Work Text:
Happy Birthdayami
It was October 29th, the eve of Fumikage Tokoyami's birthday. The Class 1-A dorms at UA Academy buzzed with the usual evening chaos. Bakugo yelled at Kirishima over some exploded microwave incident, Mina gossiped with Hagakure about the latest hero rankings, and Midoriya muttered to himself while scribbling in his notebook.
Tokoyami, however, preferred the quiet sanctity of his room, surrounded by abyssal dark posters and dim candlelight. Birthdays were trivial affairs to him, a mere marker of time’s inexorable march. He had no desire for fanfare, gifts, or the spotlight. He’d slip through October 30th like a shadow in the night.
But there was one problem: Dark Shadow.
The sentient quirk had been born alongside Tokoyami, sharing the same fateful day. Unlike its host, Dark Shadow adored birthdays. It thrived on the attention, the cake, the sheer joy of existence. For weeks, it had whispered reminders in Tokoyami’s ear, its ethereal voice bubbling with excitement.
“Tomorrow’s our big day, Fumi! I can’t wait! Should we tell everyone? Oh, we should! Imagine the party, balloons, streamers, maybe even a pinata shaped like a raven!”
Tokoyami sighed, perched on his bed with a book of the dead. “Dark Shadow, we’ve discussed this. I prefer solitude on such occasions. Revelry is for the light-hearted.”
“But it’s our birthday! We deserve to be celebrated! Come on, just a little hint to the class? Pretty please?”
Those pleading, glowing yellow eyes stared back at him from the shadows. Tokoyami’s resolve crumbled like ancient ruins. He couldn’t bear to dim that enthusiasm; Dark Shadow was part of him, after all. “Fine,” he muttered. “But keep it subtle.”
Subtle was not in Dark Shadow’s vocabulary.
---
The next morning, October 30th dawned crisp and autumnal. Tokoyami slunk into the common room for breakfast, hoping to blend into the background. He grabbed a black coffee and a muffin, nodding curtly to his classmates...
...but Dark Shadow had other plans. As soon as Tokoyami sat down, the quirk burst forth unbidden, perhaps fueled by sheer giddiness, hovering over the table like an overeager puppy.
“Happy birthday to us! Happy birthday to us!” it sang in a booming, echoing voice that rattled the windows. Heads turned. Midoriya dropped his spoon into his cereal.
Before Tokoyami could silence it, several voices chimed in at once.
“Happy birthday, Tokoyami!” Tsuyu croaked, setting a small raven plush on the table. “I remembered, kero.”
“Happy birthday, man!” Kirishima grinned, sliding over a wrapped box of protein bars dyed black with food coloring. “Figured you’d want something dark and hardcore!”
“Indeed, felicitations on your natal day,” added Yaoyorozu, placing a sleek black feather quill beside the growing pile. “I made note of it months ago.”
Tokoyami froze, beak agape. “You...all remembered?”
Even Shouji, stacking plates with multiple arms, nodded. “Of course. You’re part of the class.” He added a set of dark-themed coasters. “These seemed fitting.”
Tokoyami’s shadowy demeanor faltered. He had never mentioned it. Not once. Yet...there were gifts, smiles, and genuine recognition. A strange warmth flickered in his chest.
Dark Shadow preened. “See, Fumi? They do care!”
Then Jirou, who had been quietly sipping coffee, looked up. Her earphone jacks twitched as she pulled a small, wrapped package from her pocket and slid it across the table. “Happy birthday. I looked it up a while back because, you know, you’re my friend. Didn’t want to miss it.”
Tokoyami’s eyes widened further. Jirou had searched for it? Did she inform some of the other classmates? He averted his gaze, secretly thrilled. “You...did? That’s...unforeseen.”
Jirou shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips. “Friends don’t forget friends’ birthdays.”
The damage was done. By lunch, the entire class knew, though many already had. Mina had started a group chat titled “Shadow Bird Bash,” and Sero was taping up makeshift decorations, black streamers that looked suspiciously like shredded trash bags. Shouji helped efficiently, using his multitude of arms to hang banners and set up tables. “Need a hand? Or six?” he quipped, his masked face hiding a grin.
Tokoyami tried to escape to the training grounds, but Dark Shadow kept popping out at inopportune moments.
During heroics class, as Aizawa droned on about stealth tactics, Dark Shadow whispered loudly to Iida: “Psst! Birthday boy here! Got any engine-powered party tricks?”
