Lightning Serenade

Chapter 18: Hitoshi's Birthday Party

Denki tried to convince his friend group to attend Hitoshi's party the next weekend, but they all declined, whining about how his party wasn't any fun, so they didn't want to attend Hitoshi's, either. Denki knew they didn't have 'fun' at his party because there was nothing that happened to make fun of Denki for, and that seemed to be their main form of entertainment. Denki was starting to see this and distance himself from them; it was happening naturally just from how much he really enjoyed spending time with his other, newer friends, but he was also consciously widening the distance between himself and his previous friends. Still, he wanted what was best for Hitoshi, so he had to do something to make his party a hit. It might hurt his feelings that he invited the whole class and only Denki would show up.

Great minds think alike, so Neito was also up to his own antics for making Hitoshi's birthday party the best one ever.

"This is everyone!" Hitoshi declared to his foster parents as Neito and Denki arrived.

He knew that all of the other kids threw away their invitations at school, not even bothering to take them home to their parents or even think about it when he handed them out. It didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. Partly, because he was used to being the outcast because of his quirk, but mostly because his soulmate and best friend would be there. Neito's party consisted of only the three of them, and it was so fun, so Hitoshi did not have any regrets or hesitations about it only being the three of them for his party as well.

He did feel a little bad that his foster parents went all out for this, and only two guests showed up for all of the hard work they did. It was bittersweet; he never had a birthday party before because he never had anyone to invite that he knew for sure would show up. Plus, previous foster parents seemed to always be short on cash and couldn't actually get any party supplies anyway, even if they wanted to throw a party for Hitoshi, which also wasn't always the case. His current foster parents weren't rich by any means, but they were savvy savers and would spend the money when it mattered, like for throwing their new foster son a birthday party for his 13th birthday.

When a knock came at the door, Hitoshi turned, confused. Did someone from school actually keep the invitation and decide to show up?

"Happy birthday, Hitoshi!" multiple voices blasted as soon as Hitoshi opened the door, followed by confetti poppers going off and sprinkling the doorway with colorful paper and glitter.

On his doorstep stood Momo, Kyoka, Ochako, Izuku, Tenya, and Minoru, arms overflowing with presents and bright smiles on all of their faces.

Hitoshi turned to face his soulmate, who looked just as surprised as he felt, so his eyes shifted over to Denki who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck and looking anywhere but at him.

Hitoshi pulled Denki into a quick hug, whispering a thanks in his ear, before he turned and greeted his impromptu party guests with a smile. They all immediately noticed the change in Hitoshi from the shy, soft-spoken boy on Unit Beta to this warmer, laidback, confident boy, so they also felt better and less anxious about crashing his birthday party.

Momo was hesitant when Denki called her out of the blue, asking if she knew anyone else from Unit Beta who was there when Hitoshi was there and if they would want to be surprise guests for Hitoshi's birthday party the next weekend. Momo was hesitant, but Denki is persuasive, so she gathered up all of the kids that were there, including Izuku, Tenya, and Minoru, who only arrived a few days before Hitoshi and Neito were discharged. Denki insisted that the more people she could round up, the better, and she took her task seriously.

Hitoshi's foster parents, Hamabi Genori and Hamabi Hanisu, about fainted when they realized that the Yaoyorozu family was included in the mixture of kids at their front door. They about had heart attacks when Momo's father exchanged numbers—personal numbers—with them in case anything was to come up during the party that would need his attention. Then they found out that Pro Hero Ingenium's little brother was in attendance, and they had to go collect themselves in the kitchen and have a quick and quiet discussion about where Hitoshi had gathered such friends.