(Written while listening to: "Kekka Orai" by Kocchi no Kento on YouTube)
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The day was cold. It was December after all.
Laito wanted nothing else than to curl up under the blanket with a hot chocolate and watch some internet stuff.
And yet he couldn't, to Laito's slight annoyance he was at the hospital with his dad to do some final check ups and to gather some data as the Nightmare Spell was slowly taking a hold over the teenager.
It took a bit of his morning and even up to noon to do this stuff. At some points Laito wondered whether the doctors were purposefully acting slightly sluggish with their job as indeed some examinations took longer than they should.
At first Laito shrugged off his suspicions he wasn't worried about any seriuous traps as his second core, the one that's usually with Steve was now rushing here and there in Laito's viscinity all the time.
His personal invisible sentry one could say.
Steve's body in the meantime was safely stored next to The Gate in Laito's soul, awaiting their small excursion to the Dream Realm.
Finally they were done by the early afternoon, but instead of going back home, Laito's dad asked Laito if they could eat out.
For the past few months since Laito woke up the father and son were taking turns cooking. Neither of them liked going out much.
But it was technically Laito's potentially last day on Earth so it made sense for them to have a little send off.
They went for yakiniku.
It was nice. Not solemn at all. Although Tomio knew that Laito could die within Dream Realm and end up as an actual hollow, he had trust in his son's competence and tried his best not to worry. Much. At least outwardly.
And Laito was grateful for that as he was not in the mood for any drama. The Call of Winter Solstice made him sleepy, but unable to actually fall asleep until the time came. It made him feel cranky.
The dinner took some time and it was already late afternoon.
They were on their way home when Laito sensed… disturbance.
More precisely it was his "sentry" self he had sent out to scout ahead.
I noticed something abnormal.
There were people in their house.
Waiting and hiding. Sometimes peeking through the windows.
Laito felt like facepalming himself.
Weeks earlier he had agreed to his dad's request so that if the day before 21st december Laito could have an entire day off to do whatever the heck he wanted, then the very day of Winter Solstice they would have a "proper send off".
Laito thought that the dinner they had was enough. Possibly with some heartfelt goodbyes next to the prototype Sleeper Pod, that would turn awkward if Laito did manage to find a Gateway within minutes(It's a possibility after all).
Apparently, he was wrong.
Yogami Tomio decided to go all in.
So now, Laito had a "surprise" send-off party waiting for him at his home. A party that needed time to be set up, which is why Tomio was actively buying time so that it would be ready by the time they return.
'My sanctuary… everyone better has damn hopes that Mineta did properly hide my magazines… if they ever see the light of day I will burn the entire world to the fucking ground I swear.' Laito thought with concern as he did forget to conceal better his private stuff that he used in his day prior fun.
'Somehow, he always knew where I hid them…with concerning acumen at that. I'm gonna take a plunge and trust him to keep up the bro code.' Laito decided and yet he still sent his free Core to check up on his stash.
The bro code did not disappoint.
With his reputation(and world's future fate) intact, Laito let out a satisfied sigh and braced himself for being a centre of attention. Although Laito hated the idea, even he could enjoy(or at least tolerate) it if it was without going overboard.
Laito recovered his Core, returning them to the overlapping state. He has decided to act like a relatively normal kid for possibly the last time in his current life.
Tomio didn't know about Laito's spare core being able to act willy-nilly so he had no idea that the surprise got busted.
Laito wanted to keep it that way. He has quickly put on his Incandescent-brand acting skills.
And nonschalantly opened the front door of a suspiciously dark house.
"Surprise!!!"x33
Laito acted accordingly with a perfectly tuned reaction of: first shock, relief and gleeful disbelief in sequence.
"What?!? What are you all guys doing here?". He performed perfectly at the sight of his current classmates + Mineta jumping him with cheerful surprise.
It was nice.
In regards to his classmates, although they didn't spend much time together, they still treated Laito as one of their own.
Quite wholesome.
From what they knew, Laito's quirk, [Dreambinder], would soon force him back into the deep slumber where he would have to fight his own Nightmares.
If he defeated them, there was a chance he would be able to summon them into reality once he woke up.
If he loses he might never wake up again.
That was the blatant lie, mixed with half-truths and a grain of truth that he sold to the world.
It also covered his earlier ability to tie his shoelaces, as he explained that when he was in kindergarten he had a nightmare that he would never be able to tie his shoelaces… supposedly he defeated that "nightmare" and gained the ability to do just that… it was harder to explain why he couldn't do that anymore, but Laito managed to spout some more nonsense to cover that.
The send-off party has begun.
Laito was dragged around, he had noticed the nice decorations with the banners with "Good luck!" And "We believe in you!" And other sappy slogans.
It was quite charming.
Laito's entire class worked on that which included girls… which in turn made Laito worry about Mineta's behavior… but he behaved… for now. He was obviously struggling though.
Kirishima was also there. Although he and Laito were only acquaintances at best, a classmate is a classmate.
Thankfully the party didn't turn solemn.
Laito was kinda worried he would be treated as if he had cancer or something.
But thankfully that did not happened.
They had snacks, games and even a small karaoke contest!
Some things to not make things boring.
At some point Mineta snapped, but since Laito was prepared for a long time, he has managed to turn that into a "comic relief" type of situation.
Close call though. Better spare the details. The bro code requires that.
By the evening there was one last surprise that awaited Laito.
There was a sound of the doorbell.
'Huh? Someone's coming? But everyone's here!' Laito was confused, but as the party's "person of honour" he went to the door to find out.
He opened it… and froze mid movement.
What he looked directly at… were a man's ab's.
He slowly raised his head up in search of that man's face and he found it…
A chiseled face of a broadly grinning, blond haired, blue eyed, very tall and very muscular man. Dressed in a tight-suit with typical comic-like hero motifs…
"Yogami-shounen! Finally... I am here!... to make the wish of a potentially dying, brave young man come true!" All Might declared proudly right to Laito's face.
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[16 months left until MHA plot beginning]
[Chapter End] The story is not over yet
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