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He gave Shoto a beaded bracelet for his birthday, simple but obviously hard to make. The beads were chosen with care, that much was obvious.
And Shoto gave him an All Might figurine.
He couldn’t help but feel vaguely inferior, as if he hadn’t chosen a good gift compared to the handmade bracelet Izuku had given him. Logically he knew that Izuku wasn’t trying to make it a competition, that he would appreciate anything Shoto gave him like it was the most precious treasure.
But a simple piece of All Might merch? When everybody knew that Izuku loved All Might?
That just seemed so, so careless.
He looked down at the little horse charm, the red and white and grey beads that revealed to Shoto exactly how much Izuku thought of him.
He had just casually mentioned that he liked horses on a whim; three months before Izuku had given him the gift.
He had never brought it up again, but Izuku remembered and made the bracelet with a horse charm because he knew Shoto would love it.
That was something only Izuku and maybe his mother knew. Deeply personal, a level of care that Izuku clearly had no problems with showing.
And now it was Izuku’s birthday and the only thing he could think to get him was a piece of All Might merch.
He twiddled the figure between his hands, careful not to damage it.
He knew it was fairly rare, but Izuku’s collection was extensive and who knew when they had started collecting?
He slowly breathed in and out before he placed the box containing the figurine into the wrapping paper. He had tried to make sure it wasn’t even out of the packaging, but he didn’t know if that would be enough.
He knocked on Izuku’s dorm door, barely refraining from hopping from leg to leg. He settled for tapping his foot, he needed to move or else he wouldn’t be able to talk.
It felt like an eternity, though it was likely less than a minute before Izuku opened the door. To Shoto, it felt like Izuku was opening the door in slow motion.
Would he think that Shoto hadn’t tried hard enough to make a thoughtful gift? Would he think that Shoto wasn’t listening every time Izuku was speaking about his days?
What if Izuku had spoken about liking something and Shoto had been zoning out by accident?
He was midway through a thought spiral when Izuku’s voice finally reached him.
“Shoto!,” and oh gosh, Izuku was happy Shoto was here, “How are you? Why are you here?”
They smiled at him, and Shoto’s heart went into overdrive. Before he realised what Izuku had just said. It was said much too nicely for it to be a dismissal, or at least Shoto thought so, which meant…
“Izuku, it’s your birthday.”
Izuku blinked as he seemingly realised the date. He, Izuku, quickly checked his phone before turning to look back up at Shoto.
“I can’t believe I forgot,” he stated, smacking his forehead with the heel of his hand. “Thanks for reminding me Sho, come in.”
Shoto nodded and entered, in a quiet disbelief that Izuku had completely forgotten his own birthday. He could barely believe it.
He cleared his throat and presented the gift to Izuku once he got in. He knew that if he delayed it anymore than he already had he would completely fail the task he had given himself.
“Well, like, I know you forgot your, um birthday,” Shoto started, and usually he wasn’t one for hesitating, but this was unusually nerve wracking. “But, I, uh, got you a present?”
He swallowed, it was phrased more like a question but he figured it was good enough.
He presented the gift, wrapped in red wrapping paper because he knew that was Izuku’s favourite colour and took a step back. He caressed the bracelet around his wrist, twiddling the horse and pushing it around as he waited for Izuku’s verdict.
Izuku was careful with it, treating it like a precious treasure as he made sure not to unnecessarily tear the paper.
But when he finally opened the gift, he smiled, beaming and bright. Shoto’s heart fluttered as he exclaimed about it.
“It’s not in my collection! Do you know how rare that is, Shoto? THANKS SO MUCH!”
And then he was gushing about it, and complementing the paper, and talking about how Shoto was so thoughtful.
All of Shoto’s worries were gone like the wind, and he smiled.
Cautiously he attempted one more sentence. “Since you didn’t know it was your birthday, does that mean you have nothing planned? If so, do you want to go on a walk with me?”
Izuku beamed at Shoto, and at this rate the green haired boy was purposefully trying to give him a heart attack. Shoto swears that his heart is usually stronger than this.
They slowly walked outside, and Shoto wondered if this moment could last forever. Looking up at the sky, he truly felt at peace.
He fiddled once again with the bracelet, the coolness of the beads helped him relax, and helped build up his courage for the last request of the day.
He stared out at the sky, the slowly setting sun painting hues of orange as the sun sank into the horizon. It wasn’t far enough to actually start changing the sky to purple yet, but Shoto thought that was a good thing.
After all, it gave him more time, more time before they would have to go inside in time for curfew, and more time before life would catch up to them.
Shoto swallowed, “Izuku, could I hold your hand?”
Izuku chuckled a little, “Of course Shoto.”
He gingerly reached out to grasp Izuku’s hand, it was rather warm, but not in the too hot, sweaty type of way. It was nice.
If it had been he would’ve just changed sides to his ice half, so it didn’t really matter anyway.