Chapter Text
♫Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Man it doesn't show signs of stoppin'
And I brought some corn for poppin'
The lights are turned way down low
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow♫
It was the Christmas break, finally. Class 2-A was in their second year of hero training and U.A. had (fortunately) given them two weeks off (a little later than the rest of the schools. Tonight, it was Christmas’s Eve) to visit their families and spend the holidays with them, after weeks of arduous hero training. Izuku was sitting on the train that would take him home, thankful for the warmth inside and in the company of his two best friends, Tenya Ida and Ochaco Uraraka.
Izuku had got lost in the conversation after looking at Uraraka. She was wearing a thick pink winter coat that matched perfectly with her always rosy cheeks and made her look way prettier than usual. Her brown hair had gotten longer, now nearly touching the middle of her back. She usually braided it for training and class, so that it wouldn’t get in her way; but Izuku liked it more when she wore it loose, like now, letting the locks of hair frame those eyes that meant the world to him, and that smile that could melt his insides even in that hell freezing weather.
“Deku?” he heard Uraraka beside him
“Uh?” he snapped out of his thoughts. Had she asked him something? Had he been staring at her? “Sorry, got lost in my thoughts,” not exactly a lie, he thought, feeling his face getting warmer as his cheeks dyed a faint red. “What were you saying?”
She smiled. “Don’t worry. You wouldn’t be Izuku Midoriya if you didn’t get lost in your thoughts or mumble, right, Ida?” Ida nodded as Uraraka continue. “Anyway, I was thinking… We’re all staying in town, right? So, what about we hang out one of these days? We could go to the movies, or something. I think the next Star Wars movie premieres next week.”
Izuku frowned. “Uraraka, you like Star Wars?”
“Yeah! My dad is a big Star Wars fanboy. There was no way he was going to raise me without including Star Wars in my education.”
She’s perfect, Izuku thought to himself, his heart clenching in response, like saying, I know!
“I think that’s a great idea, Uraraka. We have really few times to enjoy ourselves outside U.A. I like your idea about the movies, and if Midoriya likes it too, we could watch Star Wars. I’m not very familiar with it but I could catch up this weekend…,” Ida said
Izuku and Uraraka looked at each other and then at Ida. Izuku asked first, “Ida, you do know it’s seven movies, right? And each movie is about two hours long? With food and restroom breaks, it would take approximately a day and half to marathon the seven movies.”
“I don’t think he understands what he’s getting himself into,” Uraraka said, not taking her confused eyes off Ida’s confident face.
“I do understand it,” Ida said, gesturing with his hands as he always did. “Besides, I don’t think my brother’s watched Star Wars yet. It will be an interesting activity to do with him. It might cheer him up.”
They nodded, understanding what Ida meant. Since Ida’s brother, Tensei, had been severely wounded by the hero killer Stain, he had been going through a pretty tough, slow physical therapy and his family was worried he would go into depression.
“You know what, Ida? If your bother likes Star Wars, bring him over too. I’m sure he’ll be happy to meet your friends. And we’d be honored to meet him,” Uraraka said, then looking at Izuku, who nodded enthusiastically.
“That’s a great idea, Uraraka,” he said. “Ask him, Ida, and then you tell us what he said.”
“I’ll do!” Ida said, getting up and adjusting the straps of his back pack over his blue winter coat. “Well, this is my stop. Happy holidays!”
When the train started moving again, an awkward silence fell between Izuku and Ochaco. He was fidgeting with the end of his own coat, looking everywhere but her. He guessed he could have asked her about her favorite things about Star Wars, but he didn’t want to get all nerdy on her. There had to be something else they could talk about.
Meanwhile, Ochaco was just thinking the very same thing. How was it that she didn’t have any conversation topics with her very best friend? Then realization came over her like a snow ball. They were usually training, talking about new techniques and heroes, doing their homework and training more. She didn’t really know him at all. And still, she felt so close to him, like she had known him forever. She thought about asking him for his favorite western Christmas movies, or what he liked to do in his free time, but in less time than she could assemble her courage, they were at their stop.
The station was buzzing with people all around, probably trying to stay warm too. Outside, snow was falling, turning everything into deadly freezing white. If they stepped out, even to catch a cab, they’d most certainly freeze off their ears and noses. Fortunately, Izuku’s home was near, easy to get there in five minutes in he ran. He roughly knew where Ochaco’s home was, and it worried him that it was approximately fifteen minutes away even at top speed.
“Oh, no! The weather channel said the snow storm would hit until the night. Do you see any cabs out there, Deku?” Uraraka asked, since he was the closest to the subway exist, and taller than her by a few inches (he had grown those inches during the last year and she couldn’t be any gladder he had. She loved the way he stood in front of her on the station, as if he was protecting her from the worst of the cold wind). Izuku glanced outside, not a single cab at sight.
