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This year, your birthday had the audacity to fall on a weekday as opposed to the weekend. Because of that, you weren’t expecting your classmates to make a big stink about it. So when Mina and Ochaco resolved to take you on a fun day out to celebrate, you were happy and touched by them thinking of you on your big day.
The three of you stayed out for the majority of the day, with you being completely unaware of the fact that Bakugo had planned a whole surprise birthday party for you, with the help of Kirishima and Kaminari. He took the whole ordeal very seriously, much to the amusement of his fellow classmates (though they would never say it out loud, lest they incurred his fiery wrath). He put Kirishima and Kaminari on decoration duty, Sato on cake-baking, Jiro on music and Izuku, Tsuyu and Tenya on managing any and all gifts that you received. If anyone tried to ask Bakugo why he was making such an effort, he would simply tell them to shut up and focus on the task he had given them. Anything to take his mind off the fact that he had a stupidly massive crush on you and he didn’t want anyone to know that.
When you arrived back at the U.A. dorms, the entire room was dark, causing you to frown as you went to turn the lights on, only for your eyes to widen at the sight of all the balloons and streamers everywhere, alongside the large banner strung across the common room, emblazoned in your favourite colours with the words “Happy Birthday (y/n)!” on it. Before you had a chance to react further, the rest of Class 1-A jumped out of their respective hiding places with some wearing party hats and others wielding party poppers.
“SURPRISE!” they all yelled out, causing you to let out a shocked, but elated, gasp. You very quickly realised that the reason that Mina and Ochaco took you out wasn’t just because it was your birthday, but also to give the rest of your classmates ample time to prepare their surprise party for you. Touched didn’t even begin to describe how you felt - it had been less than a year since you all started at U.A. and yet you had already made such amazing friends. You would’ve shed a tear or two, had Denki not immediately grabbed your hand and pulled you into the group, with an eager cry of, “Let’s get this party started, already!”
-:-
Soon, the party was in full swing. Jiro was manning the turntables, blasting out a playlist made up of your favourite songs, everyone had tucked into the delicious cake Sato made, which was in your favourite flavour, and there were even some party games thrown into the mix. All you’ll say is that you never expected an innocuous game like ‘Musical Chairs’ to become so chaotic in so little time (though you chalked that up to Denki declaring that you guys play a special 'Quirk edition' of the game more than anything). At one point in the evening, you were sitting on one of the couches, watching amused as Toru tried to beat Ochaco’s hackey-sack score. You had a drink of soda in one hand and a slice of Sato’s heavenly cake in the other and were chewing contentedly when you felt the couch dip, causing you to turn to the culprit.
“Heyo!” Kirishima greeted with a smile, his ridiculously sharp teeth on full show.
“Hey, Kiri!” you greeted back, returning his smile. Kirishima had always been a great friend to you. Ever since the day you first arrived at U.A. and found yourself completely lost and he helped you without hesitation all with a welcoming smile on his face, you knew he was a great person and would make an even greater Hero.
“Sooo,” the redhead began, draping an arm over your shoulder, “how are you finding the celebrations, pebble?”
“It’s been amazing,” you beamed. “I can’t thank you all enough for thinking about me, especially considering it’s a weekday.”
“You’re more than welcome, pebble! Though, really, the ‘thanks’ ought to go to one person,” Kirishima admitted, before a knowing grin came to his face. “A certain hotheaded friend of mine was positively determined to make this party the absolute best it could be for you.”
At Kirishima’s words, you instantly turned to him, an eyebrow raised in curious disbelief. “What did you just say?”
Was he insinuating what you thought he was insinuating? Because what you were hearing is that Bakugo was the one who put on this party for you, which would be absolutely ludicrous because Bakugo didn't like you like that . . . right?
Kirishima didn’t respond. His grin only deepened before he got up from the couch in order to request a song from Jiro. You were about to go after him, eager to know what he was talking about, only to be stopped by the rest of the Class 1-A girls approaching you and excitedly asking for you to open each of their gifts. You quickly agreed, and soon, you ended up forgetting all about Kirishima’s cryptic words and, instead, focused on enjoying the night ahead of you.
