Seeing the expression on your face, his shoulders shook with laughter. Your eyes were shining in excitement at seeing his present as opposed to all the other ones that were much larger than his.
He strangely felt touched by it.
You placed it on the kitchen island, running your fingers over the velvet bow and pretty gift wrap. You almost didn't want to ruin it.
"Oh come on," Ashido squealed in frustration the longer you prolonged it and everyone else crowded around you. "Open it already!!"
You shot her a playful glare, taking your time despite the many groans that sounded around you as you carefully unwrapped the neatly decorated box. By the time you finally finished taking off all the wrapping paper, everyone, even Bakugou, was leaning forward in anticipation.
Taking off the lid so that it covered whatever was in the box from their prying eyes, even though there were several loud protests, your eyes widened as you saw what was nestled inside several layers of crinkled paper.
Reaching in eagerly, you pulled it out and held it up.
It was a lion plushie. A beautifully crafted, complete with whiskers and a fluffy mane, stuffed lion. And you already adored it.
There were some disappointed complaints that his present didn't live up to the hype they were expected to believe, but Ojiro didn't hear them, only having eyes for you. As they started to disperse throughout the living room, you couldn't tear your gaze from the cute lion.
"I seem to recall someone getting ahold of the giraffe in my room." Ojiro teased with a knowing smile. "You seemed to like to have something to hold onto at night, so I figured another stuffed animal couldn't hurt, right?"
Your ears swiveled happily as you heard him say that and you couldn't refrain from bouncing in place, tail swishing behind you.
"It was so long ago, I would've thought you had forgotten by now." You beamed, smiling from ear to ear as you tested out its squishiness. "Where in the world did you get this?! It's so plushy!!"
When he didn't answer you right away, you paused your shower of adoration over the beloved lion, tilting your head curiously at Ojiro, who was now bright red and mumbling something under his breath.
"Huh?" You squeaked, unsure if you really heard him right.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed, grinning at you sheepishly. "Well, it's just— The stores didn't really have any lions that looked cute enough when I took my sister to the mall and that's when she suggested making one for you."
Your jaw dropped to the floor.
"I remember you saying that you liked lions because... well, you said they reminded you of me so I really wanted to get you a lion." Ojiro continued, not noticing your reaction, too caught up in his rambling.
You had told him one night after playing with his tail to calm you down after you had a nightmare and he hadn't forgotten it since.
"Holly-chan helped me sew it, I got the materials from Aizawa-sensei and Shoji helped me attach the tail and the mane and everything else." He told you, pointing out all of the features that were carefully crafted together with the utmost love.
Your heart skipped a beat.
He hesitated, now picking up on the fact that you had yet to say anything. "Is... Do you like it?"
You would've punched him for his obliviousness if it weren't for the fact that you didn't want to let your lion go in order to do so. "Are you kidding?! I love it!!"
Ojiro's chest deflated as he released a breath he didn't know he had been holding in, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh, thank All Might."
"You could've done this in private, you know." You lightly teased, brushing your fingers over the soft material in awe. "I'm sure it would've been less stressful for you."
He made it for you. You've never had anyone buy anything for you for the longest time, let alone make something for you with their own two hands. The time and energy it must've taken, not to mention the thought he put into it.
That was it. You were going to explode with happiness.
"I was going to." He said, shooting a look over your shoulder at a satisfied Shoji and a smug Tokoyami gazing at you from the sidelines while everyone else wrecked havoc on the common floor. "But everybody kind of wanted to see what it was. And your reaction."
You giggled, hugging it tightly to your chest. "Thank you, I love it, Mashirao."
He kissed your forehead, murmuring, "I'm really glad you do, Y/N."
Your heart skipped a beat and you bit your lip to stop your smile from getting too wide. It was too much. You felt like you were going to burst.
"Y/N?" Ojiro asked worriedly, cupping your chin and furrowed his eyebrows. "Your face is all red."
"Dummy!!" You pouted, pushing him away and clutching the lion plushie tighter. "It's your fault, you know!!"
He chuckled, patting your head. Your lashes fluttered shut at the stimulation, throaty growl emitting in approval at the affectionate gesture.
Ojiro's gaze softened, brimming with love. He couldn't believe how far you came from being that shy, wary girl back then.
