July
"Hey" Izanami said softly as she placed a flower she just plucked from the walkway at the front of Mrs. Hagiwara's grave. "Sorry I haven't came by in a while" she smiled sheepishly at the granite headstone.
"I just had my 20 week appointment, twins, a boy and a girl" she said with a hand on her protruding baby bump. She felt bad for not finding time to tell her she was pregnant sooner but after finding out about the genders today, Izanami couldn't bear to keep her waiting any longer.
She took a look over her shoulder at Dabi, who was waiting by the Camero a few yards away to give them privacy. "You remember Dabi?" She asked, turning back to Mrs. Hagiwara with a warm blush. "We're really happy. I'm the happiest I've ever been in my whole life"
Izanami wanted to thank her for the hundred-millionth time but she knows Mrs. Hagiwara already knew how grateful she was.
"I wish you could've seen me like this" she said tearfully, casting her head down with a tiny hint of shame. "Seen me happy, seen me be a better me"
"I-I know I'm going to be okay, I know that, I do... but I still get scared sometimes" she admitted. "I just want to be good"
"Then I think about how much you cared about me and how much Dabi and the others care about me and I'm a little less scared. And I wanted you to know I'm going to try my best to be what you were to me, to them" Izanami said as she rubbed and cradled the babies in her belly.
"You about ready to go home baby? You still gotta rest if you wanna have enough energy to go to the festival tonight" Dabi asked softly as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"Yeah, I'm ready. We had a nice talk" Izanami giggled. She wished she could hear Mrs. Hagiwara reply but she treasured their talks nonetheless.
"Let's get you out of this heat huh?" He said as he kissed her hair to gage how hot she got from standing in the summer sun.
"Yeah" Izanami nodded. She glanced at Mrs. Hagiwara and smiled a goodbye before she walked towards the car.
Dabi lingered and waited until Izanami was out of earshot. "I'm going to ask her to marry me night, wish me luck" he whispered to Mrs. Hagiwara when it was just the two of them, then he hurried to get Izanami's car door.
———————
"The flyer says the gates open at 5, that's the time we're all going. The sun goes down at 8 but the fireworks aren't going off until 9:30 so I wanna make sure they get to do all the fun and cute things to do at a festival before then and she's gunna need to eat so I set aside some time for that too" Toga told Shigaraki in greater detail than the first time she went through it.
"I just don't get why your school is having a firework festival if you guys are still out for the summer" Shigaraki sighed as he texted back and forth with Natsuo to get their plans locked in.
"It's open to the public, the school just likes hosting things" Toga rolled her eyes and shared a look with Chizue. "Besides it couldn't come at a better time, Dabi is so siked about the fireworks"
"I'm just glad he's finally gunna do it tonight" Shigaraki shook his head exasperatedly. "All of the sudden he's shit at keeping secrets now. I swear he was going to propose to her in the middle of the hallway"
"Be on the look out, he's definitely gunna be needing help tonight" Toga said as Chizue jumped up on her front paws excitedly.
"I guess I'll go get ready, you good to ride with Dabi and Izanami?" He asked as he got up from the kitchen table.
"Yup! I'm not gunna crash your first date" Toga smirked.
"It's not a date" he mumbled lowly.
"Tomura be so serious, you asked that boy out on a date" Toga said sternly.
"Alright it's a date, just shut up!" Shigaraki glared before he headed to his room.
After trying not to spend too much time on picking an outfit, Shigaraki brought everything to the bathroom and had a shower.
He doesn't know how he let this happen. One minute he's listening to Dabi talk about his proposal and the next thing he knows, he's asking Natsuo to go out 'as like, a date or something... whatever' And he couldn't take it back either; Natsuo looked too excited.
So Shigaraki was going to make sure they had a nice time before he finally laid this dating shit to rest.
"We'll see you there yeah?" Izanami asked as Shigaraki got ready to go leave.
"Yeah that's why I'm leaving before you guys, I still gotta go pick up Todoroki" Shigaraki said, grabbing the Camero keys.
"Why do you always get to drive the bitchin' car huh?" Dabi frowned when he saw the Honda keys waiting for him on the hook. He didn't mind driving it but the Camero was so fucken cool.
