Work Text:
Mina had known something was up when Bakugo offered her a protein bar that morning without growling.
But when Sero pretended to trip into her and shouted, “Happy Easter!” before bolting, it was confirmed: they were planning something.
Still, she played along.
Now, back at the dorms, Mina was walking slowly toward the common room. Lights were off. Too quiet. Suspicious.
She pushed the door open—
“SURPRISE!!!”
Confetti popped. Streamers flew. Jirou's amp buzzed to life with the opening chords of Mina’s favourite dance song — the one she always played during dorm karaoke nights when she’d had too much soda and felt unstoppable. Someone (almost certainly Kaminari) had queued up a sparkly pink light filter on the overhead projector, casting shimmering hearts and stars across the ceiling and walls. The common room had been transformed. Neon balloons in varying shades of pink and gold were tied to chair backs and floating lazily near the ceiling, and strings of fairy lights blinked along the windows. A big, hand-painted banner read “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MINA!” in bold glittery letters — clearly Kaminari and Sero’s work, judging by the uneven spacing and several doodles of dancing aliens in the corners.
To one side, near the windowsill where Aoyama sometimes dramatically posed, there was a small table set up with carefully wrapped gifts, stacked in neat little piles. Mina’s eyes softened as she took them in. The wrapping paper was mismatched — some with tidy ribbons and symmetrical folds, some clearly hurried — but she could tell they were from her classmates outside the Bakusquad. There were notes attached in familiar handwriting: Uraraka’s bubbly script, Tokoyami’s stoic chicken-scratch, Midoriya’s meticulous labels, and even Todoroki’s oddly formal tag that just said “Happy Birthday. –Shoto.” And more, and more and even more. She realised with a swell of warmth that the rest of the class had probably gone off somewhere — maybe training, or grabbing dinner as a bigger group (or separately into the Dequsqaud and the Unproblematics) — just to give the Bakusquad space to celebrate the way only they could: loud, chaotic, full of energy.
Her chest tightened a little. Mina had always known her friends cared about her — but this quiet gesture, the way everyone had thought of her and made room for her joy to shine loud and bright tonight, made her feel wrapped in love.
She looked around the room, eyes wide with awe. “You guys…” she breathed, half-laughing, half-choked up.
Sero grinned and tossed an arm around her shoulders. “Told you we weren’t gonna forget.”
“You didn’t just not forget,” she said, wiping a little glitter off her cheek. “You exploded joy all over this place.”
“Kind of our specialty ,” Jirou said, her lips curling into a small smile as she turned up the amp.
Behind them, Bakugo scowled and muttered, “Tch. Too loud.”
But he was wearing a party hat.
And it was pink.
She squealed and jumped back, laughing.
“AHH I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH ” she yelled, clutching her chest like she’d been attacked by glitter — which, honestly, she kind of had.
"WE LOVE YOU TOO BESTIE !" Kami squealed back and proceeded to give the birthday girl a deathly tight hug, which it seemed the both enjoyed equally.
Bakugo, off to the side, muttered, “You’re lucky we didn’t set off fireworks.”
Sero tossed an arm around her shoulder. “We considered it.”
“Happy birthday, Ashido!” Iida called from beside Sero, smiling earnestly while holding a lopsided cake. (It was shaped like a meteor. Nobody questioned it.)
“Did you all seriously plan this just for me?” she asked, pink eyes wide.
“Of course we did,” Kirishima’s voice cut through the room, rough but warm.
He was holding a tray of pink mochi and wearing a red party hat slightly askew. Mina’s heart thumped a little louder in her chest.
He crossed the room with the tray, then looked her right in the eyes. “Wouldn’t be manly not to.”
She giggled and rolled her eyes. “You are such a dork.”
“ Your dork,” Kaminari whispered loudly, earning a smack from Jirou, who was trying (and failing) not to laugh.
Later, the music was thumping, and the common room was a chaos of beanbags, tangled limbs, and discarded glitter bombs.