You raised the stuffed animal up, tapping it on its nose. "Your name will be Koko!!"
Squeezing it tightly to your chest, you rocked back and forth on your heels, gazing at it with adoring eyes when you held it up.
Ojiro's heart melted at seeing you so happy.
Your other friends insisted that you open their gifts next, nearly dragging you over the table. Everyone had given you something, even Bakugou.
You objected to their generosity, protesting that they spent too much on you already the first time around but it was like all of them went deaf and ignored your objections, shoving box after box in your hands.
Sato had made sure to have enough food on hand for moments exactly like these, when everybody got swept up in the energy of it all and were literally bouncing off the walls.
Somehow, somewhere, Aizawa was found and dragged out of his cave to join his students in the party. But he mostly was out of the way, watching from afar as you were handed gift after gift.
Aoyama had gotten ahold of a painted tea set that looked very fragile and it was paired with Yaoyorozu's jasmine tea she had gifted you.
It took a couple of turns for you to realize that they had collaborated when giving you things.
Sato's cookbook filled with a couple of his own added recipes he knew you loved went with the polished pots and pans Shoji gave you. Tokoyami and Asui's were combined into a patterned quilt that everyone had pitched in to help with.
The two tickets you got for the autumn festival stumped you but that mystery was soon cleared up when Todoroki gave you what looked to be an extremely expensive, embroidered kimono.
"When you two finally go on a date." He said monotonously, pointing a finger at Midoriya and Jirou. "They said that you two will have to confess first, though."
Your jaw dropped and you and Ojiro both turned opposite ways, unable to look each other in the eye in case that claim wasn't true.
You had to physically push Ashido and Hagakure away when they made kissing sounds at you, embarrassed beyond belief.
Ojiro had to fight to keep Shoji at bay but his friend was much stronger than him and the tailed teenager ended up losing his balance and careened into you.
You yelped as your face ended up right in front of his, a millimeter away. Breath catching in your throat, your heart stopped and he audibly gulped at your proximity.
Neither one of you moved.
It wasn't until you shakily held up the tickets Kirishima had given you did he blink.
"Would..." You swallowed hard, gathering your courage. "Would you like to go with me?"
Ojiro didn't even think of saying no.
A huge smile broke out on your face as he said yes and you covered your face with your hands as Uraraka and Ashido squealed, instantly hiding into Ojiro's chest out of instinct.
He didn't mind but the heat that was creeping up his neck turned into a full-fledged blush as he hugged you, keeping you close even after Shoji and Tokoyami sent him a pointed glance.
Mouthing for them to mind their own business, he held you until you collected yourself enough to face them. Even then, he kept you seated on his lap, running his fingers through your fluffy tail as you opened the rest of your gifts.
He knew you were going to cry by the end of the night, most likely when the two of you were alone, but he couldn't help but agree with everything that his classmates had thought of for you.
You had been without love for so long that when you saw it, you didn't know what to do. He would take every opportunity to show you how much you meant to him and how precious your life was.
After hours of playing video games, eating Sato's delicious cooking and getting caught up in Kaminari's schemes as he tried to push you and Ojiro together not-so-discreetly before Jirou bonked him on the head, you were so tired you felt like you could fall asleep standing up.
Aizawa had left a while ago, once Bakugou destroyed the TV remote, lacking the energy to deal with his students outside of the classroom.
You had run up to him, begging cutely for a hug and he hesitated but didn't refuse you.
Everyone except for Ojiro's jaws dropped as you called him dad so nonchalantly but they were even more shocked when Aizawa simply ruffled your hair and told you not to stay up too late.
You had made your way back into Ojiro's arms as soon as the older man left his student to their craziness, and you tumbled onto an empty sofa with him cushioning your fall.
He smiled at you fondly, eyes softening as he swept the hair away from your eyes, his heart stopping as you nuzzled into his chest.
"Princess..." He murmured, tucking a lock behind your ear, as he had seen you do earlier. "Are you happy?"
A smile curled against his neck.
"Mmhm..." You hummed happily. "Thank you, Mashirao."
For the rest of the night, you didn't let go of the stuffed lion he gave you once, eventually falling asleep on the couch with your new present tucked safely in your arms.
He wrapped his arms around your waist, squeezing you once as he used his tail to pull a blanket over the both of you.
"Anything for you, Y/N."