-:-
It was coming to 10PM, which meant the party had long since winded down. The night drew on with an amazing buffet that almost all your classmates partook in, and the end result was not only something that was edible, but a meal that was genuinely really good, much to your surprise and your tastebuds' elation. Alongside that were all the gifts you had received. From the positively sweet presents from the girls of 1-A, to the practical and useful gifts from the boys as well as a present from Mineta that, apparently, was ‘too lecherous to even be opened’ (Tenya’s words, not yours), you were feeling nothing but love from all your classmates, forever grateful to them for not forgetting you on your birthday.
After the party came everyone’s least favourite part - tidying up. Many of your classmates helped with the clean-up effort, getting rid of every bit of plastic cutlery, wrapping paper and decorations. Soon, the only people left in the common room were you, Kirishima and Bakugo. Despite being the birthday girl, you absolutely insisted on helping clean the common room, and so you did so without any further complaints.
After putting the last of the wrapping paper away in the bin, Bakugo resolved to quietly slip away back to his dorm room, noticeably without bidding you goodnight, only to be stopped in his tracks by a certain redhead.
“Oh, no; you’re not getting out of this that easily,” Kirishima smirked. “Don’t think I haven’t seen you trying to approach (y/n) all night.”
Bakugo blanched for a moment, before scoffing and shoving Kirishima away. He shoved his hands in his pockets as a defense mechanism, trying to stave off any and all blush coming to his face, because Kirishima was right. Several times Bakugo attempted to approach you and give you your gift, only to be thwarted every time by his annoying ass classmates stealing away your attention, which eventually led to him just giving up on the whole ordeal. He was planning to just leave his gift outside your dorm room without any indicators that it was from him, but he clearly couldn’t do that now.
“What’s it to you, Shitty Hair?” the ash blonde grumbled. He tried to leave again, only to be stopped once again by the redheaded student. Bakugo was about to blow up at him, only to be quickly interrupted.
“For the record, it's incredibly manly to be honest about your feelings, especially towards a girl you really like,” Kirishima said, smiling encouragingly at his friend. “Besides, I’m certain (y/n) will love the gift you got her.”
“I didn’t get it for her . . .” Bakugo attempted, even though he knew Kirishima wasn’t buying it at all.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Bakubro,” Kirishima chuckled, giving his friend two cordial pats on the shoulder, before turning to go to bed himself. Just before he left the common room, he looked back at Bakugo and mouthed, ’Give it to her!’ before giving a thumbs up and properly leaving the common room.
Bakugo sighed inwardly, before fishing about in his pocket and taking out the box that had his gift for you in it. He looked up and saw you binning the last of the streamers, before dusting your hands. You looked as though you were about to leave, he figured, so if he was going to do anything, he knew he had better do it now.
His mind finally made up, Bakugo exhaled and marched up to you, thankful you had your back to him so you didn’t see how goofy he most likely looked doing so.
“Oi.”
“Hmm?” you turned to the source of the voice, your face lighting up once you saw who it was. “Oh, hey, Katsuki! What’s up? I feel like I’ve barely seen you all night.”
“Catch.” Before you could react any further, Bakugo threw something at you, which you just barely managed to catch. You looked down at what he had just chucked at you and saw a small, cream-coloured box sitting in your hands.
“What’s this?” you asked curiously.
“Open it and you’ll find out, dumbass,” was his blunt answer, causing you to pout slightly. Still abrasive as ever, even on my birthday, you thought.
Bakugo ‘tch’ed’ and turned away once he saw your expression. Don’t make such a cute face like that, he had thought, before forcing himself to push away such mushy feelings and focus on you opening the present.
Unravelling the ribbon - which, you noted, was in your favourite colour - you removed the lid of the present to see what was inside: a beautiful gold bracelet with silver flowers.
“Oh, my God, it’s beautiful, Katsuki! Thank you!” you gushed in awe, before frowning as a thought came to you. “Wait a minute. Isn’t this the same bracelet I saw in Tiaramae when you and I went to Kiyashi a couple weeks ago?”
To your surprise (and amusement), Bakugo briskly turned away from you, shoving his hands in his pockets - and you could’ve sworn you saw red tinting his cheeks.