"The girls like their car" Shigaraki shrugged with a small smirk, making Dabi grunted in response.
"You have money?" Izanami asked from behind the refrigerator.
"Yeah, I'll text you when we're there" Shigaraki waved before he walked out the front door.
The drive to Natsuo's house seemed to happen in a blink. Shigaraki's breath hitched as he made himself put the car in park and pull out his phone.
Shig: im here
Med School: ok! 2 seconds!
He put his phone in the cupholder and clenched his fists to feel the fibers of his gloves in his fingers.
Just have fun, he reminded himself.
"Hey Shig!" Natsuo smiled as he hopped in and buckled his seatbelt.
"Hey Todoroki" Shigaraki made sure to take a moment to stop and stare at Natsuo before he pulled the car away from the curb. He wanted to memorize every detail of tonight so he could run through it as many times as he wanted.
"I'm honestly so excited like, it's not even cool how excited I am" Natsuo laughed at himself as he looked out the window. He was so incredibly happy his date was about to begin.
"Yeah I'm excited too, this is my first time going to something like this" Shigaraki admitted truthfully. He decided a long time ago Natsuo would be one of the few people he'd never lie to. "I don't even think I've seen fireworks, unless you count fiery explosions in the midst of total destruction" he attempted to joke awkwardly.
"Let's not count those, so this can be your first time" Natsuo chuckled. "The foods good but you'll love the festival games"
"Games huh? They have, like, prizes or something?" Shigaraki asked as he looked over at him for a second.
"Yeah, you'll have to win me something" Natsuo smiled.
Shigaraki laughed. "Will do Todoroki" he nodded while he smirked.
They got to the school and it took them a minute to find parking but when they did Shigaraki texted Izanami they were about to walk in.
"Toga says we gotta keep a look out and make sure your brother doesn't blow his proposal" Shigaraki said before they made it on to campus.
"Yeah I had the feeling it'd be hard for him to wait til the firework show" Natsuo shook his head in amusement. Touya was always impatient and impulsive, when he wanted something he wanted it right then and there.
They made it a few feet into the festival before Shigaraki's phone went off. He quickly fished it out of his pocket and answered after seeing it was Izanami.
"Yeah?" He asked as he scanned around to see if he could spot her.
"Look to your right, we're in front of the lemonade stand" Izanami said excitedly.
When Shigaraki's eyes finally found her he laughed at how she was waving him down, tryna get his attention. "All right I see you werido" he rolled his eyes as he tapped Natsuo's shoulder to gain his attention.
"Hurry! We're gunna get corn dogs next" Izanami said and then she took a big slurp of her fresh squeezed lemonade.
"Yeah alright" Shigaraki said before he hung up. "They're about to go get corn dogs" he said, pointing so Natsuo could see where Izanami and Dabi were standing.
"Hey guys!" Izanami beamed before she hugged them.
"Hey Izanami" Natsuo chuckled softly as he wrapped his arms around her, "Touya" he nodded to his brother.
"Sup" Dabi nodded to both Shigaraki and Natsuo.
"Where are Toga and those other brats?" Shigaraki asked as they strolled over to get corn dogs.
"They went to get us tickets, they have a Ferris wheel somewhere around here" Izanami said.
"Oh that's so cool!" Natsuo said as they stood in line.
"Uhuh, I told them to get you guys a ticket too, I just called you over so you could wait for them. You guys can go off on your own" Izanami made sure to explain.
"I'm sure we can kill time together, the fireworks aren't for a couple hours and there are a ton of booths to visit" Natsuo said. He didn't mind sharing Shigaraki, besides he was positive they'd have a great time making sure Touya didn't screw up.
"Yeah I hear they have games here" Shigaraki nodded.
"That's what the kids were saying! I've seen a goldfish ring toss and ballon darts, seems super fun" Izanami said before she stepped to the front of the line.
After Dabi bought her a corn dog, Shigaraki bought Natsuo and himself one too. When they stepped out of line with their food, Toga, Shoto and all of their friends ran up to them.
"Hey guys, good to see you" Kirishima greeted Shigaraki and Natsuo as Bakugo nodded at them.
