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Large flakes of snow danced in the sky as they fell. Twirling and twisting and free. Izuku stared out as his breath fogged the window, tranced. It only took a few seconds before he spun around and ran for Inko’s bedroom. “Mama! Mam–oof”
Barreling into the door, he realized that it wasn’t cracked but closed. He stared at it, slightly offended at it for stopping him before shaking it off. There was snow! Reaching up on his tiptoes, Izuku grabbed at the handle and pushed the door open properly. “Mama! It’s snowing!”
A lump under a mountain of blankets groaned, asking, “What is it Izuku?”
“It’s snowing, Mama! Come look!”
Izuku bounced on his toes waiting while Inko slowly pulled herself from the bed. She lightly teased, “It it now?”
“Yes!” he exclaimed. Inko chuckled lightly before following after him back through the living room. “See? See?” he asked, pointing out of the window before pressing his face against it to look outside better.
“Yes, I see that, Izuku! Just in time too…”
Izuku turned and looked up at her. “Huh?” What did that mean?
Inko smiled, picking him up. “Well, it’s not just another day, honey. It’s Christmas!”
That was the first Christmas that Izuku could remember.
It was also the last.
Spring came, and with it, his diagnosis. Shortly after, he turned five. For the first time, Kacchan didn’t come to his birthday. There were a lot of things that changed quickly. However, a lot of things changed slowly. Very slowly.
His mother changed slowly.
There was no turning point Izuku could look back to for when it happened. It just… happened. She came home later and later. She worked earlier and earlier. Izuku saw her less and less. When Inko was home, she was more and more tired. Always tired…
Always too tired to play. Always too tired to talk. Always too tired for him.
She was just tired. Izuku learned to let her rest. She needed rest. The rest she got was never enough.
It was snowing again. Izuku looked outside at the marvel as his breath fogged the window. The world was covered in a dreary grey that was still beautiful in its own way. He didn’t turn and get Inko… she was already taking a nap. He already knew that she wouldn’t get up to see this.
It was just him and the snow as it twirled in the sky and the TV droned on in the background. Just another day…
Izuku chewed on the end of his pencil as he looked over his notes. The rhythmic bouncing of his leg helped focus his mind on the paper in front of him, enough that he didn’t notice that the bell had rung until the classroom was nearly quiet. He finally raised his head and looked around in confusion before embarrassment filled him. He was the only one still in the room. Quickly, he packed up his things and scrambled out into the halls.
With the last class officially done, he couldn’t help the small bounce in step at the prospect of winter break. Finally, he would have all the time in the world to analyze different heroes. He could probably even go out and try to see a few fights in person! Death Arms was the only hero that he saw regularly while the man was on patrol.
That was when he heard it.
“What do you think you’ll get for Christmas?” a girl nearby excitedly asked, voice pitching up as she shook her friend by her shoulders. Izuku wasn’t sure why she caught his attention… “I really want that cute dolphin plushie that’s on TV!”
The friend looked at the girl, uncaring about the stares as she made a small scene. “Really? I want the catfish… It’s so derpy and cute. Although, I’m just happy we were able to have presents this year.”
“… Huh?”
Whatever was said next faded as Izuku watched them walk off down the hall. He stood off the the side as a memory scratched at his mind. Christmas and presents. Inko had genuinely smiled as he tore through the paper wrapped around a box in excitement. She said it was a Christmas present.
It had been an All Might onesie that he wore for years until he couldn’t fit in it anymore. He remembered how Inko had played with him afterwards, letting him save her just like All Might would. His throat burned as tears welled in his eyes.
Tilting his head down, he hunched in on himself and quickly strode for the doors. He needed to get out of Aldera before anyone noticed how much of a cry baby he was being. It was already looking to be a bad start to his two weeks off.
He doubted that Inko would do any of that for him again.
And she didn’t.
Izuku watched as the snow fell from behind the cold glass of the window like he had done year after year. The TV softly droned on about the debut of a new hero behind him. He didn’t exactly feel like taking notes on their quirk and fighting styles right now. He could do that later.
Inko slept soundly within her room, already exhausted from the day. Izuku wasn’t even sure what would make her get up from her naps anymore. She was always so tired. He just didn’t get it.
Although, it was fine. He was fine. It didn’t bother him.
It did.
Izuku stared out the window, slightly tuning Yamada out. The snow was falling a little heavier now. Although, it still was not enough to stick to the ground far below the window, but large enough to no longer be mistaken as rain.
