"Yamada! Yamada!" Eri practically screeched as she slid on the laminate of Shouta and Hizashi's apartment into the living room. "Wake up! We gotta move quickly!"

Startled out of his dozing, Hizashi flailed about. He nearly fell off the couch. "What's going on, little listener? Where's the fire?"

"No fire, but we gotta hurry!" she beseeched him. With each breath she tried to catch, her little shoulders and chest raised and expanded sharply. Hizashi swore he could hear how hard her heart was beating. Carefully, he placed his hands on Eri's shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"What happened, kiddo?"

"Shinsou got accepted into the Hero Department! We gotta get him something! Cake, presents, anything!" she cheerfully cried.

Hizashi's eyes widen, not expecting that. He quickly let out the breath he unknowingly held, his own shoulders slumping in relief. Just as fast, if not a bit quicker, he brightly smiled.

"That's great news, Eri!" When he saw her enthusiastically nodding her head, he asked, "What would you like to do for Shinsou's gift?"

As if realizing how exuberant she had just been, she wilted a bit and nervously asked him, "Could we... could we get a cake and some streamers?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, little listener." Hizashi felt his chest swell when a bright smile lit her face again. "Go get your jacket and we can head out to a shop."

Hizashi pushed himself up off the couch and stretched as Eri hurried to her room. He grabbed his glasses from the coffee table and slid them on, yawning as he did so. Quietly, he walked to the small closet next to the front door to retrieve a jacket of his own. His hand completely ignored the high-collared, black jacket of his hero costume in favor of his padless, dark blue one. It was, after all, a let-your-hair-down-day.

Hearing the news about Shinsou had been fantastic. The kid really pushed himself these past few months. From his own personal experience, Hizashi knew that the Hero Department's course work could be pretty grueling from the student's perspective, but he could easily admit that Shinsou had worked harder than himself in certain aspects, namely the combat portion.

In the beginning, the kid hadn't exactly been very impressive physically. He was pretty twiggy and didn't have a stance that let him stand his ground. The way he was easily pushed and flipped during the Sports Festival had shown that. Nonetheless, he had seemed passionate enough, even if he didn't radiate constantly like Midoriya. How much passion that kid had to become a hero surprised him though. He had thought that Shinsou was going to be another one of the kids who said they wanted to be a hero but didn't really do anything to even the playing field between them and the students already in the Hero Department.

The kid had potential, just not much drive. How utterly wrong he had been.

Soon after the festival, Shouta would either come back home later than usual or with more papers than usual. Apparently, Shinsou had sought Shouta out and asked if he would help Shinsou become stronger. Hizashi's opinion of Shinsou was lifted after hearing about that. Not many students outside of Class 1-A had the guts to ask Shouta for help. Hizashi didn't really understand that part. Shouta was perfectly approachable to him. He was an aloof but affectionate man. Hizashi was a bit biased though. Eh, who knew? It could have been because he expelled all his students in the past.

Either way, Shouta had agreed to train Shinsou in the end. Shouta had been the perfect teacher for the purple haired kid. Shinsou's fighting style would have to be something like Shouta's due to his non-offensive quirk. He was the same way as Shouta in that regard, and Hizashi would eat his shoe if Shouta hadn't deducted that as well. Their fighting styles had been more similar than he thought when Shouta had asked him to come to one of their sessions. When he had arrived at their training after school, Hizashi saw Shinsou sporting a capture weapon around his neck, and he immediately knew why he had been asked to come.

Shouta's own capture weapon had only been implemented into his hero costume for a few years. Shouta had spent weeks trying to perfect his new technique, but sometimes, he had needed an outside opinion.

Shinsou had been a little awkward around him for their first few encounters, but Hizashi had always greeted his newest student with a grin.

All pleasant thoughts quickly vanished. Hizashi felt himself cringe when he saw Eri rushed to the front door in that jacket that matched that neko outfit Shouta had somehow found. He sighed to himself. At least it wasn't the actual outfit itself. He had to admit it though, however begrudgingly he did it. The light pink went well with her hair. Lamenting over his husband's "fashion choices", Hizashi locked the door to their apartment.

