Tododeku

Chapter 2

Izuku had a fun day after that. Kacchan and their friends came over at around eleven-thirty, and they all went to the aquarium together to look at fishes! Izuku even got to touch a starfish. It was really weird, and he also got a stingray plushie from the gift shop! After that, they went back to the park for celebration, the moms' laying out several picnic blankets. Inko, with Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru's help, had gotten a cake for Izuku. It was chocolate, with All Might-themed frosting on the top! He was doing his familiar pose next to the words Happy Fourth Birthday, Izuku! He got the biggest slice, and then they got to open up presents after that!

There were so many good presents this time around! Mom had gotten him an All Might toy, and Kacchan had gotten him both a poster and a sticker set! He had also gotten a lot of other hero stuff from the other kids as well, which was awesome! And the cake was really good, and he got to play All Might during heroes and villains with Kacchan as Sir Nighteye, his loyal sidekick!

Finally, the party started to wind down as the afternoon dragged on, the other families leaving one by one until it was just Izuku and Kacchan on the swings, playing a game of who could go higher while their parents talked.

"Hey Kacchan, what kind of quirk do you think I'm going to get? Do you think it's going to be cool! I hope it's cool, like yours and dad's and All Might's!" Izuku said as they swung. "Then we'll be the best hero duo there was in all of Japan, and we'll both be number one!"

"Hah, Zuku, there's only room for one number one hero, and that's going to be me!" Kacchan replied, pointing his thumb at himself. Then he looked over at Izuku, grinning. "But you're going to be the best number two there ever was!"

Izuku laughed, and Kacchan did too, until Kacchan finally won the game of who's going to be higher. After that, Izuku's mom called him over because they had to go to the doctor's.

"You better get a strong quirk, Zuku, so we can kick butt!" Kacchan called out as they left. Izuku giggled, shifting in his car seat as he played with the All Might toy, mimicking villain fights. Kacchan's poster and sticker set sat next to him in the car, waiting for Izuku to get home to use it.

"He's quirkless."

With those two words, Izuku's world comes crashing down, just like the All Might toy that drops from his hands.

"I am here!"

Click.

"I am here!"

Click.

"I am here!"

"A superhero like that... that's... that's what-" a sniffle, a sob- "That's what I-I want to be!"

"I'm sorry, Izuku! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

No.

That's not what he wanted to hear.

What he wanted to hear was...

That was the last 'proper' birthday party Izuku had for over a decade. The stingray plush still sits far back in the corner of his closet.

(8)

After Izuku turned four, birthday parties aren't something Izuku has anymore.

No one, after all, wants to have a birthday with the quirkless loser. So no one really comes to his home for his birthday anymore, just Kacchan because Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru make him. And when the parents are out of the room, he makes no effort to hide his dislike of Izuku, shoving the present in his hands before going on his DS, grumbling and cursing words an eight-year-old shouldn't know.

Izuku knows he should be a little hurt - and he is, don't get him wrong. But then, after opening it up and seeing the new All Might hoodie and water bottle, which was incredibly hard to get and incredibly expensive, both selling out within two days of their release, he forgives Kacchan. Instead, he throws the hoodie on, grabs his DS, and flops down next to him, asking his mom for cake.

There's a lot more to go around this time, since it's just the five of them - Dad had left on a business trip to America when Izuku was five, but that was okay, because he kept sending Izuku presents on his birthday and at American Christmas! Sure, he missed him and wanted him to come back, and they never really talked on Skype, but Izuku sent out cards to him every month! And dad sent them back, too, with well-wishes and hopes of seeing him and Inko again.

It's only after Kacchan left did Izuku realize he hadn't gotten a present from his dad. Curious, he goes up to his mom, DS still in hand.

"Hey mama?" He asks, tilting his head. Inko turns away from the stove where she's cooking dinner.

"Yes, Izuku?" She asks, eyebrows furrowed again, worry in her eyes. She was like that a lot lately, Izuku noticed, really worried about stuff.

"I didn't get a present from dad," Izuku said, looking down at the floor and shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "And it's my birthday, and he always sends one, with a card, too!" Oh, he's crying again.

"Now now, Izuku, we mustn't be hasty," Inko said, kneeling down next to Izuku. With a gentle hand, she wiped away the tears collecting in the corner of his eyes, before cupping his cheeks and smiling. "I'm sure the mail is backed up, or something like that. It'll come, baby, it'll come."

"Are you sure?" Izuku asks, sniffling and looking up at Inko. She nods, pulling him into a hug.

"I'm sure, baby. I'm sure," she said, before unwrapping and ruffling his hair. "Now, do you want to help me make katsudon? Then we can go and start watching the latest episode of the All Might TV series. I'll even let you stay up later tonight to watch some TV, how does that sound?"

Mood quickly lifted, Izuku bounced on his feet as Inko stood up again. "Okay, mama! Let me save my game and then I'll help!"

So, heeding his mother's words, Izuku waits, running home every day to check the mail for some kind of package or card from his father.

And he waits.

And he checks.

And he waits.

And checks.

Waits.

Checks.

One month passes. There's no new present. No card. No call. Nothing but a sobbing Inko, a very angry Mitsuki, and divorce papers.

There's never another present after that.

And it's not until he's fourteen and looking through the cards again does he realize that the handwriting on them matches his mother's, not his father's, and he realizes Inko had been sending them to him. He never confronts his mom about it, but deep down, Izuku knows that his father had stopped caring for him when he took that extended business trip to America in the first place.