"Shiggy! Big brother Todoroki" Kaminari smiled from beside Shinso as he held up his hands for high fives.
"Hey guys" Natsuo's smiled at Shoto and all of his friends.
"So we got 4 hours to kill, what should we do first?" Sero asked.
"They have a basket game, bet I can make the first shot" Bakugo said as he threw a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the booth.
"You know what, I'm pretty good at basketball I bet I could make the first shot" Shinso said smugly.
"I can't wait to see this" Mina laughed before she grabbed Toga's free hand that wasn't holding Chizue's leash and walked back to the basketball hoop booth they saw earlier.
The boys all took turns at the three hoops available and Kirishima was the first to make his shot. Bakugo groaned in frustration before he sighed and congratulated his boyfriend with a kiss.
Everyone seemed to want to stay together in the beginning, they ran into a bunch of their friends and they would join the group for an activity or two before going off again.
After leaving Kendo and Tetsutetsu at the ballon darts, they stopped at the ring toss to watched Izuku and Ochako try to win a goldfish.
The ring toss made Dabi jittery for some odd ass reason. He watched Izuku hand Ochako the last ring to take the last turn and he couldn't bite his tongue. He reached into his front pocket and began to pull out the ring box. "Iz-"
"Omg I won! Look how cute he is!" Ochako squealed loudly as she held up the little orange goldfish.
"Wow good job Uraraka" Izuku laughed with a light blush.
Everyone clamored to admire the new pet and Shigaraki immediately knocked Dabi's arm with his elbow to shove his hand back into his pocket. "Dude at the ring toss?"
Dabi dropped the box and pulled his hand out of his pockets to cross his arms. "What? No" he said unconvincingly.
Shigaraki sighed and shook his head exasperatedly while Natsuo laughed at him. When Toga came back from looking at the fish, Shigaraki made sure to tell her Dabi almost popped the question.
"Oh Dabi" she shook her head pitifully.
"Shut up" Dabi glared before he turned to smile at Izanami as she walked back to him.
More and more booths caught everyone's attention, causing them to break off with the promise of meeting up later.
Shigaraki and Toga tried to stay with Izanami for as long as they could but she pushed them to explore on their own and to have their own fun.
"Let's go take pictures" Dabi said when he saw a Photo Booth.
"Oh I'd love to Mister" Izanami smiled.
He took her by the hand and pulled the curtain back for her to slide in. Then he paid the necessary amount before he had a seat next to her on the bench. As he was pulling the curtain closed he found himself wanting to reach for the ring and give it to her already. They were finally alone with no one to interrupt him, he could do it if he really wanted too.
After deciding he needed fireworks, he quickly pressed the 'START' button before he finally turned to her. "You're beautiful Izanami, I love you" he said.
*FLASH* The camera captured Izanami's big beautiful stare and red rosy cheeks while Dabi smirked at her.
"I love you too" she said before she kissed him.
Dabi shut his eyes and brought his hands up to cup her face. *FLASH*
Dabi slowly pulled away. "We should smile for one" he chuckled when Izanami pouted at him for stopping.
"Fine-" *FLASH* The camera took a picture of Dabi laughing at her frowny face.
They both laughed and quickly got ready for the last photo. They sat forward and smiled at each other through the monitor.
*FLASH*
"Let's go see how they came out" Izanami said while she lightly stroking her belly at the fluttery feeling of baby kicks.
Dabi kissed her forehead before he stood up and stepped out. He pulled the curtain back and held out his hand to assist her out of the booth.
Izanami took their photo from the slot and giggled at how cute it came out. She passed them to Dabi and he chuckled with a smile. When he was done looking at it she took the photo back and pocketed it before they started to walking again.
"What next?" Dabi asked since he just picked the Photo Booth.
Izanami heard music and scanned around to see where it was coming from. "Would you dance with me?" She asked, giving Dabi a curious look.
"I'd do anything you'd ask" Dabi said airily.
"Dance with me" she said, tugging him to the designated dance area a few yards away.
The band played a soft jazzy number that gave Dabi the freedom to have fun with the steps. He spun, dipped, and twirled Izanami around as carefully as he could.