The train ride to the shopping district was a bit of a jarring experience for Eri, who wasn't exactly used to so many people bustling in such a small but crowded space. Sure, U.A. was pretty full with all the students and teachers, but that was about it. The campus was bigger than the train station, too.

The familiar feeling of fear and anxiety started to form at the ticket kiosk and had just continued to build. As they waited in lines to board the train, Eri felt a hand ruffle her hair. Instinctively, she knew that hand belonged to Yamada. How many times had he ruffled her hair in reassurance and comfort over the past few weeks?

It's okay. It's okay. Yamada is here with you, she chided to herself. He won't let anything happen to you.

Looking over her shoulder, Eri flashed Yamada an attempted smile. It must not have worked though because his eyes still held obvious worry in them, but he didn't press her about it. She was a bit thankful for that.

As the train door opened, fewer people than she had expected exited the train. Once the people were out, she stepped off the platform and into the train car. Yamada led her to some seats next to another door. He let her have the seat directly next to the doors, taking the one beside it for himself.

They only had to wait a few minutes for the last of the commuters to get on board before the doors closed and the train started moving away from the station. The car was even smaller than the station had been. It made Eri feel trapped, everyone and everything seemed so much closer to her. It made the negative feelings spike anew.

Eri looked at Yamada briefly, debating whether or not to get his attention. He was scrolling through his phone, looking bored but relaxed. Eri didn't want to ruin that, so she tried to suck it up. The train ride would be over soon enough. She would be okay.

But what about when we get off the train and into the city? Panic seized her again at the thought. There would be even more people bustling inside the shopping district.

Eri bit into her trembling lip and tightly gripped her dress. She subconsciously hoped that Yamada wouldn't notice the anxiety and panic that started to well up in her gut. No such luck, however. Yamada tapped her shoulder, making her snap out of her panic for a moment. For better or worse, the way he leaned into the back of the seat made her vision tunnel on him. Her attention was hyper-focused onto him, which helped a bit in blocking out the rest of the train car's occupants.

Yamada reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of earbuds. Blue, just like the headphones he wore in his hero costume. She looked up at him, confusion visible in her eyes.

"Put 'em in." She took the buds and did as directed. Yamada took the other end of the earbuds and plugged it into his phone. A few taps later and a song she recognized started playing. It was from one of those old Disney movies. Yamada shifted in his seat, facing the middle of the car again and pulled her into his side. His hand plopped onto her head, and he ruffled her hair. His hand moved down to her shoulder, and he held her for the rest of the ride.

Eri started to hum along with the song as it played in her ears. I know every mile will be worth my while…

The rest of the train ride and the eight-minute walk from the station to the local party shop had given her enough time to calm her worries. The excitement she felt back at the apartment was at the forefront of her mind again. She had a mini surprise party to plan after all! She could do this.

Yamada held the door open for her, ruffling her hair as she walked by. "Alright, little listener, you said you wanted to get streamers, right?"

"Yes!" she said, pumping her arms down in front of her.

"Follow me then," he said, turning to walk to one of the isles opposite of check out desk. Eri's eyes widened when they fell onto the variety of streamers. She just thought there was only the kind made of out that tissue stuff, but there was so much more. There were streamers made out of ribbons, too. Some were shiny and reflective, others scrunchy and textured. A few of them were even folded together with other colors to give them a braided, geometric look. None of that even included the colors though. There were so many pretty colors on display. She wanted to get them all!

Wait, no... She wasn't exactly sure that Shouta and Yamada's apartment had enough room for them all.

This was going to be a little more difficult than she had originally thought. She looked up at the multicolored streamers and hummed. Maybe... maybe the indigo and cream-colored ones? The crinkled dark blue and light pink ones were good too though. She vaguely wondered if Yamada would let her get both kinds.

Out of the corner of her eye, Eri saw the man in question pick up two cone-shaped things. One was purple and silver, and the other, blue and gold. Two of them in hand, Yamada turned toward her with a mischievous grin on his face. "Wanna get some confetti poppers, too?"

"What's that?" she asked with a tilt to her head.

"These little cones right here. Confetti and slivers of foil are inside of them," he explained with a grin. He lightly grabbed the string attached to the point of the cone, "and you pull on this string here to get the stuff to come out. Just make sure the open part isn't facing toward you when you pull on it."

