The Story Of Us (Todobaku)

Katsuki's Birthday

Best birthday ever, Katsuki thought to himself.

He beamed as he and his friends raced outside. The children remained in Katsuki's playroom while Masaru worked on setting up the inflatable bouncy house. Now that everything was ready to go, the birthday boy sprinted across the grass, ripped off his shoes, and dove head first inside.

While he knew it was hopeless to attempt calming down his son, Masaru did his best to keep the rest of the kids under control.

"One at a time, please," he urged. "Denki, Denki honey, only your shoes need to come off. You can keep your shirt on."

One by one, they all piled in. Eijiro, then Denki, then Hanta Sero, and lastly Mina Ashido. The rest of his class would be arriving later, but Katsuki invited his four closest friends to come thirty minutes early so he could have some extra playing time with them. Well, his three closest friends and Mina. Katsuki didn't care for her that much, since she was a girl and all, but Eijiro always asked if she could tag along. The boys teased him for having a crush on her, but Eijiro was never embarrassed over it. He'd simply smile, swoop his jet black hair out of his face and say, "Yup! We're getting married one day!"

The five of them jumped all around the bouncy house, screaming and giggling and having the time of their lives. Katsuki easily jumped the highest, a few instances almost hitting his head on the ceiling.

His jersey flew just like he did, the black and red fabric swinging up as he jumped up then clinging to his body as gravity pulled him back down. It was what his dad gifted him for his birthday this year. Masaru, who owns a children's clothing company, personally designed Katsuki a jersey that resembled the Tornados Bronze Age uniform, one that had been discontinued but still a staple in baseball history. The Tornados won their first championship in three decades the final year of that era, which was also the year that Toshinori Yagi was signed to the team.

Masaru, being Katsuki's father, knew his son's measurements and perfectly tailored the jersey to his body. The name BAKUGOU was stitched across the back with the number eight beneath it, signifying how old Katsuki turned today.

It was Katsuki's favorite gift he ever received, and it wasn't even close.

The kids continued jumping, soon playing a game that involved jumping as hard as they could to knock each other off balance. Katsuki did fall a few times, though not nearly as much as the rest of them.

He and Denki were play fighting when Mitsuki popped her head in.

"Kat?" she said. "Come out, please. Shouto's here."

"'Kay."

Katsuki stumbled out of the bouncy house. He didn't bother putting his shoes on as he was planning on rushing right back in there after saying hello to Shouto.

There he was, standing at the front of the yard, holding his mom's hand. Katsuki reckoned second graders were too old to still be doing that. He shivered at the thought of holding his mom's hand in private, let alone in public.

Then again, he knew the dynamic between Shouto and Mrs. Todoroki was unlike the typical mother-son relationship. Last year, there was a long stint in which Katsuki didn't see Shouto's mom at all, and Shouto never mentioned her. It was like she vanished. In fact, it all started when Shouto came to class with a new scar over his left eye.

Whenever Katsuki tried to talk to his parents about it, they assured him everything was fine and he didn't need to worry. He wasn't worried, to be fair, just confused.

But then, on the first day of school after the winter holiday, there was Shouto's mom dropping him off at their first grade classroom. And then she was back the next day. And the next. And everyone turned a blind eye to it, like there was nothing suspicious about it at all. Eventually, Katsuki gave up on obsessing over the strange behavior of the Todoroki family, but every now and again, he wondered...