| Zero Hour | 172732014

Happy Birthday | Surprise!

DING

Happy Birthday Babe

You sighed at the text while you dried yourself with your towel, already warmed by the showers at Endeavour's Agency. It was a long day of work study involving a few chases in the city, but working up a sweat was a given in the field. Already dressed to return back home, you began to pack your things, switching your phone to sleep before tossing it in your bag.

"Hey, we should go out to that cafe south of the city. I heard they make great drinks, and you can hang out with cats," chirped one of your classmates, her glib voice full of glee.

"Sorry, I'm allergic," answered the other, drab in his tone.

"Dammit!"

"It's cool guys. I'm tired anyway," you relinquished before you shut your locker door.

"Says the one who carries weights in their backpack."

Your classmate stared at you with disbelief with her hands on her hips to drive the point home. You sighed while fixing the same spoken backpack on your shoulders, pulling at its straps and filling the weight across your back.

"I appreciate the thought, but raincheck?" You suggested, now prepped to head home.

"Fine, but only because you said so," she sighed with a whine. "We're still planning something for you."

You shook your head with a light smile, leaving your classmates in the locker rooms and making your way towards the large door exits. You pulled your phone from the bag, easily accessible to view that text message again. Your beau was always straight to the point, but now, you felt a coldness about it. For however long you had been with him, he had become uncaring in some of his ways, growing distant and yet always staying in mind. It didn't help that the final year of school was upon everyone you knew, and that required concentration away from the relationship.

What once was a flicker of warmth was a cold front, especially on the Hero scene and his views.

Shaking the thought, you found the doors to spot two very familiar students ahead, still in uniform to return back to their dorms at their prestigious academy.

"Hey Midoriya, Todoroki," you greeted, reaching both of them by the doors. "Busy day today?"

Your greeting played differently in your head when they turned to your voice. Both boys stared at you with surprise, silent as if something compelled them to without effort. You eyed them, glancing between their demeanors, finding Midoriya fidgeting slightly while Todoroki was as still as a statue.

"What's wrong?" You asked.

"Oh, nothing," piped Midoriya, his voice almost cracking.

"We were wondering if you were free," immediately asked Todoroki without a thought.

His request caught you unaware, unable to be coherent in thought. Of course your day was focused on the tasks you were given, but you had only caught glimpses of the UA students in the agency passing by. Every corner of your mind was preoccupied on many things, but out of them all, between your present events, your birthday, and your concerns over your relationship, one question eluded you most of the day.

"I was about to go home," you slowly uttered, holding onto the truth of the situation muddled away in your thoughts, still digging amongst them all in your head.

"UA is holding a festival soon, so we thought we'd invite you to have a look," explained Midoriya in jest.

"We're planning to invite other schools and want your opinion," bluntly followed Todoroki.