“No . . .” he mumbled.
“Oh, my God, it is!” you squealed.
===
A month before your birthday . . .
You decided to go to Kiyashi Mall in order to finally get out of the dorms and somehow, successfully managed to drag Bakugo along with you. In all honesty, you had a crush on Bakugo ever since the two of you had started attending U.A.. Despite the fact he was really frosty and angry most of the time, you were still drawn to him - the way he was so dedicated to becoming the best Hero he could be was inspiring and spurred you on to do the same with your own studies. As for Bakugo, he, of course, played up his irritation at your invitation, but was secretly overjoyed at the prospect of spending time with you alone, without any of his annoying ass classmates getting in the way. If anything, the two of you were out on an almost-but-not-really date, and Bakugo didn't know how he felt about that.
It had been an hour, and as the two of you were planning on heading back to U.A., you both walked past a store that looked fairly new and one you hadn’t seen before. You stopped in your tracks, causing Bakugo to stop with you, as you turned your head to get a better look at the new store. Once you realised what it was, your face lit up with a gasp.
“Oh, my God, it’s a Tiaramae!” you exclaimed.
“A what?” Bakugo asked, completely baffled.
“It's a jewellery shop that was in the mall of my hometown - I’d been wanting it to show up in Kiyashi Mall and I’m so glad it finally has!” You bounded over to the front of the store, before turning back to the unimpressed ash blonde student staring back at you. “We gotta go in there!” you said excitedly.
“No!” the ash blonde said firmly. “We’ve already taken three detours today, and you know I wanted to stop by the Development Studio to pick up some stuff for my Hero suit.”
Bakugo turned to leave, only to be stopped by you grabbing his arm. He turned around to yell at you, only for you to speak before he could open his mouth.
“Pleaaaaase, Katsu,” you pleaded, putting your hands together and forming your lips in an innocent smile. “I promise I’ll only be five minutes?”
Why couldn’t he resist every time you called him that?
Quite frankly, it was both fascinating and frustrating how you could cause all of his convictions to melt once he saw those doe eyes and innocent smile of yours.
Bakugo stared at you for a moment more, before rolling his eyes, obviously trying to mask how much your simple actions had affected him.
“Make that four and a half,” he muttered, before turning back to the shop, causing your face to light up.
“YAY! Thank you!” you cheered, smiling from ear to ear. Bakugo merely rolled his eyes again, before habitually shoving his hands into his pockets and turning into the shop.
“Let’s just go into the damn store, ‘fore I change my mind,” he grumbled. With a satisfied giggle, you readily obeyed and happily entered Tiaramae with Bakugo in tow.
-:-
In the shop . . .
You were happily browsing around Tiaramae, admiring all the items you wanted but knew you could not have. Meanwhile, Bakugo was standing off to one side, feeling very out of place. He had always hated shopping, ever since he was a kid. In fact, the only place he had been to in Kiyashi Mall at all was the cinema, and even then, that was because Kirishima and Kaminari dragged him out to see yet another Transformers flick (Bakugo was honestly surprised they were still making those).
He was taken out of his thoughts by you approaching him with something in your hand. You took the object and held it to up to Bakugo’s eyeline, revealing the item to be a black and orange watch. You hummed and tilted your head thoughtfully, which made him frown quizzically at you.
“The fuck are you doin’?” the ash blonde asked, more like demanded, his face screwed up with annoyed confusion.
“I’m checking to see whether this brings out your eyes, and I think it does,” you mused, before looking up at him with a smile.
“What’s the point? The watch is goin’ on my wrist, not my face!” Bakugo pointed out, his confused/annoyed expression only deepening at your words.
“Hey, it could make or break the entire look, if not,” you defended.
Bakugo just ‘tched’ before turning away. To him, that all sounded like useless, girly gobbledygook.
Paying him no mind, you continued to work your way around the shop, quietly 'ooh'ing and 'ahh'ing at all the bling Tiaramae had to offer. If only I had money, you mentally lamented.
“You got two minutes remaining, by the way,” Bakugo remarked, causing you to turn to him incredulously.
“You actually kept a timer?” you asked with a disbelieving chuckle.