Her eyes widened. Those were perfect for this! When Shouta got home with Shinsou, she and Yamada could pop them! Eri hurriedly nodded her head.

"Those will be perfect," she told Yamada. While she still had his attention, she quickly grabbed the two color sets she had been looking at and presented them to him, asking him if they could get both.

He grinned at her and said, "I don't see why not. Anything else you think we should get for decorations?"

"Um," Eri had to pause and think for a minute. She hadn't been expecting to be able to get anything else. Was there anything else she wanted to get? She just knew that she wanted to make Shinsou go "WAAAHH!" in excitement.

As if seeing the troubled look on her face, Yamada asked if she also wanted to get some balloons. "We could get some and tie them to chairs or attached them to the wall. We can get them in Shinsou's colors or different ones."

"Okay, let's do it. I'm sure he'll like that!"

As Yamada was paying for the decorations, Eri was looking out the window of the store, staring with wide eyes at another store across the street. Soon, Yamada came up behind her, situating his wallet back into his back pocket. She never really understood why he put it in his back pocket instead of one of his front ones. Eri always thought it'd be easier to steal something from behind. Yamada was probably just good at avoiding thieves.

"Something catch your eye, little listener?" Eri was startled out of her musings. She blinked once, not knowing what to do, but within the next few blinks, she grabbed his hand and led him outside.

She pointed at the shop that caught her eye and asked, "Can we go there next? I want to get Shinsou a cake or something."

"Of course, we can!" He held out his hand for her to take again. "Do you know what kind you wanna get him?"

Eri nodded her head instantly. It might have been a bit simple, but she really wanted to get Shinsou one of those fluffy cakes. She vaguely remembered Shinsou telling her that it was called a cheesecake, which was weird to her because it didn't really look like it had any cheese in it. That part didn't matter though. What did matter, however, was that Shinsou had once told her that he loved the taste of the cakes, and so, that's what she wanted to get him!

As they walked into the shop, Eri heard someone welcome them. She looked around to find who said it, but she couldn't find them. Yamada saw her looking around and chuckled, telling her that it was most likely one of the workers behind the register. Eri nodded her head.

She started looking around again for the dessert section. She had to look around some of the too tall shelves, but she soon found it. On one of the walls were the words "SWEETS ARE JUSTICE!" Eri giggled at the words. She pulled on the hem of Yamada's jacket to get his attention. When he looked at her, she pointed at the worded wall. The planning duo headed straight to the display case showing off all the cakes and desserts they made. Seeing a shelf full of the cheesecakes she wanted to get, she threw her arms up and gave a gleeful "Yay!"

Yamada smiled down at her and ruffled the top of her head. A sign above the display case talking about the cheesecakes caught his eye. Apparently, this shop used powdered sugar to add a little extra something to their cakes if the customers wanted it.

"Hey, Eri, did you want to get anything put on the cheesecake? Words? Pictures?"

"How would they do that?" her brows scrunched in confusion. "They already made the cakes."

Yamada tapped the sign to show her what he meant. "This shop uses stencils to put words and images on their cakes. For the cheesecakes, the designs are made with powdered sugar. It's kind of like how some American cakes have frosting designs put on them."

"I see!" A small, hesitant smile crept back onto her face. Clenching her hands in front of her chest, she practically begged, "Can we get a kitty and put a word on the cake?"

Chortling, Yamada happily agreed to her request. In fake contemplation, he put his hand on his chin and rubbed the sides. "Wanna see if they'll put a scarf on the cat, too?"

Eri gasped in excitement and bounced a few times, saying "yes" multiple times. After ordering and paying for the decorated cake and waiting a few minutes for it to be made, Eri asked Yamada if he knew what time Shouta and Shinsou would be coming back home. "No clue, little listener, but I can ask real quick."

The two waited in silence for a few seconds before Hizashi's phone softly pinged. Swiping down from the top of the screen, Hizashi saw a text notification and clicked on it. He hummed at the text. "Looks like they'll be back sometime after lunch, kiddo. Shinsou's parents want to take him out for dinner to celebrate, so we get him for an afternoon snack. Plenty of time for us to set up the surprise."

