Chapter Text
Birthday Blues
It was dark. Too dark to see far ahead in front of herself, but not enough to mask the sight of the chains around her hands and wrists, prohibiting Artiste from using her quirk. A small wisp of air nicked at her ears as she struggled to move.
“Hina. . . Artiste . . . I can help you. I can set you free . . . I can -”
“Wake up!”. Hina woke up with a large gasp; her panicked expression evident as she searched for any dangers around her. But, there was none. She was in her bedroom, as she should be. The chains around her wrists were no longer there. Instead, they were replaced with the soft plush sheets that she had bought the week before, after an art spell destroyed her last ones.
“Doodles? Are you okay?”
Hina looked up to see her husband, Taishiro, in the doorway, with a concerned expression draped across his soft face. With a mild sigh, Hina relaxed and leaned back into her bed.
“I’m fine Tai, just a bad dream .” Her worried heart came to a normal pace, when she saw what her husband, and the esteemed hero was wearing.
“Pfft. Gummy Bear, what are you wearing?”
With an embarrassed and flabbergasted expression, the man looked down at his ‘ceremonial apparel’. Instead of his usual morning wear, he was wearing an extra large pink apron, with a knockoff brand Hello Kitty image, and the words ‘kiss the cook’ in large glittery letters.
“Aww no! The surprise! I mean -” Hina’s ears perked at the word surprise, but she wasn’t able to process the word before the soft patter of little feet increased until her toddler Natsumi came bounding in. She was decorated in a similar attire as her father, but was covered in patches of flour, frosting, and a collection of sprinkles. The outfits must have been her idea.
“Daddy you said surprise!” The young girl was now running toward her parents as fast as she could, her wings giving soft flaps to give her an extra boost. Hina could see her holding a large box that was much too big for her, but the little butterfly didn’t seem to mind.
“Happy birthday Mommy!” Natsumi excitedly placed the box on the bed in front of her mother and climbed into bed with her.
“Little Bee it’s not time yet!” Fatgum tried placing his large hands over the box in order to prevent Hina from peeking inside, but Natsumi was having none of it.
“Daddy no!” She tried to push against his weight. “You say to come in when you say supwise!”
She puckered her lips to punctuate her point.
Her father looked at her apologetically, and then turned to Hina with the same expression.
“Sorry Doodles, I didn’t mean to mess it up. But, here you go.”
Confused, Hina looked into the toddler-crushed box, and gushed at the sight. Inside was a small, lavishly decorated cake covered with rainbow frosting, and glitter sprinkles. In the small space not completely covered, were the words “Happy Birthday Mommy!” written in pink gel, obviously done by Taishiro, and a blob with a large horn in the top, most likely done by Natsumi. Hina teared up a bit at the large amount of effort put into her cake.
“We put your favworite color mommy!” Natsumi happily pointed out. Hina pulled her to her side and laughed as she blew small raspberries into her cheeks, causing her daughter to squeal in delight.
“Yes you did! How did you know that my favorite color is rainbow?” Natsumi pulled back slightly to point at Fatgum.
“Daddy told me!” Hina raised her eyebrows as she gave her husband a large smile.
“Oh he did, did he?” She extended her arms toward him, signalling him to join her and Natsumi for a hug. He gladly did so, but not before pulling her in himself into a gentle kiss; nuzzling her cheek a bit after.
“I did, but that’s not all we did for you. Right, Natsumi?” Said child was already poking her fingers into the rich buttercream frosting, trying to sneak a taste. At the sudden call out, she pulled her arms behind her back, but her eyes grew excited again.
“The gift!” As the toddler ran out once again, Hina gave Taishiro a questioning look. He rubbed his neck and gave a sheepish smile in response. Soon enough, Natsumi came running back into the room, this time holding a noticeably smaller white box. She placed it inside her mother’s hands and placed herself in the lap of Fatgum, who was now sitting cross legged on their bed, anticipating his wife’s reaction.
Hina carefully unwrapped the pearl wrapping and opened the small box to see a small gold locket. It was in the shape of an art palette, which easily opened to show a picture of Natsumi, and of her and Fatgum the night they got engaged.
Again, Hina found herself tearing up at the photos of her family, even more so when they both came up to her and pulled her into another hug.
“Now we’ll always be with you on missions Mom!”
“Happy Birthday Doodles.”
Thank you guys. She carefully clipped the necklace around her neck. I’ll always keep it near my heart.
<>
While it was her birthday, it was still a Friday; meaning that the pro-hero/teacher Artiste had to go to work. Luckily, it was her free period, meaning Mrs. Hina had the time to sort through some leftover paperwork, before she taught her last classes and went home to enjoy the remaining hours of her birthday at home. After a while, Hina grew bored with the tedious work and leaned back in her chair, letting out a large sigh.
“I’ve been feeling so tired lately . . . I wonder why.” For a moment, she closed her eyes, but instead of calming darkness, she was flashed with the image of a man she had never seen before. His face, at least the part that was visible, was pale. His long blonde hair draped over his broad shoulders, and a large portion of the right side of his body was covered in sharp, purple armor. His face looked angry.
“Artiste! Listen to me now.” She couldn’t move. Hina tried to open her eyes but the image was constant in her mind. Now, the man’s words were accompanied by loud banging. His words were drowned out by the noise until -.
Knock Knock Knock
Hina shot back up with a gasp. She could move again, and when she opened her eyes she was relieved to see herself back in her own room. However, the knocking could still be heard from her classroom door. With a shaky breath, she stood up and carefully stepped forward, with her tablet in her hand. She finally reached the door, and opened it, only to have an inhuman amount of confetti and gifts pushed in her place.
“Hina! Happy Birthday!”. Hina’s best friend stood in her doorway, a wagon full of gifts being pulled by one hand, and in the other hand, a mug of what she knew wasn’t coffee. Inviting herself in, Cece stepped forward and gave Hina a half hug. Hina was in shock.
“Cece!? Don’t tell me you bought all this!” Her friend let out a chuckle as she pulled everything to Hina’s desk.
“Of course not. All the teacher’s chipped in a bit, and so did the 1-A kids. They were technically all supposed to come here themselves, but Aizawa wasn’t having it. Something about them trying to plan a rave in the dormitories. Aizawa is making them go through extra training for the whole week, giving me the pleasure of having to bring all this to you myself. So, you’re welcome.”
Hina let out a small laugh to hide her nerves, but Cece immediately caught onto her inconsistent demeanour. With a quick spin, she turned back to face Hina.
“Alright spill, what’s up with you?” Hina defensively put her right hand up. Her left was toying with the new locket around her neck.
“W-what? Nothing! I’m amazing.”
“Oh stop. You’re a terrible liar.” For a few more seconds Hina tried to sputter a response, but lying was never her strong suit. With a defeated groan, she now used both hands to play with the chain.
“I’ve just been really tired lately, and I don’t know why.”
Cece continued to look her friend up and down, but something was telling her to not push any further. With another sip, she tried to change the subject.
“That’s uh, a nice necklace. Is it a gift?” The mention of the locket was enough to snap Hina out of her supor.
“Yes it was! Tai and Sumi bought it for me. It even has some little pictures of us!” She excitedly unclicked the latch and showed her friend the small images. Her formerly annoyed expression softened a bit.
“That’s so sweet! Now, we should probably get to the training grounds.” Hina was now confused again.
“What? Why?” Cece gave another shrug.
“Aizawa said that his students needed extra practice today to affirm that they don’t make that mistake again. I’m just going to make sure none of them have a mental breakdown. Now let’s go before Aizawa comes to get us himself.”
Hina shuttered at the thought. With a final squeeze to her necklace, she nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”