“I’m thorough,” was the only response you got, causing you to snort in amusement, before continuing around the shop, with Bakugo reluctantly following after you. You were about to call it a day, when your eyes suddenly fell on a bracelet that was on display near the front of the shop. Wasting no time, you immediately rushed over to it, causing Bakugo to look over at your retreating figure before sighing and following after you.
“Whoooaaa . . .” you gasped. “It’s so pretty!” Your eyes fell on the tag below the bracelet and you couldn’t stop the grimace that came to your face upon seeing the price - that was wayyy too expensive for your budget.
“Tch, 16,000 yen for a stupid, little bracelet?” Bakugo scoffed, causing you to turn to him, obviously displeased.
“It’s not stupid!” you pouted, before promptly going back to admire the bracelet once more. “It’s absolutely stunning.”
As you continued to gaze longingly at the bracelet, whilst simultaneously lamenting its hefty price, Bakugo watched you closely. Your eyes were sparkling as you smiled brightly at the jewellery in front of you, and he’d be lying if he said the sight didn’t cause his heart to start turning somersaults.
“Like you need some worthless hunk of metal to make you look prettier . . .” he mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?” you asked obliviously, turning to the student beside you.
“I didn’t say anythin’, dumbass!” Bakugo quickly snapped. You tilted your head to one side, confused at how defensive he seemed to be. As well as that, you noticed his cheeks seemed to be redder than usual.
“Katsu, are you alright? Your face has gone all red.” You placed a hand on Bakugo’s forehead, catching him off guard and causing his eyes to widen slightly. “Have you got a fever, or something?”
“M’fine, just hot,” Bakugo refuted, dismissively swatting your hand away. Shoving his own back into his pockets, he turned to exit the shop. “Let’s keep walkin’; it’ll cool me down.“
After watching the blonde go for a while, you eventually shrugged and relented with a small, “Okay,” before going to join him.
-:-
A week before your birthday . . .
Bakugo didn't know how he found himself out with Kirishima in Kiyashi Mall, but there he was. He really had to stop letting dumbasses drag him around like he was a dog.
"C'mon, lighten up, Bakubro!" Kirishima piped up with a good-natured smile. "I know you secretly like these little outings we force you on."
Bakugo merely scowled in response, as though affronted by the very idea of him actually enjoying the company of those around him. Kirishima gave him a happy chuckle back, before the two continued on their leisurely stroll around the mall.
Bakugo was about to very loudly make known his intention to go home, when he suddenly spotted a familar sign above a store he and Kirishima were about to pass - Tiaramae. Looking down into the store window, he saw the bracelet you were eyeing from before in the front display, but what caught the ash blonde's eye was the fact that the bracelet's price had been reduced by 50%, having gone from 16,000 yen to 8,000.
Hmph. 8,000 yen is far more doable, he thought. And despite the fact that the bracelet alone would cost around 4 months' allowance, Bakugo was surprised that he was still feeling compelled to buy it for you. How would you react once you opened the box and saw the bracelet you had been gushing over a couple months prior? Only one way to find out.
“I’m going in there,” Bakugo suddenly spoke. Kirishima turned to his friend in confusion, only to see Bakugo at the door of the jewellery store. “Don’t ask me why,” the blonde practically ordered.
“Wait, why are you going in there?” the redhead asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“I SAID DON’T ASK ME, SHITTY HAIR!!” Bakugo screamed, causing Kirishima to jump in shock and other shoppers to look at the two with incredulity.
“Fine, do your thing; just don’t cause a scene, alright?” Kirishima relented, turning to give the confused and intimidated shoppers reassuring smiles.
Bakugo only ‘tch’ed’, turning up his nose, before swiftly entering Tiaramae.
-:-
“I’m buying this,” Bakugo stated, shoving the box with the bracelet forwards on the counter, his trademark glare thoroughly intimidating the poor worker.
“O-okay! Th-that’ll be 8,000 yen!” the worker squeaked.
*SLAM!*
The worker jumped in shock at the violent way Bakugo slammed down the money onto the table. Before she could react, the ash blonde U.A. student was already making his way to the door, hands shoved deep into his pockets like always.
“Keep the change,” he practically growled, as the worker began furiously bowing, as though he was a yakuza member she had grievously wronged.