When she squealed and laughed as she threw her head back in pure unadulterated joy, Dabi almost pulled out the ring again. He was weak, every minute he wasn't engaged to her was torture. 9:30 seemed like such a long time away, an eternity of waiting for her and he still had to wait.
"What next?" Izanami asked as the song ended.
—————
Dabi almost propose at the Ferris wheel, when he won her a stuffed tiger, when they waited in line for fries, he needed a breather. "Have a seat baby, you've been on your feet awhile. I'm gunna go get you a vanilla cone"
"Ouu a vanilla cone!" Izanami smiled happily as she sat her tiger down next to her.
"Yeah baby wait here" Dabi smiled back before he squished a kiss into her cheek.
Izanami giggled and waited for Dabi to hurry back. She smiled as she watched the liveliness of the festival march on while she took a rest.
The bench Izanami was sitting at was in front of a student booth, the reading club was selling donuts. Tamashini of class 1-J was about to duck out and get her friends working the booth something to drink when she felt a presence near by. She took one look at the elderly lady attached to the school's nurse and knew she had something she wanted to say.
"Hey excuse me, sorry" she called to Izanami in an unsure tone.
"Oh hello sweetie" Izanami smiled as she looked up at her.
Tamashini flashed Mrs. Hagiwara glowing neon eyes and let her know she could sense her.
"Hi so um- my quirk is Spirit Guide, I can communicate with dead people and pass on messages" Tamashini explained to both of them.
"Pass on messages?" Mrs. Hagiwara inquired as she turned a curious orange.
Tamashini nodded and activated her quirk to pull Mrs. Hagiwara in and allowed her to relay her own message to Izanami.
Izanami watched as the student looked to her left and blinked her eyes from gray to green. Before she could question if she was alright, Tamashini smiled at her with glowing eyes.
"Hey sweet pea" she said with Mrs. Hagiwara's voice.
Izanami stared for a second before she decided it was really her. "I miss you so much" she cried as she shot out of her seat.
"I miss you too but it looks like I don't have to worry about you at all, you're doing so well for yourself Izanami, I'm so proud" she smiled.
Izanami wiped her face and instinctively place her hands on her belly, "thank you" she laughed wetly.
Mrs. Hagiwara just smiled and went in to give her a hug. When Izanami bent down to pull her in closer, Mrs. Hagiwara whispered in her ear, "I see you"
Izanami wept and squeezed her tighter.
"I love you, I'll always be with you" Mrs. Hagiwara smiled tearfully before she released her from the hug.
They smiled at each other a moment longer before Tamashini blinked her eyes back to gray.
"Words can't express h-how grateful I am I got a chance to talk to you tonight" Izanami chuckled softly as she wiped her face dry.
"You're welcome, I could tell she'd been following you for a while" Tamashini smiled shyly.
"Go ahead and enjoy the festival sweetie, have a good time and stay safe. If you ever need any help with anything you can always find me in the nurse's office" Izanami made sure to say before she disappeared into the crowd.
"Thank you, you stay safe as well," Tamashini's eyes flashed green for a second before she continued, "bye Mrs. Todoroki" she said using the name Mrs. Hagiwara gave her.
Before Izanami could really dissect Tamashini's words, Dabi popped up with two vanilla cones in his hands.
"I thought I told you to have a seat" Dabi shook his head in amusement.
Izanami looked down at her feet and laughed. "I was talking to a student" she said lightly.
"We'll sit and eat this then we'll go find a good spot to watch the fireworks" Dabi said as he guided Izanami down to have a seat next to him before he handed her, her ice cream.
"You always take such good care of me" Izanami hummed in delight.
Dabi's heart swelled with an unfathomable amount pride as he resisted pulling out the ring prematurely for the hundredth thousandth time. Luckily, he distracted himself with watching her enjoy her ice cream, it wasn't until ice cream melted over his fist did he start eating his.
After they finished eating, Dabi checked his phone for the time and saw they had 15 minutes before the fireworks started.
"Where are we going?" Izanami asked as he took her hand and led her away from the bench.
