Chapter Text
"Happy birthday, 'Zuku!" His mom, Inko, gushed, a rather large chocolate cake in hand. The woman loved trying to make her little boy's birthday perfect every year, especially since it was Izuku's last year at home before uni.
She carefully walked over to the dining table where him and his friends sat together, celebrating his special day.
The cake was rich, with a deep cocoa aroma emerging from it, and hit the table infront of Izuku with a large clank. The green eyed boy smiled, seemingly reaching his eyes. "Thanks, mom,"
Over the years, Izuku had grown into quite a tall, handsome boy. He still had his signature messy green hair, that never seemed to tame itself no matter how many times brushed, and the darker freckles sprinkled over his face. But he wasn't the skinny, lanky boy that Bakugo bullied anymore.
At 5'10 he basically towered over his mom, and any girl who lived in the small village of Shirakawa. There was no especially tall people, so when a light bulb needed replacing, some of the older residents across the road would call on him to fix it, because it was so much easier for him to reach.
He was basically known as the village's handyman because of his ability to quickly fix a broken pipe, flawlessly, and so doing it for free as well. Out the kindness of his heart.
"Make a wish..." Inko called out, the bright candles in front of him creating a dim light source, and brightening his face up. The warm flame tickled his cheek, and he couldn't help but crack a smile before breathing in.
The room was quiet while he had his moment, the greenette held a heavy breath, and released, putting them all out in one go. The light specks that reflected in his eyes disappeared, and the room unaluminated as his friends clapped for him.
"What'd you wish for?" Asked Uraraka, the bubbly brunette he friended during his 1st year of high school. She was short, kind, and asked a lot of questions. Izuku loved her for that though, because it was never boring spending time with her.
The green eyed boy snickered and shook his head playfully. "I'm not telling you.. or it won't come true,"
It wasnt the entire truth, he was half saying it for that reason anyway. Uraraka didn't need to know what he actually wished for.
As Izuku closed his eyes and blew out the candles, one thing was clear in his mind-- His wish was something he deeply wanted in life, but it was also something that didn't live up to his ancestry of artists.
There were artists who were naturally talented, and could see creativity in absolutely everything. He came from a long line of people who would simply look at a canvas, and with seemingly no effort could explode it with beautiful, delicate colours that held precision in every stroke of a brush.
Although Izuku naturally inherited some of that, it wasn't his true passion in life, and therefore wasn't keen on becoming an artist.
His grandad, Sota Midoriya, was an artist though. A very well known one throughout Japan, and if you asked a random citizen on the street, they could say they've at the least heard of him before.
And it goes to say that his Grandad wanted him to become an artist as well. He started of with casual refusals, and then tried to change the topic, but his Grandad never had any of it. "You're bein' one whether you like it or not, boy!"
So when Izuku had blown out his candles, one thought filled his mind.
"To pursue my dream career,"
And that's why he couldn't even tell Uraraka. The pressure of it all, and the thought of his friends looking disappointed weighed heavy on his shoulders. Hell, Izuku wasn't even entirely sure what his dream career was, even if he knew it wasn't this.
"Nice set up you got here Midoriya," Hummed Shoto, and snapped Izuku from his train of thoughts. He was referring to the interior of his birthday party that his mom set up.
A green tinted silvery table cloth sat beneath their plates with little pieces of glitter sprinkled everywhere, and his mom had somehow hung 13 balloons from the ceiling, spelling out in big letters; 'Happy Birthday'. They were iridescent, and so light reflected everywhere off them, creating a spread out rainbow effect.
The whole room shone green from the LEDS spread across the kitchen, since the harsh main light was turned off it created a gorgeous, calm atmosphere.
But the main aspect from this local party, was sitting at the end of the dining table; Smooth chestnut coloured chocolate poured from a broad fountain, and jumbo marshmellows, along as a variation of fruit on cocktail sticks layed next to it.
Izuku grinned and nodded, "Thanks, Todoroki-kun! My mom actually set all of this up, but it looks great, right?"
At this, the red and white haired boy stole a glance around the room again, almost double checking that it looked good.
"Definitely,"
Izuku's life seemed to be running so smoothly right now. And he was relatively very happy.
Though Uraraka, sitting next to him, looked down at her lap to fiddle with her hands. "Deku... I-" She paused, not meeting his eyes. "Happy birthday.. first off,"
Izuku replied in a tone slightly filled will worry, "Thank.. you? But Is everything okay?"
The brunette didn't look up and appeared trying to keep her composure. She let out a heavy breath and didn't move for a few hot seconds.
Shaking a little, she muttered. "I- I'm just really happy for you,"
"I am having such a happy birthday, there's no need to cry, though!" Izuku stared at the upset girl.
Uraraka forced a fake chuckle and gulped, "It's not that-- it's just... this really brought me back to our younger years at UA secondary school, and it got me thinking..."
"About what?" The greenette asked, "But yeah, I guess it does bring me back a little,"
She exhaled slowly, "That we won't get to see eachother very much anymore... and I'm going to miss you, that's all,"
Izuku paused for a second, taking in her words. "Hey it's okay, we're together right now so let's focus on the moment," he hushed, "I'll call you lots, even if we're in different Uni's, don't worry,"
The green eyed boy hated seeing his friends unhappy, especially when it was supposed to be a happy day today.