Yamada was covering material he already knew, so it wasn’t like he needed to pay attention. However, he was still half listening to the lesson, just to make sure he could still answer any questions if he did get called on. While Yuuei wasn’t like Aldera, old habits were hard to break.
Winter break was almost upon them. Izuku wasn’t exactly looking forward to it, besides having more time for his hobbies. While everyone else was likely planning to go back home with their families, he found himself wanting to stay in the dorms. There just wasn’t really any reason to go home when Inko would be sleeping the entire time.
The holidays were just like any other day for him, after all.
Eventually, the bell ringed, signaling for everyone to leave the main building for the day. Izuku trailed after his friends as they made their way through the halls. Uraraka was complaining about English while Iida tried to convince her that learning a second language was important and to not give up. Izuku smiled at her attempts to brush Iida’s lecture off. Tsu chimed in, taking Iida’s side as Uraraka groaned.
As they all neared the gates, Izuku slowed, trying to let them walk off to the station without him. He had made his mind up earlier about staying on campus rather than heading home before the internships started. All of his comforts were here, at Yuuei. He didn’t really have anything back at the apartment.
However, Uraraka was quick to notice as he lagged behind, turning to ask him, “Are you not coming with us to the station? I thought you lived too far to walk… Are you staying after for extra training?”
Izuku scratched at the back of his neck, looking anywhere but her eyes. “W-well… Kind of. Yeah.” He could probably spend some time in the gym while he was still here. Although, he didn’t exactly feel good about lying to Uraraka. “I’m staying at the dorms.” She looked a little concerned by that. “I’ll be fine!”
Uraraka was still frowning at him. “Yeah, but–”
Todoroki flatly interjected, “I wish I could stay at the dorms.” Oh… Yeah… Endeavor… He turned to Izuku, offering, “You’re welcome to invite me over any time if you get bored here. Please do.” Maybe he would.
“Todoroki, I still have to pick up some presents for my siblings, kero. You could join me now if you don’t want to head home yet. I have some time before I have to catch the last train.” The boy nodded once enthusiastically.
“Oh nooo,” Uraraka groaned, hopefully forgetting about their last talking point. “I forgot to get presents!”
“Well, you could still grab something on the way,” Izuku offered.
“Yeah, but everything is going to be marked up this close to Christmas.”
Iida chopped his arm through the air. “Now now, Uraraka. It isn’t the price of the gift that matters, but the gesture. If everything is too expensive, then you can make one. Besides! Hand-made gifts tend to be more special!”
She didn’t look fully convinced, but still muttered, “Thank you, Iida.”
While Izuku didn’t want his friends to leave yet, a spike of anxiety coursed through him for them. “Shouldn’t you all be heading out? You shouldn’t miss your trains!”
“You’re right, Midoriya! Come on now,” Iida turned and started to lead the way to the gates. “We must be going!” Todoroki and Tsu were quick to follow the blue haired boy while Uraraka glanced back at him one last time.
Izuku couldn’t help but smile back at her reassuringly as he said, “I’ll be fine, Uraraka.”
She sighed and smiled. “Well, have a Merry Christmas, Deku!”
Izuku couldn’t help as his grin grew as he shouted back, “You too!”
The silence was near deafening. After living with nineteen other teenagers, Izuku was used to noise. Unsure what to do with himself, he simply laid sprawled out on the ground floor of the dorms. A clock ticked up on one of the high walls, marking the passage of time with a tick, tock, tick, tock… tick…
He pushed himself up, tired of the silence. Grabbing the remote, he flicked the television on before running upstairs for one of his notebooks. Quirk analysis was always his favorite pastime. However, there wasn’t anything too exciting going on as the news pattered on about local events and the weather.
Eventually, the restlessness returned. Itching at Izuku’s skin with the need to move… A run sounded nice right about then.
It ended up being exactly what he needed as the cold air bit at his ears and nose while the thin layer of snow across the ground crunched under his heel. A steady cacophony ricocheted across the campus. It was both a peaceful and unsettling calm.
He was the only one around. Yuuei shouldn’t be this empty.
Izuku completed a few more laps around the main campus before he grew restless of the grounds. He needed to get away from this silence. Maybe he wasn’t ready to stay at the dorms. The silence was suffocating. The aloneness pressed on his shoulders. Even though he hardly saw Inko, he knew she was there, just in the other room. Her soft, slow breathing and occasional snores. He wasn’t alone.