Eri smiled and turned back toward the counter of the desserts section. She leaned onto him a little, resting her head on his hip and let her eyes slide shut. Not wanting her to fall, he placed his hand on her shoulder, preventing her from leaning too far forward or too far back. From what Hizashi could see from his spot, the man behind the counter was almost done customizing the cake. Not too long after that observation, the decorator was moving the cake onto a board covered by parchment.

The man gestured for Hizashi to come and okay the design, but that job wasn't his to fulfill. Hizashi gently prodded Eri back to consciousness. "Wanna go look at the final design?"

She rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes and nodded. The pair walked to the counter, and the squirt immediately gasped, eyes flying wide open. Hizashi chuckled at her reaction, but he couldn't help agreeing with her. The design on the cake looked perfect. Hizashi was willing to bet his favorite set of headphones that Shinsou would love it.

"Well, what do you think, Eri? Think he'll go 'WAAAHH!'?"

Eri grinned at him and threw her hands up and exclaimed, "WAAAHH!"

Hizashi chuckled and okayed the worker. The cake was then placed into a carrier, and the pair left the shop. Eri proudly clutched the cake box to her chest.

The train was a lot busier than it had been earlier. Folks were either returning to work from their lunch breaks or running errands like Eri and him.

Finding a seat near the back, Hizashi had Eri sit and stood in front of her, acting as her barrier against sensory overload. She took out the earbuds from earlier and in return, he took out his phone. She handed him the jack end, and he quickly plugged it in before opening the YoTube app again. Hizashi selected the Disney playlist from earlier, and then, he passed her his phone again. Her fingers started tapping the side of his case to the tune of the song. He vaguely recognized it as On My Way from that really old Brother Bear movie. For a movie older than a century and the singers long dead, it had a pretty nice soundtrack to it.

Hizashi leaned his side into the back of the see, opting to observe the scenery as the train passed it by. He more than happily noted that there was no mysterious smoke coming up from behind random buildings. Then again, Musutafu had always been relatively tame during daylight hours.

It was when he could barely see the structure of the train station did Hizashi notice that Eri had fallen asleep. Her head lolled against her shoulder, one earbud almost falling out of her ear. He supposed that he should wake her up to go, but he hesitated a bit. She seemed comfortable as she was.

Do not let her adorableness get to you, Hizashi, or else, she's going to go the rest of her life like this, and it'll be like Shouta all over again!

The electronic announcement that their destination was close came on, and Hizashi started gathering their shopping bags. He knelt onto the seat and was about to prod Eri awake before pausing. Eh, the kiddo's tired. Let her have her nap.

Instead, he shifted the bags higher up his arm and picked her up. He would remember to groan at the lack of circulation in his arm when they got home. Yamada Hizashi, you are a weak man…

Hizashi would be a complete and utter liar if he said that his arms weren't on fire by the time he managed to unlock the door to their apartment and set Eri down on the couch. Actually, scratch that. One arm was on fire. The other was slowly starting to get feeling back in it. Rubbing the meaty area of his forearm, Hizashi walked to the kitchen to put the cake in the refrigerator. He placed the bag from the party store on the counter on his way there. Turning around, he reached up into the second cabinet to the left of the sink and took down four of Shouta and his nice plates that were typically reserved for holidays.

He pulled out his phone from his jacket and double tapped the screen. Eri and he had about an hour to set up the apartment before the other two members of their household arrived. That might have been pushing it a tad since Shinsou didn't actually live with them, but it was close enough. Both pro heroes considered him like a son at that point, so Hizashi figured that for the most part, he'd roll with it.

Oh my god. Our family is comprised of three sleepy kitties and one loud cockatiel! His height probably would have made him more of a cockatoo, but the feathers on a cockatiel's head looked more like his hair when he was in his hero garb. He was willing to sacrifice a few inches for more color accuracy.

Knowing that Eri definitely wanted to be part of the decorating, Hizashi walked over to the couch and shook her shoulder. "Time to wake up now, little listener. Wouldn't want you to miss out on all the decorating fun, would we?"

She groaned in response, but after a few more shakes, she started to push herself up. So much easier to get up than Shouta!

