@inanthesis said: "Happy birthday, Izuku." Simple and straight to the point as Shouto held out a bag that contained what were probably VERY UNEXPECTED gifts. "I'm not sure how you feel about the old man as a hero or even as a person so you can keep these or have fun destroying them, it doesn't matter to me. He always tried to get me to care about his hero merchandise and as the hero himself he got to approve prototypes sometimes and was sent unique variants I'd just shove into my closet and ignore." Shouto explained with a non-committal shrug. “Either way I’m sure you can find much better use for them so I decided to retrieve some of them to give to you. I also included at least one higher end All Might figure I’d ordered just in case I accidentally gave you the worst gift you’ve ever received.”
Truth be told, Izuku hadn’t expected much from today, he never usually made a big deal out of his birthday. He and his mom never really had a lot of money to do a lot on days such as this - but she always tried to make it special for him and he always appreciated it. He always felt that ANNOUNCING his birthday just opened the door for GIFTS and a BIG celebration, which Izuku felt was incredibly unnecessary. But even then, UA still manages to surprise him, HIS CLASSMATES still manage to surprise him constantly.
“Oh - Thank you, Shouto-kun!” Izuku grins, slowly taking the bag from the other and peeking inside, “Shouto, you really didn’t have to -” He started softly before the other started speak, started EXPLAINING the gift he was giving, and as soon as Izuku realized what it WAS? The explanation started to make more sense.
His smile never faltered as he peered down into the bag, his thoughts running a million miles a minute as he attempted to process just HOW MEANINGFUL this was. Not only to Izuku - who,WOO BOY, if he’d gotten this gift anytime prior to the Sports Festival, prior to KNOWING about Shouto and everything he’s been through - he would’ve DIED for this gift and gone crazy for it. As much as he loved and looked up to ALL MIGHT, ENDEAVOR was still the second ranked hero and had been for a LONG time - that meant something. And this shows that it means something to Shouto too.
They’d grown, both Shouto and Endeavor are continuing to grow for their own sakes and the sake of others, the rest of their family. A lot cannot be reconciled with, a lot of pain is hard to move past. But EVERYONE is trying their best to move forward - who was Izuku to not appreciate the growth? Or TARNISH it by destroying the never before seen Endeavor figures that lay in the bottom of the bag.
“Thank you so much, Shouto-kun - !!” Izuku nods, his hand instantly fishing for the aforementioned HIGH END ALL MIGHT figure in the bag. And the minute he laid eyes on it, Izuku’s eyes widened, HIGH END didn’t even begin to COVER IT - “I - !! How did you even GET THIS - ? Shouto-kun, this is the LIMITED EDITION BRONZE AGE ALL MIGHT figure - !?” Izuku squeaked, this was where All Might APPARENTLY used support equipment that Izuku could NEVER find anywhere on the internet and had to pester the hero about it. “Th - This was the ONLY ONE they ever made and it was SOLD OUT by the time I got to it - I - “ Izuku’s excitement was palpable as he shook slightly.
“This is INCREDIBLE, Shouto-kun, I - Tha - I can’t THANK YOU enough, REALLY. I’ll take good care of them, okay?”