Here, there was no one else on campus. It was only him. For the first time in his life, there was no one. Izuku ran for the gates. He needed other people to pass by. The city would surely have people out and about on the streets. Maybe he could get a drink or a snack to justify his trip outside beyond needing space where the surroundings felt alive.
However, as his feet carried him to the gate, it refused to open. Student IDs couldn’t open the gate unless they received prior approval. Izuku stared at the cold metal in despair.
A student was heading back towards the dorms. Hizashi wasn’t aware of any students staying on campus over the holidays. This was a time to be spending with family. Did the little listener not have any? Actually… the kid had just been trying to get through the gate. Did they get stuck in here and not realize that the teachers were still around?
Well, it was possible that they hadn’t seen any other teachers yet. Most of the other staff had gone to their homes to take a break from the campus or spend time with their own families or friends. Hizashi hummed to himself. He didn’t have much family left these days and it was easier to live on Yuuei’s campus.
He looked over to a little black cat with white along his paws and neck. “What do you think, Eraser? Should I check on the little listener?” The cat broke into a yawn and squeaked a reply. He hummed again. “Yeah, I agree. Be back in a bit!” Eraser meowed again as Hizashi ruffled the fur on his head and left.
By the time Hizashi made it outside, he barely caught sight of the green haired kid heading through the doors to the 1-A dorms. Oh. There was only one kid it could be… It was Midoriya, wasn’t it?
He quickly made his way across the grounds and followed Midoriya inside the dorms. The boy was already sitting on the couch in front of the TV with a notebook in hand as the news played. Although, Midoriya was quick to notice his presence as he jumped slightly. “Oh, hi Yamada-sensei.”
Smiling reassuringly, Hizashi asked, “What’cha doing here, little listener? Did you get stuck on campus?”
“Uh… No.” Wait, what? “I wanted to stay here for the break.”
“Oh. Why?” Maybe he lived too far away or something. Surly any kid would have wanted to go see their family during break? Go home and bask in the old comfort of their rooms after moving to the dorms? Why didn’t Midoriya go home?
Midoriya shifted, either nervous or uncomfortable at the question. “I just didn’t want to go home. I thought the dorms would be better, but it’s… quiet. Not that I don’t like the silence! I’m just that I’m the only one here.”
“Ah, yeah, I get that. Is there any reason that you don’t want to go home that we should know about?” Hizashi asked.
The boy shook his head vigorously. “No! No! My mom just sleeps a lot. She’s always sleeping when I’m home. I didn’t want to bother her.”
That sounded like a form neglect. Damn. The worst part was how all Midoriya’s needs were likely met except his emotional ones in that case, so an investigation against his mother wouldn’t get anywhere. “Ah, well you probably still should have notified one of us that you were staying on campus.”
“Oh, sorry,” Midoriya said bashfully.
“It’s all good, little listener! Now you know for next time,” Hizashi reassured. Although, it looked as if there was still something on the kid’s mind that was bothering him. Ah, didn’t he mention being the only one in the dorms? “Are you doing alright here by yourself? You can visit us in the teacher dorms if you’re feeling lonely.”
Midoriya looked hopeful at that. “Really?”
“Of course! Anytime, listener!”
Yamada Hizashi
fyi midoriya from class 1-a is staying at the dorms
Aizawa Shouta
oh? I didn’t know about this
Yamada Hizashi
I already told him to tell us next time
Yagi Toshinori
He’s staying at the dorms? Why? I thought he would have wanted to visit his mother…
Nedzu
I’ve added his ID to the barrier.
Yamada Hizashi
I think its a case of emotional neglect
not 100% sure tho
told him that he’s welcome to hang out in the teacher dorms if he wants
hope thats coolio with everyone
Nedzu
I see no problems with that!
Only a few hours later did Izuku find himself awkwardly knocking on the doors to the older dorm building. It looked as if the staff for Yuuei were given the option to live on campus far before the dorms became mandatory. Part of him wondered if it was required for the teachers to live on campus as well after the attacks.
How many of them went home to be with their families? Or did their families live on campus with them? Was he intruding?
He was broken from his thoughts as the door was opened by a tall blond greeting him enthusiastically, “Ah, Midoriya-shonen, here, come in, come in.” All Might gestured as he moved aside. Izuku quickly ducked inside while All Might mumbled, “Damn, it’s cold out there.”
Yamada called out from his position snuggled up in a pile of blankets on the couch in English, “Swear jar time! Swearing in another language is still swearing, Yagi.”