"Alright, Eri, how do you want to do this?" Hizashi asked, taking the streamers, balloons, and confetti poppers out of the shopping bag.

She walked up to the counter and picked up the streamers. Eri was quiet for a few seconds, most likely mapping out how she wanted things. Hizashi was content with waiting for whatever ideas popped into her head. She walked over to the dinner table and looked up at the light above it. Then, she looked at the sliding door the led out to the balcony.

"Could we attach the streamers to the light and make them go to where the ceiling meets the wall? We could put balloons there to make it look nicer," Eri brainstormed, pointing to each location as she talked. "We could move the blinds or close them and let the streamers hang down in front of the door, or instead of just letting them hang, we could um…"

Eri mimed how she wanted the streamers to fall. Her index finger stood straight up, and the tip moved in a circle before her hand moved down. She did this a few times. "You mean twist or spiral?"

She nodded her head, "That's it. We could twist the streamers to make them spiral down. Maybe, we could do sections of streamers of the same color or do a pattern. Does indigo, cream, blue, pink sound okay?"

Grinning, he gave her thumbs up and told her, "That sounds perfect!"

Eri was six, not stupid. Simple words like "good job!" and "keep it up!" wouldn't cut it for such a big occasion. She knew she could do better, and in her mind, Shinsou deserved more than that, too. She hadn't been in Shouta's, and by extension, Yamada's, care for very long, but Eri very much had people here that she cared about a lot. Those people mostly consisted of Shouta, Deku, Mirio, Yamada, and of course, Shinsou. She wanted to show him that, but nothing was coming to her.

It was frustrating. The past five minutes had been frustrating.

After finishing up with decorating, Eri had gone to her room to get her crayons and a blank sheet of paper to make something for Shinsou. It would be dubbing as a present and card. She came back out, supplies in hand, and sat down at the coffee table in the family room. She quickly took out a few colors and started drawing four figures. The two taller figures were drawn on the outsides, and two smaller figures on the inside. They were all holding hands and had varying degrees of smiles on their faces.

The figure on the left was colored with a black crayon and had a small smile of sorts. It was more of a slight upturn of the corner of the mouth, but that was how Eri had seen Shouta smile the most. The second type of smile she saw most often was the big grin of his. With his red, dried out eyes, it looked a little off-putting to most, but Eri couldn't help but find it endearing. It had been one of the first things she saw about Shouta, and she treasured it since the times she saw it were far and few between.

On the opposite side of the drawing was a yellow colored man that was easily identifiable as Yamada. He had an open-mouthed grin, the kind he always wore when he was excited about something and would ramble about it. Eri thought about drawing that dopey little grin of his, but that was usually only for when he saw Shouta do something he thought was cute. She was sometimes convinced that he had a built-in Cute Shouta detector. Yamada never denied it when she asked, but he did once tell her that when Shouta did something cute, an extra year was added to his life.

When Shouta heard this, he rolled his eyes and called Yamada an idiot.

Focusing her attention to the area next to Shouta's character, Eri drew Shinsou with her lavender crayon. She had drawn a line with an upcurved loop to represent the small smirk he often wore. He always gave a little smirk when he felt victorious over something whether it was big or small, kind of like a big fuck you, as one of Shouta's students had phrased it. His gentler smile came out frequently around her, too, but Eri didn't think she could capture that as well. However, she was willing to bet that Yamada and her surprise party would make him smile. At least, she hoped it would.

The smallest figure on the right was drawn with her gray crayon. The tiny figure had closed eyes and a happy smile. Eri was always happy when she was with the three of them and wanted to show that. She remembered the first time she had smiled like that while being held in Mirio's arms at the festival. Eri almost drew him, too, but she wasn't sure how well he and Shinsou knew each other.

At the top of the page, she outlined big, blocky letters and used a bright red crayon to color them in. HERO was boldly written. All of this, however, was the easy part. The difficult part was knowing what to write to Shinsou. She had left a space at the bottom to leave him a message. She selected the sparkly purple crayon from the box to jot down her thoughts, but nothing came to her. Eri had resorted to rapidly thumping the crayon on the table while she tried to think of what to write. It didn't have to be inspiring or motivating. She just really wanted to tell him how proud of him she was. Shinsou had been working toward his goal of getting into the Hero Department since before Mirio and Deku had rescued her, so she knew he must have put in a lot of effort.

