Work Text:
Izuku wasn’t sure what he expected for his birthday. He hadn’t properly celebrated it in years. As he walked down busy streets on his way to work, he supposed it would just be like any other day, and maybe that was okay. Getting older meant getting a job, and Izuku’s job as a support engineer at Endeavor’s agency meant less time for fun, and maintaining friendships. Working and getting by was the most important thing, which meant everyone he knew was busy. Too busy to remember small things like birthdays.
He entered Endeavor’s agency like normal, took the elevator up to the support floor like he always did, and got his assignments without a hitch. But as he approached his desk, he saw a gift. He opened the blue box, taking off the yellow ribbon to find a small All Might figure.
“Something for your already cluttered desk. Happy Birthday - Shoto”
It was a sweet thought, though as he looked at his desk he realized it was indeed cluttered. He quickly tried to organize the mess and found a spot for the figure next to a signed picture of All Might one of his friends in the department had framed for him. It was no secret throughout the agency that Izuku Midoriya was a hero nerd through and through.
And if that was the only gift he received today, he was glad it was from such a dear friend.
At lunchtime, Mei finally revealed herself from under her latest invention. Izuku wondered how long she had been hiding due to all the smudges on her face and arms. She smiled as she wiped off her hands and dug through the drawers in her desk to reveal another gift: a Dynamight charm. She remembered that his old one had fallen off during a busy day of running around the office. Even backtracking his steps didn’t help him in finding it.
“Figured you needed a new one,” She winked.
Izuku blushed. If anyone knew of his love for Kacchan, it was Mei. They’d been through a lot during their years here at the agency and UA, and worked with a lot of heroes, and there was no dynamic quite like the one he had with Kacchan. She’d been there to see the progression of their relationship from volatile and combative to harmless bickering over the small details of his gear. Professionalism always went out the window when it came to them, but now it was in good fun, at least for Izuku.
If Mei had any idea how he felt about Kacchan, she’d never tell. She was always hyperfocused on her babies to pry into other people’s personal lives, and Izuku loved that about her.
Mei told him she’d take him out to lunch, which wasn’t on brand as she usually never left the workshop. She led him out of the agency and to a little hole-in-the-wall noodle joint that was popular among heroes from nearby agencies. But while he was sure he’d see a few heroes around, he was surprised to see those heroes surrounding a small cake.
“Happy birthday Midoriya!”
It seemed like half of class A from UA had come to celebrate, despite some of them belonging to agencies that were further away. Iida, Uraraka and Tsu were the ones he was most familiar with. Shoto was there too with his boyfriend Sero. And if Sero was there, it was likely that Kirishima, Kaminari, and Ashido were there too. He didn’t know them as well, but they were all super friendly to him. He was also aware that they were Kacchan’s best friends.
Most of the attendees of his small get-together only had time to chat for a bit over lunch and maybe a slice of cake. Some even gave him gifts, most of them were hero-related. But of all the friendly faces that stopped by, there was one person who didn’t. Someone he wished would’ve come.
“Midoriya, are you okay?” Shoto asked.
“Y-yeah. Just thinking about how to make improvements to my current project.” He hoped that no one would notice the tiny tears collecting in the corners of his eyes.
“If you’re sure.”
“Hey, man!” Sero jumped in. “We were wondering if you wanted to grab a bite with us after your shift. A few of us thought it would be nice to treat you to a nice dinner to thank you for all your help with our gear.”
Izuku perked up a little more. Maybe if it was Sero giving the invite, a certain someone might make an appearance.
“That sounds really nice, thank you!”
—
Dinner was indeed nice. Many heroes that graduated UA the same year as he did were in attendance, as well as others from his agency. It was clear that Shoto had arranged everything, as they had their own private room and a very large table. That, and despite not being on the menu, he was able to get a bowl of Katsudon.
But something, or rather someone, was still missing.
He checked his phone. Maybe he was busy and didn’t have the chance to come to the restaurant. He knew being a top 10 hero meant more obligations, but he thought he’d at least send a text. They’d gotten closer after Izuku transferred to Endeavor’s agency, and they’d hung out from time to time. He’d even asked the hero to feed his fish while he visited his mom for a week, and he kept Mighty alive just fine. Even cleaned up his apartment and watered his neglected plants!
He tapped his screen to turn it on. No notifications.
“Hey Deku, what’s wrong?” Uraraka asked from the seat next to him.
He looked up from his phone, quickly putting it away. “Huh?”