Iida adjusted his glasses sternly. “Tokoyami, control your quirk! Though...Happy Birthday, I suppose. I had it marked.”
Beet red under black feathers, Tokoyami buried his face in his hands. “This is a nightmare from the abyss.”
The awkward hilarity peaked during afternoon free time. Bakugo, of all people, grumbled about “stupid bird-head’s special day” but emerged from the kitchen with an extremely dark chocolate cake, so rich it looked like it absorbed light. He’d topped it with sparkler candles that hissed and flared dramatically. “Here, take it or I’ll blow it up,” he snarled, slamming the plate onto the common room table.
The class gathered, drawn by the spectacle. The sparkler candles blazed, casting wild shadows. “Blow ‘em out, bird-brain!!” Bakugo barked.
“Time to shine!” Dark Shadow cheered, surging forward. It huffed and puffed, but the sparkler candles’ fierce light repelled the shadowy quirk. Dark Shadow recoiled, barely able to get near them. “Ugh! Too bright!”
The class snickered as Dark Shadow flailed helplessly. Tokoyami sighed, realizing the issue: Dark Shadow, born of darkness, was utterly ineffective against such intense light. “Allow me,” he said, leaning in...
He blew at the sparklers, but they flickered and relit instantly. The class gasped, then laughed. Tokoyami, exasperated, leaned closer and nipped the wicks with his beak, biting them out one by one to stop the relighting. The room erupted in laughter, Kaminari nearly falling over.
“Dude, you pecked the candles out!!” Kaminari wheezed.
Tokoyami’s feathers ruffled, but he caught Jirou’s amused smirk and felt a flicker of pride. Dark Shadow sulked playfully. “Aw, man...next year, I’ll practice!”
Dark Shadow dove toward the cake eagerly. “Yum! Explosive flavor! Thanks, Blasty!” Bakugo clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.
Tokoyami stared at the cake, then at his classmates. The pile of gifts had grown: Jirou’s goth rock CD with a note (“Thought you’d like this. - K”), Tsuyu’s raven plush, Yaoyorozu’s quill, Kirishima’s black protein bars, Shouji’s coasters. So many had remembered. Without prompting - without Dark Shadow’s outburst!
As evening fell, the “party” unfolded in the common room. It wasn’t extravagant, no fireworks or crowds, just the class lounging with snacks and music blasting from Jirou’s setup, a playlist of darkwave and alternative tracks. They played games like “Pin the Tail on the Dark Shadow,” which devolved into laughter when the quirk kept moving the target.
Tokoyami sat in the corner at first, arms crossed, protesting inwardly.
This is folly. I should retreat to my chamber.
...But as he watched Dark Shadow frolic, chasing floating balloons with glee, and heard Jirou’s laugh ring out during a silly story from Kaminari, something shifted. The warmth of friends, the fact that so many had remembered on their own, the subtle brush of Jirou’s hand when she passed him a slice of dark chocolate cake...
Maybe birthdays weren’t so abysmal after all.
As the party wound down, Jirou caught Tokoyami’s eye. “Hey, I’ll walk you back to your dorm. Gotta talk about that new riff you were working on.”
Tokoyami nodded, heart fluttering like shadows in the wind. They took the elevator up from the common area, the hum of the machinery filling the silence. In the hallway leading to his dorm, Jirou glanced at him. “So, what’re you going as for Halloween?”
“A raven,” Tokoyami replied, his tone solemn.
Jirou chuckled. “Smartass. I’m not sure what I’m going as yet. Any ideas?”
Tokoyami hesitated, then murmured, “You must embody a goth girl of darkness. It would be...most exquisite.”
Jirou smirked, her earphone jacks twitching. “Goth girl of darkness, huh? I’ll think about it.” Her teasing tone made Tokoyami’s feathers puff slightly, a blush hidden beneath them.
When they reached his dorm door, Jirou hesitated, then stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a quick, warm hug. Her face brushed against his cheek feathers, soft and fleeting, and she murmured, “Happy birthday, Tokoyami.”
Before he could respond, she pulled back, flashing a shy smile, and walked away. Tokoyami stood frozen, heart pounding like a drum solo. He entered his dorm of the abyss, Dark Shadow whispering from within: “Best birthday ever, Fumi.”
For once, Tokoyami agreed.