Maybe I should write about that?

Eri thought back and remembered the recorded video feed of this year's Sports Festival. She especially remembered the words Shinsou said to Deku when asked why he wanted to become a hero. "You can't help the things your heart longs for."

Eri paused her fiddling with the crayon as a thought popped into her head. She considered it for a few seconds before she nodded to herself. With her mind made up, she carefully put the sparkly purple crayon to the page, and with determination in her eyes, she started to write the message. Shinsou was going to love this. She just knew it.

It was about two in the afternoon when Shouta finally arrived back home, Shinsou in tow. Hizashi had told him that he must absolutely, and by any means necessary, bring Shinsou back to their apartment after they were done with lunch. On most days, Shouta might have been wary as to why, but since the two occupants at home knew Shinsou passed the transfer, he supposed it couldn't hurt.

Shinsou hadn't needed much prompting. A simple "We're going to my apartment after lunch" was all it took. When they finally got to Hizashi and his apartment, Shouta unlocked the deadbolt and door handle, but he didn't open it, opting to step back and lean against the wall instead.

Raising an eyebrow, Shinsou asked him, "Something wrong?"

"No," Shouta replied nonchalantly. "But it wouldn't be logical for me to go first."

"What do you mean?" Shinsou asked, his brows now scrunched together. Sarcastically, he added, "This is your place, sensei."

Shouta rolled his eyes at the sarcasm dripping from that last part. "Just open the door."

Shinsou sighed as he shuffled to the door, side-eying Shouta as he did so. He turned the handle, and as soon as he pushed the door open and walked in, two loud pops were heard, and together, two voices shouted, "SURPRISE!"

Shinsou jerked into the door and froze.

Shouta followed him into the apartment, chuckling when he looked at Shinsou's face. It was stricken with shock. His eyes were blown wide, and stray pieces of confetti landed in his hair. The kid looked like a cat who didn't know what to do, and the two culprits for the mess on the ground and in Shinsou's hair were giggling loudly.

"I… um… uh… what?" Shinsou sputtered. Shinsou was definitely surprised, that was for sure.

Hizashi snorted as Shinsou processed what happened. "Very eloquent, my wild-haired listener."

"Hi, Shinsou! Welcome back!" Eri said as she hugged Shinsou.

Shinsou lifted his hand and patted her head. "Hey, Eri. How's your day been?"

She pulled back and looked up at him, saying, "It was good. Not as great as yours though! Congrats on getting into the Hero Department!"

"Thanks, squirt."

Eri grabbed Shinsou's hand and started pulling him towards the kitchen. "C'mon, you gotta see this!"

Shouta looked over his shoulder when he felt a pair of arms circle his waist. "I'm back."

"Welcome home!" Hizashi said, kissing his cheek. With one last squeeze to hug Shouta tighter, Hizashi released his hold on his husband's waist. He grabbed Shouta's hand instead and started dragging him after the minors. "Like Eri said, 'C'mon, you gotta see this.'"

Shouta could honestly say that he hadn't planned on his apartment being more colorful than he had left it, but with Hizashi and Eri living with him, he should've known better. Especially when it came to something major like this. After all, Hizashi had apparently dragged Tensei and Nemuri around town to buy party supplies when Shouta had joined the Hero Department himself all those years ago. That night, the four of them had done nothing but indulge themselves in movies, drinks, junk food, and multiple marker fights.

Okay, so maybe Shouta should have expected something like this.

As Shouta walked into the kitchen, he immediately saw the colorful streamers and balloons hanging from the ceiling and the wall. The blinds behind the hanging streamers were slightly cracked, and a bit of the afternoon sun peeked through. His attention moved away from the decorations to their kitchen table. Sitting in the middle of it were four dessert plates from the China set Hizashi's parents had gifted them at their wedding's after party.