Mina had danced with literally everyone, including an awkward Iida who still managed to pull off some robot-inspired moves with Sero egging him on , with the Sero b eing the only reason he was even here as it felt wr on g to Iida not to accomp any your partner to their b est fri ends birth day.
Jirou and Kaminari had teamed up for a messy but endearing guitar-electric remix of “Barbie Girl,” and Bakugo threatened to explode the speakers at least four times.
Perfection.
Eventually, the lights dimmed a bit , the mood softened, and the group settled down to eat.
Mina was still laughing when Kirishima nudged her with his elbow.
“Wanna sneak out for a second?” he asked.
Mina raised an eyebrow. “That sounds suspicious.”
“Only a little suspicious.”
Curious, she followed him outside to the courtyard, where tiny glowing fairy lights had been strung between the trees.
The summer air was warm, the sky above dark and full of stars. Mina blinked, taking it in.
“Eji…” she said softly.
He scratched the back of his head, suddenly bashful. “Wanted to give you a minute that wasn’t so…chaotic, y’know? I know you love that stuff but —I figured maybe you deserved something a bit quieter too.”
Her chest squeezed. “That’s actually really sweet.”
“And also—” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, wrapped box. “Got you this.”
Mina unwrapped it carefully, peeling away the sparkly tissue paper with reverence — not because it was fancy, but because her heart was already thudding in her chest. Inside the small velvet box was a delicate silver charm bracelet, the chain glinting faintly under the courtyard fairy lights. It was dainty but sturdy, clearly chosen with care — and already adorned with six tiny charms, each one familiar in the best way.
The first was a dancing alien , arms thrown up in a pose she’d struck a hundred times during karaoke — her signature move.
Next to it hung a jagged little red stone , rough-edged and proud — obviously Kirishima. Her breath hitched at that one.
Beside it dangled a bright lightning bolt , gleaming gold . Kaminari’s symbol, as loud and reckless as he was.
A tiny black guitar pick charm came next — minimalist, but unmistakably Jirou. There were even tiny indents etched on the edges like headphone jacks.
Then there was a spool of tape unraveling mid-swing , frozen in motion — Sero’s. The detail was ridiculous. She could almost feel it zipping around the chain.
And finally, a tiny, spiky explosion cloud, sculpted in brushed silver with little engraved sparks bursting from it — Bakugo, obviously. It was somehow both angry and endearing.
She stared at it, blinking hard. Her thumb ran over each one slowly, as if memorising them by touch.
“We all chipped in,” Kirishima said softly beside her. “I picked mine and, uh, helped pick everyone else’s. Jirou made sure it wasn’t tacky. Sero tried to wrap it but ended up taping it shut permanently. And Bakugo threatened to blow it up when we couldn’t pick between two explosion designs.”
Mina laughed — an honest, pink-cheeked, watery laugh — and closed the box gently.
“This is…” she started, then gave up trying to find the right words. “This is perfect.”
Kirishima’s smile grew softer. “So you like it?”
“I love it,” she said. “It’s literally all of you. Right here. On my wrist. Forever.”
She slid it on carefully, then looked up at him.
“And this,” she added, “is the part where I kiss you.”
Kirishima blinked. “Wait, wha—?”
She stood on tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, glitter catching on his skin.
“Thanks for the best birthday ever, Eji.”
His brain short-circuited a little, but he managed to say, “You’re welcome, Pinky.”
From inside, they could hear Kaminari yelling, “WHERE’D THE BIRTHDAY GIRL GO? THIS CAKE IS GETTING COLD—”
“Let’s go before Bakugo eats all the mochi,” Mina said, tugging Kirishima’s hand.
He smiled and followed her inside, where laughter and chaos waited—exactly the way Mina loved it.
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Bonus snippet:
“ Who’s idea was the alien charm?” Mina asked later.
“Mine,” Sero said. “Because you’re out of this world —ow! Iida, that was my rib— AH BABE—!”
“It was deserved.”