Izuku nearly didn’t recognize the man with his hair flowing down his back. However, All Might didn’t miss a beat as he called back, “Like you don’t swear in English either! Also, I’d wager Midoriya has heard worse from Bakugou…”
Yamada huffed. “Probably not many swears in English.”
Izuku contemplated about saying something for a few seconds before he interjected, “Kacchan knows all the English ones too… It was the first thing he did when he learned that I—”
Midnight groaned from across the room. “Boys! Japanese please!”
“Sorry, Midnight-sensei!” Izuku said, but he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face from Yamada and All Might’s looks of surprise.
Although, it didn’t take long before All Might started to laugh before he said, “You never cease to surprise me, my boy!”
“Wait, wait! How proficient are you? You know that we’re still going over basic phrases…”
As Yamada questioned him more and more about his proficiency in English, Izuku came to realize that he was actually a little bit advanced compared to his peers. Which also made sense, given that he taught himself the language over the years thanks to his father’s few phone calls before he died and his fascination with All Might.
“You must be so bored in class!” the blond exclaimed. “You have permission to use it as a study hall if you want to.”
Despite how uncomfortable the attention made him, maybe that impulsive decision was the best one he had made in a while. He wouldn’t have to worry about keeping up appearances anymore in Yamada’s class when he zoned out or got distracted. Izuku didn’t regret staying on campus one bit.
All of the staff were quite welcoming as he came back to the staff dorms day after day. Even Nedzu wasn’t quite as scary as Aizawa had made him out to be. The principal had briefly sat behind him with his tablet as Izuku continued refining some of his older analysis entries. He could swear he felt the mustelid looking over his shoulder a few times.
It probably didn’t mean anything.
Izuku sat in the lounge area of the staff dorms again. Yamada and Midnight were the only ones down in the area with him. The silence was broken by the blond, it seemed like a common occurrence. “So, Midoriya, did you want anything for Christmas?”
The question threw him through a loop. “Huh?” Did he… want anything? “Uh… I haven’t really… thought about it?” Izuku didn’t get things for Christmas. He… what?
“Why not?”
Such a simple question. Izuku didn’t have a simple answer as he wrestled with the swirl of different emotions. He couldn’t think beyond the truth. “I haven’t had a present in years.” After a while, you just stop wishing. Regret filled him the moment the words left his mouth. He was pathetic, wasn’t he? He shouldn’t have said that.
Instead of pity, Yamada’s eyes were ablaze with determination and maybe a ring of subdued fury. “I cannot allow this!” the hero shouted.
“Hizashi!” Midnight hissed, looking up from where she was sprawled across the couch in fluffy pajamas. “It’s too early to be loud.”
“But, the little listener hasn’t had a proper Christmas in years!” He stood up quickly, nearly running for the stairwell. He was barely gone for a minute when Yamada returned with a tired and confused All Might in tow. The loud hero practically dragged the man behind him to the doorway as he called behind them, “Nem, look after the little listener, back in a bit!”
“Wait, Yamada, where are—” All Might was cut off by the door closing, his voice fading the further the shorter man led him away. Just as quickly as it all happened, the blonds were gone.
Midnight slowly sat up, watching Yamada continue to drag All Might along as they headed for the barrier. Izuku simply watched as well before the woman turned to him and asked, “Since he’s gone, mind helping Kurose and I pick our best ugly sweaters?”
“Uh… sure?”
“What are we doing here exactly?” Yagi asked. Hizashi had led the man to the closest mall to Yuuei. All sorts of shops and people surrounded them. Although, he had kind of forgotten that the public knew what Yagi Toshinori looked like and the fact that he was All Might. All the stares were starting to make him feel bad for dragging Yagi out of the safety of Yuuei.
Still, he simply flourished himself within the dramatics. Skipping in front of Yagi, he held his hands up to his sides and tilted his head back with his great reveal. “Christmas shopping!” Hizashi could take the stares. He lived for the attention of the stage. These people just needed to stop looking at Yagi.
The tall man still looked confused as he uttered, “Why me, though?”
“‘Cause you need to get out more, man,” Hizashi said simply. “Plus, you’re close with Midoriya, right? The kid was clearly familiar with you before Yuuei.” Hizashi ignored how Yagi coughed slightly in surprise. It wasn’t like either of them had tried to hide it very well. He pushed, “What would the little listener like for Christmas?”
Once Yagi cleared the blood from his throat he stammered, “We–Well, he loves heroes. So, he likes to collect merch and all that. A real fanboy.” He laughed. “You should have seen how he reacted when I first signed his notebook!”