Behind the plates, however, was a beautifully made traditional cheesecake with some powdered sugar, or in other words, Shinsou's favorite dessert. Shouta's eyes widened when he got a closer look at the top of the cake. Almost all the bottom half was taken up by an indigo, powdered sugar cat sitting down with its tail wrapped around its feet. Around its neck were strands of white powdered sugar that Shouta realized was a capture weapon. Evidently, Eri and Hizashi had a bakery try to make the cat in Shinsou's likeness. It was very well done… and kind of cute.

Above the cat was more powdered sugar, this time dyed red. There were two words, twelves letters, and one exclamation staring up at him. CONGRATS, HERO!

"Our very own little listener was the one to plan this." Yamada gave her a conspiratorial wink.

Shouta snorted to himself. He was positive that, if given the chance, Hizashi would do nothing but sing Eri praises all day. Not that she didn't deserve it. She had come a long way from where she had been, and they all knew it. Shouta himself included. Each and every one of them was so proud of her.

Hizashi playfully bumped Eri with his knee. "She even got you something for this moment. Right, kiddo?"

All three of their gazes turned toward Eri. She had a piece of paper held to her chest, but she looked hesitant to give it to Shinsou. Shouta knew she was probably doubting herself again. His gaze softened as she internally debated with herself. He knew she could do it, knew she would do it. She just needed a second to steady herself.

Maybe… maybe she couldn't do this after all. What if Shinsou doesn't like it?

Noticing the tiny tremble of her mouth and scrunched eyebrows, Shinsou stepped closer to her and crouched down. He gently smiled at her with soft eyes. She hesitantly looked back at him with a shy smile of her own. His eyes seemed to soften even more.

Pointing a finger at the paper tightly clutched to her chest, he asked with a tilt of his head, "Whatcha got there, Eri?"

She bit her lip, and her gaze flitted around the room, everywhere but at him. Sucking in a deep breath, she practically shoved the sheet at him. Once the paper was in his hands, Eri felt her heart start hammering away at her chest. When their eyes had focused on her, worry and anticipation started building up until it reached the top of her being, and when his eyes shifted from her to the card she drew, all that anxiety felt like it would pour over at any second.

Staring back at him, in the sparkly purple crayon that Hitoshi knew Eri only used on special projects, were the words "Congratulations Hitoshi! Your longing heart has reached the first step of its dream!"

Hitoshi blinked slowly as his heart sped up and his throat constricted. Hitoshi knew he was a lot of things. A kid most people thought had a villainous quirk, a sarcastic asshole good at taunting others, the first Gen Ed student to get to the final event of the U.A. Sports Festival in over a decade, a student and basically adopted son of his favorite childhood hero, a hard worker that desperately wanted to become a hero, and most recently, a student soon to be put into the Hero Department were all just a few things that quickly came to mind.

That being said, Hitoshi never considered himself to be all that emotional. Sure, he had his bouts of positive and negative emotions, but they were never overly so. He didn't give many signs on how he was feeling like gestures such as screaming over a bridge into the night or power sliding on his knees when something good happened. So, he was pretty sure that he was at least allowed this one moment to not be calm, which was why he picked Eri up in a hug and spun them around, guffawing louder with each turn.

When he got dizzy, he placed Eri back on the ground. She wobbled a bit, but so did he. Tears formed in his ducts, and he pulled her close for another hug. Her tiny arms reached behind him to hug back. Slightly pulling away, Hitoshi looked her in the eyes and said, "Thank you, Eri."

When Aizawa had told him that they were going to his apartment after lunch, Hitoshi never imagined this was what awaited him.

"You're welcome!" With eyes squished closed, she grinned back at him a beautiful and contagious smile. "Now, let's go eat that cake!"

Hitoshi hefted her up onto his hip and said, "Hell yeah, kid, let's eat."

"Language," both Aizawa and Mic scolded.

"Pretty sure she's heard worse from Bakugou." Mic let out a pained whine. They all knew it was true, but the pros were willing to let it slide as long as Eri didn't repeat anything she heard.

Eri asked if she could cut the cake, but Aizawa firmly said, "No."

"What a dad," Mic teased his husband, "Adopting almost every child he sees this year. I never thought I would be a father of twenty-three at the age of thirty!"

Aizawa huffed and told him to shut up. Interesting that he didn't deny it though.