"Fireworks are starting soon, I wanna give you a good view" he said a his stomach twisted anxiously. It was a good thing Toga had already found him the perfect place to ask, somewhere semi secluded with the best view.
When they finally stopped, Dabi turned them to the direction the fireworks were supposed to go off in. "Toga says they're doing them off one of the gym roofs" he said pointing to the buildings off in the distance.
Izanami looked up at the night sky before she checked her phone, "they're starting any minute now" she said excitedly.
Whenever they were starting, it wasn't soon enough. Dabi's whole body heated up as he held his breath. Right when he felt like he couldn't hold it together any longer, the first firework went off followed by another and another.
"You were right baby this spot is perfect" Izanami giggled joyfully as the fireworks illuminated her whole face with yellows, pinks and reds.
Dabi couldn't wait a second longer, her eyes were shining brighter than the balls of fire in the sky and he had to ask her to be his wife.
"Izanami" he called almost too softly.
Izanami heard him under the faint sounds of bursting booms, "yes?" She asked as she turned to give him her full attention. It was a good thing he was the one that needed to say something because Dabi looked so handsome in this light, she was left speechless.
They both froze, both prisoners of each others eyes. They could see their past in each other but they could also see their futures. The fireworks raged on but it took backseat to their fiery intensity.
"Izanami," Dabi said again before he swallowed thickly and finally allowed himself to fully pull out the ring, "marry me, please" he begged as he opened the velvet box to reveal his mother's beautiful sapphire ring.
Izanami felt the butterflies start from her feet and travel all the way up to her throat as she stared at the ring. "You wanna marry me Dabi?" She asked as she looked up at him with a meek smile.
"Well no shit" he laughed as he plucked the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger.
Izanami laughed elatedly as she held up her hand and admire her ring.
"So is that a yes or...?" Dad asked, he hoped he knew her answer but she hasn't given him one yet.
"Well no shit" she echoed back to him before she grabbed his face for a long awaited kiss.
They kissed all the way through the fireworks' peak and they still weren't brighter than their love.
—————
Shigaraki and Natsuo had a wonderful date, or at least Shigaraki thought they did. He might've gotten prize-happy and had to help Natsuo carry his stuffed animals but it was the good-kind of corny mishap. It was only really a problem when they wanted to eat but the found a bench to dump everything on. After a while, Shigaraki bought two tote bags to shoved Natsuo's prizes in to it easier on themselves.
If you'd ask Shigaraki what his his favorite part was, he'd say riding the Ferris wheel over and over again because Natsuo liked looking down at the festival from above. They had little sporadic moments of intimacy that should've been enough but always left him wanting more.
When they got off their last run at the Ferris wheel they scanned the area for a nice patch of grass to sit on.
A lot of people carried on with the festival but Shigaraki thought it be nice to sit down and watch the show with his full attention.
"That looks like a good spot" Natsuo pointed at an area of grass near a small tree.
"Good find Todoroki" He nodded with an amused smile.
They sat down and got comfortable while they waited for the fireworks to start.
"I can't believe you won at all those game" Natsou laughed as he toyed with the top of one of the prizes in the bag on his lap.
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't I have?" Shigaraki scoffed before he chuckled and shoved the other bag of prizes at him.
"Dude those games are rigged! You're literally not supposed to win" Natsuo exclaimed as he shook his head.
"I'm a winner" Shigaraki shrugged, making Natsuo laugh.
Shigaraki turned to look at him, his gaze was just short of longing but he didn't let it go pass that.
Natsuo's laugh simmered down to a soft chuckle and he licked his lips as his eye wandered to Shigaraki's. He couldn't waste another opportunity to kiss him. All night he's had openings left and right he didn't take it, but not this time.
Natsuo leaned in as the first firework struck the sky. He took Shigaraki by surprise when he kiss him but he held out until Shigaraki kissed him back.
Shigaraki knew he should've jerked away, and he almost did... but he kissed Natsuo back instead. Their first and last date and he got a kiss, now it finally seemed like enough.
The fireworks got louder as they built up to their finale and Shigaraki found the will to pull away. He was starting to feel guilty about selfishly kissing him for so long.