“Th-thank you! C-come again!” she yelped.
-:-
“What was that about?” was Kirishima’s immediate question upon his hotheaded friend exiting Tiaramae. “Why the sudden gift?”
“S’for my mom, what’s it to you?” Bakugo retorted automatically.
“Okay, I’m calling bullshit. One: you never do anything for your mom,” Kirishima pointed out. “Two: your mom doesn’t even like jewellery!”
Bakugo chose not to answer; he only kept walking as Kirishima continued to speculate on who the gift could be for. Then, he gasped as an answer came to his head.
“Ahhh, I know who it’s for!” the redhead smiled. “It’s for (y/n), right?”
“What?! No!” Bakugo lied, scoffing at such an idea. “Why the hell would I go out of my way to buy somethin’ for that loser?”
“Wow, your face has gone all red!” Kirishima pointed out, his grin widening. “So the gift really is for (y/n), then!”
“It is not!” the blonde denied more firmly, but his redhead friend wouldn’t let up.
“Damn, you must really like her, huh?” Kirishima asked cheekily, knowing full well that he was just winding Bakugo up at this point.
“NO, I DON’T! SHUT UP!!” Bakugo bellowed, only for the redhead to laugh at his outburst.
“Whatever you say~” Kirishima sang, before muttering through a cough, “Liar.”
“HAAAHHHHH?!?!?!”
“Nothing, nothing! I just think it’s very manly of you to buy a gift for your ‘mom’.”
With an irritated grumble, Bakugo continued walking, with a smirking Kirishima in tow, knowing that he would absolutely never hear the end of this.
===
“Katsuki, I can’t believe you actually remembered. I didn’t even hint that I wanted it as a present or anything like that!” you spoke, touched, before looking up at the boy in front of you with a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
“Whatever, dumbass,” Bakugo shrugged, turning away from you. However, your smile merely widened, completely unfazed by Bakugo’s attempts to deflect from your display of gratitude.
“By the way, a little birdie told me that you were the one who put on this whole surprise party for me,” you revealed. “Said little birdie having bright red hair and abnormally sharp teeth.”
Bakugo blanched at your words, before a vein popped in his forehead at the fact that Kirishima had blabbed to you about his intentions to throw you a party.
I’m gonna kill that shitty-haired bastard.
“Is that true?” you asked. “Did you put on this party for me?”
“D-don’t get the wrong idea, alright?!” Bakugo immediately snapped. “I just figured it’d be a pain in the ass if you started bitchin’ and moanin’ about how nobody did anythin’ for your big day, or whatever. I just—I did it to shut you up.”
So it was his idea!
You couldn’t believe it - not only had your crush gifted you something you really wanted on your birthday, but he was also the one who put on a whole surprise party for your birthday in the first place. You found yourself beaming at your U.A. crush with a warm and shining gaze, completely and utterly flattered by his generous and thoughtful actions.
“STOP LOOKIN' AT ME WITH THOSE GOOEY EYES!!” the ash blonde roared, before continuing silently in his head, It makes my heart do strange things.
To Bakugo’s surprise, instead of getting alarmed like you usually did when he yelled, you just started giggling, catching him off guard. “O-oi, what’s so funny?” he demanded.
“You are!” you answered, still giggling. “I had no idea that you were so cute, Katsu!”
“I am not cute,” the blonde grumbled.
“Yes, you are! You put up this cold, aggressive exterior, but you're actually just a big softie, aren't you?”
“SHUT UP!!” Bakugo bellowed, and you grinned, for you knew he no longer had a valid argument.
“I win,” you sang before jovially leaving the common room in order to return to your dorm. Words couldn’t express how overjoyed you were at the prospect of Bakugo caring about you enough to do something for you, even when you hadn’t asked. Maybe your crush wasn’t so one-sided after all.
Bakugo watched you as you left, blowing his cheeks out in frustration as he recalled the look on your face when you were making fun of him.
I hate her so much.
However he found himself smiling when he remembered the look on your face when you first saw his gift. Shaking his head, he put his hands back into his pockets and continued back to his own dorm.
But I guess that’s also why I love her so much.