“Merch feels like a cop out,” Hizashi said, miffed as he fell back into step beside Yagi. “I mean, we’re heroes! We can get our own merch too easily.” He frowned. “Also, it feels egotistical to give him my own merch.”
The old hero smirked. “Who said it had to be your own? Can you imagine Aizawa’s face if one of his students was wearing his merch?”
Hizashi was sure that his confusion was fully evident as he stared back at Yagi like he grew a second head. “Shouta doesn’t have merch. Underground hero, remember?”
And Yagi grinned. “I learned one thing with Midoriya… Unders still have merch. It’s simply underground. We’re not going to find it in a mall like this. C’mon.” With that, Yagi grabbed Hizashi’s wrist and started dragging him toward the exit with his long legs. It was probably deserved.
Izuku stared at the young woman Midnight had introduced as Kurose. She had navy blue hair that was blonde around the roots and green eyes that faded to brown at the edges. Below the elbow, her arms and hands turned a deep black that seemed to reflect no light.
He had never seen her before. Yuuei had a history of hiring a lot of heroes, but they did hire non-heroes from time to time. Was she a civilian or an underground pro? What was her quirk?
The woman laughed slightly. “I know I’m not exactly recognizable outside of my costume, but I can give you a hint.” Izuku shut his mouth with a hard click as he realized that he must have been mumbling. That was so embarrassing. Kurose must have taken his silence as further confusion as she said, “My quirk is Black Hole.”
Oh.
Oh! “Thirteen!” Izuku nearly shouted. “Your quirk is so cool.”
“Ah, ah!” Midnight interjected. “You can interrogate her about her quirk later. It’s sweater time!” The hero held up a deep purple sweater that was partially grey, at least from what Izuku could see under the clusters of pink, blue, and purple bows absolutely covering the sweater.
“Ooo! Yes, Kayama!” Suddenly diving over the armrest of the couch, Kurose starting digging through the sweaters she brought down to the common area. After a moment of throwing a few to the side, she pulled out a deep blue sweater with snowflakes and constellations drawn in a lighter blue and absolutely covered in fine glitter. “I know I wore it a few years ago, but what about this for me?”
Midnight cackled. “Yes! There’s going to be glitter everywhere! This is going to be amazing.” Then she turned to Izuku, a gleam in her eye. “We can’t forget about Midoriya… I’m thinking something green.”
Wait. What exactly did Izuku get himself into?
She dived into a pile, slowly tossing anything that had green on it off to the side. “If anything catches your eye, tell us. Don’t be shy… Wait.” Midnight stopped and pulled out a sweater that nearly matched the color of his hair under all the tinsel and fake ornaments hanging off the fabric. “You could be a Christmas tree.”
The woman had said it with such excitement under her breath the Izuku couldn’t help but laugh as he imagined himself in the sweater as well. “I could!” he agreed. Midnight wasted no time urging him to put it on after that.
Slowly, he relaxed as they all took turns picking out funny sweaters that were decorated in an over the top way and even trying some on. Faintly, he could acknowledge that he hadn’t had this much fun during the holiday break before.
A constant smile pulled on his lips as he started at himself in the mirror, wearing the first ugly sweater Kayama pulled out for him.
It wasn’t even Christmas yet.
For the first time in years, Izuku was excited.
The next day was Christmas Eve. Lunch Rush had knocked on the door to the Class 1-A dorms early in the morning. Izuku had gladly spent the rest of his morning helping the hero bake all sorts of cookies, mostly sugar cookies, and decorating them. Eventually, Yamada and Kayama had found where Izuku went for the day, dragging a tired Aizawa behind them.
He never thought he’d see Aizawa in pink pajamas covered in flour. It was hard to be intimidated by the man after that, even as he felt the effects of Erasure as he laughed. Somehow laughing harder as Yamada wiped his homeroom teacher out by using dough like a snowball to the face.
Towards the evening, most of the staff still lingering around the campus were either busy packing or already on their way to visit their families. However, Yamada, Kayama, Aizawa, and Kurose revealed that they celebrated together in the morning the past few years and that Izuku was free to join them if he wished.
It was too kind. They didn’t have to include him. Still, Izuku only had one request… “Can I invite Todoroki too?”
All of it led to Christmas Day as Izuku stared outside the window. The TV played softly behind him as he watched the snowflakes dance outside in the early light. The glass fogged with each breath as he smiled. Turning around, he yelled, “Todoroki, it’s snowing!”
The other boy startled awake, clearly disorientated from sleep. “What? Huh?”
“It’s snowing! Come look!”
