momo: Aww! Looks like you two are having fun!
Iida: Why do you have rabbit ears?
Mei: There’s one sitting by his head!
Bakugou: Pff, saving that for blackmail purposes.
Deku: Kacchan, don’t ruin their fun! >:(
Bakugou: Sorry not sorry.
Shouto managed to dig his phone out of his pocket and reply to the chat, despite drowning under the bunnies.
Shouto: Midoriya, kindly reign in your yapping dog.
Midoriya: BHFDJSVBHJQDJFBHSD
Mei: Hell yeah, you go baby!
Bakugou: HEY!
Kirishima: BURNNNNN!
Kaminari: Bakubro just got roasted!!
Bakugou: After I kill Deku, you two are next.
Midoriya: KACCHAN WAIT NO-
Bakugou has gone offline
Midoriya has gone offline
Kaminari: RIP Izuku, he will be missed.
Mina: Smh you guys play too much
After that message, one of the rabbits had crawled up to Shouto’s face, so he was forced to put his phone down to remove the animal so that he could breathe. Mei was cackling at him trying to remove the wiggling animal.
The two of them spent a couple more hours at the petting zoo, Mei’s excitement lasting nearly the whole time. She only slowed down near the end of their visit, when they were in the goat pen. They had gotten Mei’s favorite chocolate, the white cookies and cream, and it seemed like her sugar high was starting to wear off. One of the goats gently headbutted her shoulder while she was idly petting its side, and she blinked in surprise, startling out of her stupor.
“Getting tired?” Shouto asked gently.
Mei nodded after a moment, dropping her hand. When it was no longer getting attention, the goat pattered off, heading towards a pair of moms and their son, who couldn’t have been more than 4 or 5.
Shouto checked his watch, noting that it was past the time Mei’s last “surprise” should have been delivered to their place.
“Ready to go home?” he asked, and Mei hummed, nodding in response as he took her hand and helped her stand. She leaned her head on his shoulder as they exited the petting zoo and walked back to the train station, their arms around each other.
While they were waiting on their train, Mei spoke again, her voice soft and full of affection. “Thank you for today. I know it’s not really your thing, but I had a lot of fun.”
“I’m glad, that was kind of the point.” he replied with a laugh, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “There is one more thing I have for you…”
“Oh?” she looked up at him, raising an eyebrow curiously.
“It should be at home by now.” he replied with a nod, urging her into the train when the door opened.
Mei squinted at him suspiciously the whole ride back, the expression only falling away when surprise replaced it at their front door. There was a box by their door, holes punched in the sides and top.
“Shou? What did you do?” Mei asked, more baffled than suspicious at this point.
Her boyfriend unlocked the door and urged her inside before answering. “Go ahead and go sit on the couch, and keep your eyes closed! I’ll bring it in in a moment.”
Mei sighed, but did as he instructed. When he was certain Mei was safely in their living room, he carefully opened the box, the tiny tabby kitten he’d picked out earlier that week purring happily when he picked it up in his left hand. Mei was waiting on the couch like he’d told her too, tapping her foot impatiently.
“Okay, I’m going to put the surprise in your lap, and then you can open your eyes.” Shouto said.
Mei nodded, and he gently placed the kitten in her lap. The small animal looked surprised at the change of hands, but only sniffed Mei for a moment before he was purring again and rubbing against her. Her golden eyes flew open in surprise, and she was quiet and stiff for a few moments. Shouto anxiously thought he had screwed up and went too far, but then there was a soft sniff from Mei as she unthawed and carefully cradled the kitten.
“You...like him?” Shouto asked carefully.
“Of course I do!” She said, a watery smile coming to her face. “I just didn’t expect something like this…!”
Rubbing her eyes with her free hand, she waved Shouto closer so she could curl into his side on the couch. The kitten looked fairly content, burrowing into the warmth of his two new owners.
“Does he have a name?” she asked softly, running her fingers over the orange markings on the cat’s face.
“Kogane,” Shouto answered, leaning his cheek on top of Mei’s head.
Mei laughed softly at the name choice. “Golden. How literal of you.”
Shouto only shrugged in response, smiling as he curled an arm around her.
“Best holiday ever.” was the last thing Mei said before all three of them drifted off into sleep, right there on the couch.
And Shouto couldn’t agree more.