#bkdkyear2023

Arriving at school, Izuku noticed that his classmates were more happy than usual. But he didn't understand why. Confusion washed over him as, one after the other, Uraraka and Iida greeted him in a cheerful manner.

Izuku of course returned the greeting and went about his normal day. However, confusion began to grow in his mind when, shortly after, he found a gift waiting for him in his locker. It was a carefully wrapped packet of cookies.

By then, no one was around to observe the scene, with a mixture of shyness and anticipation, Izuku scanned the package for a note that would reveal the identity of his Secret Santa, even though it wasn't Christmas and it would be a long time before that. Maybe it was a fan, maybe a girl in love, maybe someone wanting to make fun of him...

Ah! Izuku had no idea what this was about, maybe he'll ask Uraraka.

Thinking about it, Izuku shuddered. No! If it was Uraraka, it was not a good idea to ask her. But, a cute and kind girl like Uraraka would never give him something as cute and dedicated as that, much less in a secret way.

Izuku decided to leave that matter for later. Although it was hard to get it out of his head! He had the feeling that all the girls were watching him. Izuku went to class, completely oblivious to reality, yet he was diligently taking notes.

Suddenly, at lunch time, he saw Iida and Uraraka approaching him with mischievous smiles on their faces. Both of them each held a box of chocolates in their hands outstretched towards him.

"T-Thank you guys" was all Izuku could say, quite taken aback by the situation. He now knew that the one with the cookies was not Uraraka. She was a girl who went head-to-head with gifts, not only that, but Iida accompanied her in delivering sweets.

But…

Why?

The situation became more and more absurd as the day progressed. Every time Izuku turned around, he found another mysterious gift. There was a chocolate bar on his desk, there was candy in his backpack, and a box of chocolates appeared in his locker.

Izuku was surrounded by candy everywhere and he had no idea why. He tried asking his friends, but they all seemed to keep an innocent expression and denied having any knowledge of the gifts.

The class turned into a real comedy show when Izuku found himself literally entangled in piles of candy. Laughter echoed through the classroom as he tried to find a place to put each gift and stay organized.

Finally, when it seemed like the situation couldn't get any more chaotic, Izuku found a box of cake on his desk. His eyes flashed with disbelief. The gift was so big that he could barely take it in his arms.

Izuku, increasingly confused by the situation, decided to directly address his classmates. He raised his hand sheepishly and said, "Sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if any of you know who is giving me all these gifts?"

There was no need to get anyone's attention because the whole class was looking at him. It was impossible not to when he had a lot of candy everywhere.

However…

One by one, the students began to raise their hands, drawing a stunned look from Izuku. First it was Iida and Uraraka, followed by Momo, Kirishima, Jiro, and the rest of their close friends. The collective confession left Izuku speechless.

“Are all of you giving me the gifts?! Why?!”

"We wanted to make sure you felt special and appreciated throughout the week," Yaoyoruzu expressed.

"It's sweet week after all~gero" Tsuyu added.

“Exactly! You're a great friend and we wanted to show our appreciation!” Kirishima said.

“Also, we thought it would be fun to see your reaction to receiving so many sweets without knowing who sent them, birthday boy” Jiro laughed.

"Birth-Birthday Boy?"

"It's your birthday, Deku-kun!" Uraraka recalled excitedly.

Then, something tweaked in Izuku's memory. Yes, he had forgotten his birthday but because the week before he had been too busy organizing his plans for the sweet week, which he also apparently forgot afterwards.

The week before, Izuku had been sitting at his desk, surrounded by notebooks and sheets of paper. With a concentrated expression, he was meticulously going through his notes on the sweet week. He had spent hours researching the tastes of each of his friends and loved ones, carefully noting the chocolates he planned to give away. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he envisioned the surprised and delighted smiles he expected to see on his faces.

Meticulously, Izuku organized his collection of chocolates, making sure each box was labeled with the name of the person it was intended for.

He had even chosen ribbons and bows that complemented each recipient's individual tastes.

Izuku was in a state of utter bewilderment. He looked at the candy boxes he was holding in his hands, not knowing what to say or how to react. Reality hit his mind as his heart sank. He had completely forgotten about the sweet week.

His face turned pale as the voices of his friends seemed to fade into the background. He felt a mixture of shame, regret, and sadness that he had overlooked something he had so enthusiastically planned.

After a moment of awkward silence, Izuku was finally able to work up the courage to apologize to his friends.

To his surprise, instead of being offended, his friends smiled at him and assured him that there was no problem. They told him that the candy they had given him was a way of showing him how much he meant to them.

