The Couples of Class 1-A

LCO | Ch. 19: The Cold Truth

*WARNING: discussion of child neglect

"Happy biiirthday to you, happy biiirthday to you... ~"

He blinked several times, each time bringing the details of his house more and more into focus. The green drapes and chairs, the tall china cabinets...

"Happy biiirthday dear Izuku... ~"

There was a cake on the table, decorated with rows of ornate, red and white piping, and complimented on the top by an All Might candle.

"Happy biiirthday, to you. ~" Inko, Izuku's mother, grinned down at her son lovingly before nodding towards the cake, "Go ahead son, make a wish!"

"Yeah, I want cake!"

"Hush-up and be patient, ya rascal! This is lil' Izuku's special day!"

Izuku cocked his head to the right to see Katsuki in the chair next to him with his mother Mitsuki hovering by his side—hand raised semi-threateningly if he made another outburst.

When he realized everyone's eyes were on him, Izuku turned to his birthday cake again. Besides the All Might candle, two, blue candles spelling the number 10 were lit, along with his mother's hand-piped words: "Happy Birthday Izuku!"

My tenth birthday...

With a hefty exhale, Izuku blew out the three candles, and Inko and Mitsuki clapped.

"Happy Birthday, you little tyke!" Mitsuki grinned, ruffling his hair as she swiped the cake knife off of the table before Katsuki could grab it, "You're a decade old now! All grown-up, just about!"

"Yes, a landmark year for certain," Inko sniffled across from him, and Izuku noticed she was tearing up in classic, Midoriya-fashion already, "I'll be taking lots of pictures for this one."

She was correct about that. Saddled in her hands, was their home video camera that she'd always whipped out for special occasions such as these. For Izuku though, it'd been years since he'd remembered her using it. These days, their phones were more than sufficient for taking videos, so to see her using it flooded him with nostalgia.

Shortly after the adults had finished commemorating him, Izuku and Katsuki were handed slices of the All Might cake, which brought a smug, celebratory cheer out of his childhood friend.

If Midoriya remembered right, at ten years old, Katsuki wasn't quite yet the menacing bully Izuku had come to fear during middle school. Still though, their friendship had been well-falling off by that point—even at the time, Izuku couldn't help but notice the stretches of days where they wouldn't hang out, and the worsening red-flags of his superiority complex whenever they did. Heck, according Izuku's memories, Katsuki was a minute away from asking his mom if he could keep the All Might candle on the cake; to which she would respond by smacking him upside the head deservedly.

Still, even with Katsuki here, this particular moment with them all gathered around the table was a happy memory. Somehow, that made the cake taste even better when he stuffed some in his mouth.

"All right, time to open your presents, Izuku!" Inko grinned, sliding a package, and a pair of gift bags from the Bakugos across the table, "Which one do you want to open first?"

Before he could say, Katsuki shoved a personal gift in front of Izuku's face, "Do mine first! I wanna see you open it!"

"Yours?" Izuku swallowed, noticing the typical glint in his mischievous eye. There was a fifty-percent chance this present would blow up in his face, and unfortunately, Izuku couldn't remember if that was what was supposed to happen next.