“You look sad. Birthdays are supposed to be happy!”
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, trying his best to make a convincing smile. “I know, I guess I just have a lot on my mind.”
She hugged his arm, leaning her head on his shoulder. “If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here!”
It was a nice gesture, and he appreciated it. He really did. But there was nothing she could do to make it better.
They stayed like that, comfortably sitting in silence while everyone else was conversing. Their large group had broken into smaller groups, and overall the atmosphere was happy. He wondered if he should ask around. Someone had to have seen him or worked with him at some point during the day unless it was his day off.
“Hey, Uraraka?” he asked hesitantly.
“Yeah?”
“Umm, have you seen Kacchan around lately?”
“No, why?” She looked up at him, and he couldn’t tell what emotion was behind those large brown eyes.
“I dunno, I just thought that maybe he’d be here tonight.” Izuku shrugged, trying not to let it show that Kacchan’s absence was a big deal to him.
“Why would Bakugo be here?” She asked, almost defensively.
“Well, I mean we’re friends, I think. And all of his other friends are here. I just thought…”
“Deku, you don’t need him. He’s not very nice to you, so I don’t know why you’d want to be friends with him.” She squeezed his arm harder. “Besides, you wouldn’t want that party pooper here anyway. He’s not much fun!”
Izuku was a little taken aback. She could have just said she hadn’t seen him around, but her response was kind of rude. Actually, it was very rude.
He began to feel uncomfortable with the way she was cuddling his arm the way she was. He knew she hadn’t had a lot to drink, so it wasn’t like she was being drunkenly affectionate. He didn’t know what to think anymore, he just wanted out.
He pulled away from Uraraka and stood up from his seat. He thought maybe he could get away with a swift and silent exit, but she spoke up and alerted everyone in the room.
“Dekuuu, where are you going?” She grabbed his hand and kept a firm grip, but he pried her fingers off until his hand was free.
“I–” He looked to see everyone in the room staring at him “I’m sorry to leave so soon. I’m just not feeling so well at the moment. Thank you for everything, I had a really nice time!” he bowed to everyone and bolted from the now silent room.
—
By the time he had gotten to his apartment, he had cried as much as he physically could. He didn’t understand why it affected him. He’s had many birthdays without a word from Kacchan, but after they started mending their relationship during their second year at UA, he’d at least gotten a text.
As he opened the door, he haphazardly kicked off his shoes. All he wanted to do was get some water and pass out.
He walked toward the kitchen, not bothering with the lights. He knew the layout of his place by heart, so there wasn’t any need to turn them on. Bright lights would only hurt his already swollen eyes anyway.
But as he approached his destination, he realized there was a dim light that wasn’t there before. If someone had broken into his apartment, they had to have heard him come in, so he didn’t have the element of surprise on his side. On top of that, the only way to access the other side of the apartment (and all of his gadgets) meant he had to pass by the source of the light. If he survived the night, he’d surely hide something near the door.
He didn’t know what to do except peek his head around the corner, but as he did, he saw the last thing he expected.
Kacchan sat at his dining table, in front of him was a cake with the candles lit, and his heart swelled in his chest.
Kacchan remembered. Kacchan cared.
Since it was safe, he decided to show himself and walked towards the scene waiting for him.
Kacchan gave him a slight smile as he approached. “Happy birthday, nerd.”
Tears he didn’t even know he could still produce fell down his cheeks at the sight. This was exactly what he’d been wanting all day.
“Kacchan, how did you get into my house?”
“You never took your key back, dumbass.”
“Oh,” was all he could get out as he sat down in front of the cake. They sat there in silence as the wax dripped down the candles and onto the frosting.
“You gonna make a wish or not?” Kacchan asked, looking from the cake to Izuku.
“Oh… yeah.”
His wish had already come true, so what else could he possibly want?
…Well, maybe there was one thing.
He closed his eyes tight, face scrunching up, proving how hard he wished for the thing. Something he wanted more than anything at this moment. Something he knew probably wasn’t possible. He didn’t open his eyes as he blew out the candles, but he knew they had all gone out because he couldn’t detect any light from behind his eyelids.
He heard the flicker of a lighter and another candle was lit, but he didn’t know if he had the strength to open his eyes.
Suddenly, he felt hands on his face and his eyes opened slowly to see Kacchan’s face just inches away from his own.
“Happy birthday, Izuku.” Was all Kacchan said before he felt the other’s soft lips on his.
Izuku got his wish after all.