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
“How am I supposed to get home? It’s too cold to walk, I’ll be a popsicle within five minutes if I can’t get a cab.”
“Your parents aren’t home yet?” Izuku asked, unconsciously getting a step closer to her, looking for her warmth.
“They texted me earlier. They’re on the way,” Ochaco was running through her options mentally in case her parents couldn’t make it on time, quickly discarding the too stupid ones, the ones that wouldn’t work and the ones that would get her butt frozen (like making the run to her home, for example). Maybe she could buy a train ticket back to U.A. The security guards were there. She could explain her situations and they might let her into the dorms until her parents could come.
“Uraraka…,” Izuku spoke, calling for her attention. She looked up, finding him way closer to her than he was a moment ago. She could smell the peppermint toothpaste on his breath, inviting her to lean closer.
In the back of her mind, in the out of logic part of her brain, she thought about the Amortentia potion in the Harry Potter books, and how if she smelled it, it would be exactly the same smell as Izuku’s breath in that moment.
She felt her cheeks turning a furious shade of red, but she didn’t move, 1) because she didn’t really want to, and 2) because there was nowhere else to move, as packed as the station was. Izuku’s face was turning the same shade of red, and she wondered if somehow he had guessed what she was thinking, but his quirk was not mind-reading, thank goodness. Ochaco’s thoughts were safe in her own mind, unless her cheeks gave them up, that is.
“Uhh, if-if you like, we could go to my place. It’s w-way closer, a-and you can wait for your parents there,” Izuku stammered, nervously looking at her. Was it physically possible for her to blush any more than she already had?
“Are y-you sure, Deku? I mean, it’s Christmas Eve. I don’t want to interrupt any plans you have with your mom.”
“Well, I don’t want you to catch a cold out there, and today would be way better if you’re with me…,” Izuku said, maybe too honestly. Uraraka looked at him, her eyes widened. He wondered what he had said to upset her, and then it him: «today would be way better if you’re with me». How could he be so dumb? He was risking scaring her away. “I mean…”
“I’d love to!” Uraraka said, interrupting his apology. “I’d love to go with you and wait for my parents at your house.”
He couldn’t stopp the wide smile that pulled his lips up. Uraraka wanted to spend more time with him? On Christmas Eve? There was no way he wasn’t dreaming. He wanted to pinch his arm, but if it was a dream, he didn’t really want to wake up just yet.
“But how do we get there? I mean, I’m fast, yes, but not that fast. Even if I use my quirk on our backpacks and clothing, I’d still hold you back, Deku.”
Izuku pursed his lips, pondering how to solve that problem. Then he snapped his fingers, like he was trying to catch the idea he’d just had.
“You could leap on my back and I could use my quirk to go faster. I already controlled twenty percent of my power, and if you make yourself and the back pack weightless, I’d have no resistance. I think I could get us to my place in… uhh, two minutes top? Maybe less.”
Uraraka smiled, “I like your idea. Let’s do it!”
They managed to strap the two backpacks together after five minutes working on them. Uraraka took her glove off and touched both backpacks, making them float together. Before they got out of reach, she grabbed them and strapped them safely on her. Then, Izuku knelt in one knee to make it easier for her leaping on his back. Hands shaking, she drove her left arm over his left shoulder and her right arm under his right arm, binding her hands together over his firm, broad, toned chest.
That part of her brain that was getting really annoying wondered why he didn’t try using a tighter hero suit, one that could really show his firm muscles. She stopped that train of thought right there, she needed to focus at the task at hand.
Before he got up, she rolled up a little the sleeve of her coat and touched the skin of her arm with her ungloved hand. She felt herself getting weightless, her feet separating from the ground as she floated up. Izuku held her arms so that she wouldn’t float away while she rolled down the sleeve and put her glove back on.
Izuku tried to control himself. There was no way his hormonal teenager body would forget soon how it felt to have Uraraka’s arms around him, or how she was wrapping her legs around his waist, but he had priorities, for goodness’ sake!
Oh, but her toned, strong legs around his waist, so close to…
NO!!!
He got up, still holding Uraraka’s arms (he refused to hold her by her thighs, that would just drive him nuts and he needed to concentrate on not getting them crashed into a wall). As soon as they got out of the station and out in the streets the cold breeze took away the little warmth they had gathered inside. Not wasting time, Izuku switch on his quirk and started running, feeling Uraraka’s warm cheeks and breath on his neck, probably hiding her face from the cold burst of wind.