★𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕨𝕚𝕤𝕙 (𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕨 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕝𝕖)★

ch. 4

The first one into class was Iida, per the usual. However, instead of waiting for everyone else, he sat down and began writing something down. Next in was Momo and Ojiro, talking about classical music. They were handed a large sheet of paper from Iida, and they began to write something on it too. As the rest of class 1A walked in, they all received the paper and wrote something down. By the time Bakugo walked in, everyone was in their seats. He sat down in his desk, and scanned the room. Everyone had a smile on their face, artificial and real alike. Even Mr. Aizawa, who rose from his sleeping bag on the floor after a loud "AHEM" from Iida, was wearing a sort of grimace-grin. In terrifying unison, they all yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" and trailed into a sort of broken laughter. Bakugo's horrified face was worth the uncomfortable few minutes they waited with frozen cheerful faces. He obviously didn't like all the extra embarrassment that came with turning a year older, but that wasn't stopping anyone. Sero, the closest seat mate he had, handed the paper to Bakugo. There were names written everywhere on, and the top read in neat handwriting: Petition to throw Bakugo a party and have him wear the Birthday Cloak the whole time.

The notorious Birthday Cloak was a creation of Momo and Mina's, made for Hagakure back in their first year. It was obnoxiously bright, with blues and pinks and yellows making up the bulk of the colors. Cool grey fur was around the neckline, and little party hats stood up off the back like spikes. It was simultaneously the worst and best thing the two of them had ever come up with together. Since then, they'd forced everyone to wear it on their birthday. Many tricks had been tried to avoid it. Todoroki had tried lighting it on fire, Kirishima had attempted to quietly dispose of it, and Uraraka had even floated it up into the top of the gym. Momo had come prepared, however, by fire, water, and tear-proofing it, adding unremovable tracking devices, and implementing a giant magnet near the base to easily access it. That cloak was stronger than All Might himself.

Bakugo didn't want to wear the cloak. "I'd rather stand outside naked during an electrical storm than wear that stupid thing," he complained. "I'm not gonna wear it."

He wore it. Rather, once Sero had taped him down and Ojiro had gotten it around his neck, he couldn't get it off. He sulked all the way to the cafeteria, the location of the party. Every student at UA stared at him as he glared and stomped his way over to his friends, the sparks coming from his hands nearly setting his sleeves aflame. "Are you done laughing at me, or can we get this all over with," he growled. The giggles from his classmates died down, and Sato handed him a gorgeously decorated cake. Orange and green swirls cascaded down the white frosting sides, and a tiny modeling chocolate grenade perched on top of a stack of Oreos on top. It got a smile out of the sulky teen, but he quickly twisted his face neutral. 

"It looks ok," he grunted. Kaminari punched him hard in the shoulder.

 "Dude, you totally just grinned like an idiot. You aren't very good at hiding smiles."

"OH SHUT UP!"

He was still attempting to keep a straight face as he put the first bite of cake into his mouth. He wondered if Sato had completed his request of flavors. He couldn't help but smile a little as he tasted his favorite sweet in the world: caramel. The cake itself was chocolate, but the buttercream frosting that held the layers together was a delicious caramel flavor. Everyone around him dug into their pieces too, with words of praise coming from every direction.

"Sato, you gotta make me one of these some time."

"OHMYGODTHISIS SOOOOOOOO GOOD!!"

"My mouth is crying tears of joy."

The young man blushed and reassured everyone that he'd remake the cake soon.

After everyone finished eating, Mina announced that it was time for gifts. 1-A walked over to the dorm's common room for some privacy from the rest of the school. Most of the class went off to get their presents from their rooms, while Momo pulled hers out of her purse. She quietly sat down on the common room floor across from the blonde boy on the couch.

"I never really got to talk to you this morning..."

"Save it, ponytail. A text was enough."

"That's not what I wanted to talk about."

After the events of last month, he felt a little guilty not wanting to talk. Everyone needed to lean on each other is what Iida had said, and nobody needed the support more than Bakugo.

"Fine. Make it quick, though."

"I wish they could be here. I know that it's probably re-"

Momo was interrupted by the crowd of high schoolers returning to the room, laughing and yelling as they sat down by Bakugo. They had a sort of order to it, those that the short-tempered boy tolerated most nearest to him.

The room was comfortably silent as they all settled in. The order of students on the couch went Kaminari, then Mina, then the birthday boy, then Sero, and next to him Ojiro. On the floor at their feet were Tokoyami, Tsu, Momo, Todoroki, and Uraraka. Aoyama took up the whole loveseat, dramatically reclined across the armrests. Iida stood by the table, obviously wanting to take charge. Mineta sat on the floor, as close as he could get to Uraraka without alerting Kota, who was leaned up against the occupied loveseat. Sato sat right next to the table, with a freshly baked tray of something that was unidentifiable but delicious smelling. The shortage of kids was painfully obvious, Tokoyami noticed. He was going to say something, but the look in Momo's eyes told him to stay quiet.

"Alright! Now that we're all settled, we can proceed!" Shouted Iida.

"Everyone, let's pass our gifts to Bakugo in alphabetical order!"

Uraraka stuck out her tongue at the uptight teen and handed a box to Bakugo. It was a painful shade of pink, with holographic zebra stripes adorning the sides.