Mic pulled out the biggest knife from their set sitting in the block in the back and handed it to Aizawa. Hitoshi's eyes followed the knife as it pressed down into the cheesecake and dragged across the center. He watched this motion three more times until the cake was cut into eight perfect slices. He barely registered Mic handing him and Eri forks. Hitoshi was practically drooling by the time a slice was plated and placed in front of him. He almost had to sit on his hands so he wouldn't take a bite before everyone else got a piece.

Once Aizawa put the last slice on his plate and sat down, he, Mic, and Eri looked at Shinsou, expecting him to hurry up and eat the first bite. He happily complied. He sliced his fork through the cake, and oh man, that was so satisfying. He scooped up the severed piece and shoved it into his mouth. It was heaven on his tongue. Shinsou knew he was probably being dramatic, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He said that he wasn't emotional, not dramatic.

To the surprise of no one, Hitoshi was the first one done. As he waited for the others to finish, he stared longingly at the other half of the cake. If he showed restraint now, he could have some later. He could do it. Soon after he finished, he was followed by Eri, Mic, and eventually, Aizawa. The man sucks his damn juice pouches faster than he ate that piece of cake. What the hell?

Eri suddenly yawned as she pushed her plate away from her, gaining their attention again. Mic laughed as he asked, "Tired, little listener? That was rhetorical, by the way."

"No sleeping at the table, Eri," Aizawa reminded her when she started nodding off. "Bed or couch, kiddo, take your pick. We'll get the dishes."

Eri nodded before forcing herself up and over to the family room's couch. Before she plopped down, however, Eri turned back and shuffled to Shinsou. She hugged him and mumbled into his stomach, "Bye, Shinsou. See you again soon."

"See you later, shrimpy," Shinsou said, ruffling her hair. She pulled back and stumbled her way back to the couch. As soon as she hit the cushion, she was out like a light.

Shinsou took the liberty of collecting his plate and the others', as well as their forks. He handed them off to Mic, who rinsed them and put some dish soap on them. The loud hero scrubbed them clean before rinsing them again and placing them in a drying rack. Other than wiping the forks dry with a towel, Mic cleaned the forks the same way. The utensils made a clinking sound as they were deposited back into the apartment hold's silverware drawer. As he did the dishes, Aizawa had boxed up the left-over cake.

It was a bit odd to see his teachers being so domestic. Odd but nice at the same time.

Aizawa handed him the cake box, and they made their way to the door, putting their shoes back on. Hitoshi tried not to step in any of the glitter or confetti from the poppers that almost gave him a heart attack. He didn't want to make more of a mess, and he sure as hell didn't want glitter sticking to the bottom of his shoes. That shit took forever to get off him. Just when you think you got it all, nope! There's more in places he never thought it would reach.

"Um, before I go," Hitoshi started, "I wanted to thank you both again for helping me out. I'm really lucky and grateful for all that you've done for me. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you two."

Aizawa frowned at him and deadpanned, "I will choke you again, Shinsou."

Hitoshi flinched, and Mic's eyes bugged out as he started laughing, most likely at Shinsou. Well, he could laugh all he wanted. Being choked by Aizawa with his own capture weapon was not an experience he wanted to repeat anytime soon. Mic laid a hand on Aizawa's shoulder and wiped the corner of his eye.

"What Shouta means is that you passed the transfer exam by your own merit. Sure," he said, shrugging with his hands up, "We gave you advice here and there on how you could improve, but that's what teachers do. It was your own drive and tenacity that ultimately got you here. Don't ever doubt that, Shinsou."

"I'll keep that in mind, sensei." Aizawa considered that good enough for now and exited the apartment.

"Thanks again for the surprise party though. It… means a lot to me." Hitoshi nodded at Mic once more before he followed Aizawa out the door.

"Anytime, listener!" Mic yelled out to him. "I look forward to having you in class next year."

Hizashi locked the door when it closed and knelt down to sweep the confetti into his hand. He stood back up and made his way to the kitchen's trash can, pressing his foot down on its lever to open the lid. Hizashi dumped the confetti and wiped his hands on each other. He stepped back to look at the remnants of the party and immediately sought out Eri. Asleep. Hizashi quietly groaned. He hated cleaning with a fiery passion, but it seemed that he was now on duty.