Izuku was overwhelmed by the affection and understanding that his friends showed him at that moment. Despite forgetting him, sweetness and affection continued to flow around him.

Izuku didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the surprise and generosity of his friends. As the entire class joined in the confession, all but one raised their hand: Bakugo.

“What? It wasn’t me! I'm not interested in that sweet week nonsense”

Laughter filled the classroom as Bakugo crossed his arms and feigned nonchalance. Izuku, still surprised but with a smile on his face, thanked all of his friends for the sweets and their kindness.

“I can't believe how lucky I am to have all of you as friends! Thank you, this really means a lot to me.”

"And believe it or not, this bad boy here was the one who let us all know it was your birthday." Kirishima sent Bakugo forward, wrapping his arm around his shoulders.

Bakugo was startled. “Yeah! ‘cause pink cheeks asked me! I didn't think they were going to make so much noise about it!”

"Pink cheeks?" Uraraka raised her hands to her cheeks.

"But you participated too, Kacchan~" Kaminari hummed.

"Don't call me that, shut up!"

"We didn't buy the cake ourselves, in fact. It was in our plans but we didn't have time to coordinate it.”

“Exactly! It was Todoroki-kun who helped Bakugo buy that delicious cake” Mina pointed out with a mischievous giggle.

“Shut up! I didn't buy it with anyone's help! I bought it with my money and I was the one who put it there! No worthless half-half helped me!”

“Kacchan…”

"What the hell do you want now?!"

Mina and the others stared at Bakugo confessing with such ease. They all smiled victoriously. “I know that Todoroki-kun didn't know about the cake either, I just said it to make you angry and confess.”

“You…!”

Izuku ignored the rage that was coursing through Bakugo like a bomb about to go off, wrapped his arms around his torso and buried his face into his shoulder. "Thank you Kacchan. I thought... I thought you wouldn't care about it.”

It was the first time in a long time that Bakugo participated in one of his birthdays. A sweet gesture at a sugar giveaway party from the person who would rather swim in hot sauce than plunge into a mountain of sugar.

"Yeah, Deku, whatever.”

Izuku found himself even more surprised when he felt a hand caress his head gently. He moved just a little to look up and he realized it was Bakugo, mostly because of the trapped and embarrassed face he was making.

"Kacchan, were you stroking my head?"

“WHAT?! NO! You didn't see anything! I was moving your annoying hair that was getting up my nose! Now get off me!” Bakugo, completely embarrassed, pushed Izuku away.

Izuku had already memorized how it felt to be in Bakugo's arms.

"Don't worry, Midoriya, we already caught him in the act." Kirishima slapped Izuku on the back as Mina walked over to show him a photo on her phone of Bakugo caressing his head and being hugged.

Bakugo's face looked so…

"WHAT THE HELL  DID THEY DO?! DELETE THAT CRAP OR I WILL EXPLODE YOUR PHONES!”

"You wouldn't dare…" Mina teased.

Bakugo was already about to pounce on Mina until Izuku got in the middle of them. "Kacchan! Kacchan! Forget it, Mina hasn't sent it to anyone yet, right Mina? So she'll delete it right now!”

As Bakugo managed to calm down, Mina sent the photo to Izuku's phone, who behind his back gave her a thumbs up.

"I think we should stop fooling around and let Deku-kun cut the cake," Iida ordered.

They all cheered at that idea, crowding around Izuku and catching Bakugo from running away from the moment, making him inevitably fall behind Izuku. He made a couple of grunts and loud curses but didn't move from his spot. He had no choice.

Izuku concentrated on opening the box. His eyes filled with tears and his voice choked with emotion as he saw the creamy frosting cake that bore All Might's color pattern, along with a message written in the center that read:

You can be a hero

“That was…” Bakugo's voice resounded softly in his ears, showing an honesty dedicated only to him “An All Might’s idea. Happy birthday, nerd.”

Izuku couldn't help but stop paying attention to the cake and started crying incessantly.

"What did you say to him, Bakugo?!" Iida yelled at him.

“It's not my fault that he's a damn crybaby!”

"Midoriya are you alright?"

“Yeah, yeah. Kacchan didn't say anything bad, quite the opposite. I'm crying because…" he wiped his tears with the sleeve of his uniform but they didn't stop falling. “I cry because I am very happy. I have such good friends. Thank you so much”

Sero put some candles on the cake. "Then blow out the candles! Todoroki, do the honors”

Todoroki lit the candles with his fire. Izuku could see a small smile marked on his face.

They all began to clap and count: “One! Two! And three! Make a wish!”

Izuku caught the air in his lungs as if they held back his desire.

Let's be happy forever, no matter what.