Todoroki blinked blearily, turning to squint out the window. “Huh. Nice.” Getting to his feet, he joined Izuku by the window. “What’s so special about the snow?” he asked.
“Well, isn’t it pretty? I guess I just wanted someone to watch it with me…” Izuku trailed off. Maybe he was being too much again. Maybe he should have let him sleep in.
Todoroki stared outside. “I suppose it is pretty,” he said simply, a small smile across his face. “It’s nice. Thanks.” Izuku’s worries melted away as he allowed his own smile to tug at the corners of his mouth. Todoroki wanted to be bothered.
Together, they stood and watched the snow fall as the sun rose. Today was not just another day.
Together, they sat within the staff dorm common area. Todoroki had brought a red and white Christmas sweater that made him look like even more like peppermint than he normally did. Or maybe like a candy cane.
Meanwhile, Izuku had him help put Christmas tree lights in his hair to compliment the tinsel and ornament sweater Kayama had given him yesterday. All Might couldn’t hold back his laughter once he came down to join the festivities.
The few utterances of ‘my boy’ in the middle of it did not help Izuku’s case with Todoroki. Especially when the two toned boy simply gave him a look that screamed, ‘I told you so.’ Although, it did help distract Izuku from going on about Santa Might in his head as he stared at the costume the man was in.
Kurose and Kayama slowly demolished the large plate of cookies Lunch Rush had left them from their position on the couch next to Izuku. They wore the sweaters they had picked out for each other.
Meanwhile, Aizawa looked like a pissed off cat with is matching black sweater with a grumpy white cat wearing a Santa hat. Yamada just grinned as he practically hung off the other man’s shoulders.
“Alright, I think it’s present time!” Yamada shouted.
Kayama hissed, “Hizashi, volume.”
“Sorry, sorry. Anyway, my present first!” Before anyone could interrupt, the blond launched himself off the couch and singled out a smaller box from under the tree. “Midoriya!”
Izuku barely had time to react before the box was shoved in his lap. “Wha—”
“Open it! Open it!” Yamada pleaded excitedly.
However, Izuku slowly tuned him out as he stared at the box in his hands… When was the last time someone gave him a present like this? He looked up, surrounded by so much cheer and warmth that made the memory of spending the winter break alone sting so much harder. It didn’t have to be that way. They had already done so much for him.
Tears blurred his vision and he smiled widely, genuinely. “Thank you.”
“You haven’t even opened it! C’mon,” Yamada replied, continuing to poke the box. “I bet you’ll love it.”
Izuku laughed at the man’s over the top antics and wiped away his tears while Todoroki pressed into his side comfortingly. “Okay, okay.” Quickly, he tore through the paper wrapping the box and opened it. A thin off-white fabric coiled around itself as he pulled it out.
“Wait–” Yamada cut Aizawa off.
“Remind you of anything?” he asked Izuku. It looked like one of Aizawa’s capture weapons…
“Hizashi, what the hell?! Is that one of my—”
“No! It’s not!” Yamada said. “It’s merch!”
“What.” Aizawa deadpanned.
All Might burst out laughing until he was cut off by a bloody cough. Izuku set the scarf off to the side, rushing to All Might’s side as he exclaimed in surprise. It calmed down after a moment with the man waving him off by saying, “I’m fine, my boy.” Izuku could feel Todoroki’s smirk behind him. “Aizawa, you should have seen your face! Ha!”
“I hate all of you.”
Kayama singed from the side, “You love us.”
The chaos of the morning didn’t end there as everyone traded turns handing gifts to each other. Izuku had made sure that he brought his gift for Todoroki with them so the boy wouldn’t be excluded. Was he slightly encouraging his wild conspiracies by giving him red string? Probably.
Nedzu even quickly stopped by and gave everyone a gift as well, including Todoroki. It was… interesting. The principal gave Izuku a laptop with a wink that clearly set most of the adults in the room on edge.
It probably didn’t mean anything.
The rest of their morning was spent listening to Yamada reenact crazy adventures he’s had in the field, paired with All Might sometimes taking the stage and matching Yamada’s energy with his own crazy tales from America. Aizawa went back upstairs to sleep more at some point in the middle of it all.
By the end, Izuku didn’t want to leave and his cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing. He wanted the moment to stay forever. The smile didn’t leave his face as he and Todoroki got ready for another sleepover in the Class 1-A common area.
That was the first Christmas that Izuku could remember having so much fun.
It was also wasn’t the last.
Christmas really wasn’t just another day…