Natsuo smiled at him brightly and turned to catch the last of the fireworks; Shigaraki memorized his smile before doing the same.
When the firework show ended Shigaraki grabbed the bags from Natsuo and stood up. He helped Natsuo to his feet and cleared his throat when he smiled at him too happily.
"I wonder if Dabi made it to the fireworks" he said as he scanned the area for a way to leave.
"I can't wait to hear how he did it" Natsuo laughed as he took his time stretching. "Then we'll get to tell them we're dating" he laughed softly.
Shigaraki turned ridged before he forced himself to look Natsuo in the eyes, "yeah about that... maybe this date was just a one time thing yeah?"
Natsuo gave him a confused look before he took Shigaraki to be joking. "Yeah right" he rolled his eyes in amusement.
"Todoroki, I'm serious, it'll never work between us. Just drop it" Shigaraki said.
Natsuo's eyebrows furrowed in anger, "How do you know?" He asked.
"I said drop it, forget about it, put it out of your fucken mind 'cause it's never gunna happen" Shigaraki reiterated flatly.
"But we like each other" Natsuo frowned.
"You don't like me" he scoffed.
"I do li-"
"No! You don't!" he screamed. Natsuo flinched at the sound of his voice and instinctively ducked his head down to avert his eyes. Shigaraki hated he caused a reacted like that but it just affirmed he was right. They should never be together. "What if we met sooner? What if you met me in my prime huh? The Symbol of Terro, the guy that wanted to bring hero society to its knees, the guy that did nothing but spread pain and misery, would you have liked that guy?" He asked to really get his arguments across. Because without the gloves, he was still that dangerous villain that could turn you to dust.
When Natsuo kept quiet... it broke Shigaraki's heart. "Yeah that's what I thought" he sighed and turned away from him.
Natsuo marched around to face him again, "You can't just decide I wouldn't have liked you, you don't know. I could've been the sneaking around type or the type to rub you in my dad's face, you don't know! And who the hell cares?! I met you, when I met you and I like you now"
Shigaraki curled his lip in an ugly sneer and got ready to argue but Natsuo took a determined step closer, "I know that there'll always be a part of you that wished you did it, wished you beat society and threw the world into chaos but- but I also know there's a much bigger part that is so relieved you didn't have to"
Shigaraki frowned as Natsuo eyes stung with tears. He already yelled at him, he couldn't make him cry too. "This conversation is over; let's go catch up with the other's"
"So this is- just- over because you say so?" Natsuo scoffed angrily.
"Yeah, it's a pointless conversation and I say it's over" Shigaraki said before he made the first step to walk away.
"Can I asked one last question?" Natsou stopped him in his tracks.
"What?"
"Did you at least have fun tonight?" He asked self consciously.
"I had alotta fun" Shigaraki said, because even after all that, he still couldn't lie to him.
They found Toga and Mina first before running into Shoto and Sero. When they all met up with Dabi and Izanami, Natsuo stayed quiet but he made sure to smile. No mater how hurt he was he wasn't going to ruin Touya and Izanami's moment.
Soon as Izanami had an audience she quickly held up her hand to show off her ring. She squealed with the girls as they jumped around and celebrated.
"Did he wait til the fireworks?" Toga asked while she held Izanami's fingers still as Chizue continued to yap excitedly.
"Yeah he asked me with the fireworks going off in the background it was pretty romantic" Izanami smiled brightly.
"Congrats man you did it" Natsuo smiled as he slapped Dabi's shoulder.
"What? Was he too nervous to ask me?" Izanami giggled as she hugged her fiancé.
"Uh no, he almost asked you at the ring toss" Shigaraki laughed.
"I almost proposed to you a dozen different times" Dabi shook his head as he started leading everyone to the exit.
"Oh yeah? When?" Izanami laughed. "Wait let me guess!" She said quickly. "When we danced?
"Yes"
Izanami nodded. "When we rode the Ferris wheel?" She asked.
"Yes and in the Photo Booth, and when I won you that ugly pink tiger, when we were in line for French fries, when we ate the ice cream cones, yes" Dabi sighed pathetically.
"Oh you love her-love her" Mina smirked and Chizue barked in agreement, making everyone laugh.