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The very minute the first snow of the season begins falling on U.A.’s campus, every student is in a rush to get a look out the window or run out the door to play. The coming weekend is the holiday break, a week to celebrate, and the whole school is buzzing with excitement for the season. After an eventful afternoon of snowball fights and frozen fingers, most of class 1-A is gathered around the common room TV as it plays an old All Might holiday special that none of them are actually paying attention to. Not that Izuku needs to—he’s seen it dozens of times already. A few of the more ambitious students are half-heartedly studying, but most are just chatting idly about their holiday plans. Seated on the couch with his legs tucked beneath him, mug of tea in hand, Izuku is enjoying the atmosphere and camaraderie of the season.
Next to him, Kaminari, hanging upside-down off the couch, kicks Sero to get his attention, drawing Izuku’s interest as well. “What’re you doing this weekend?”
Sero pushes Kaminari’s foot out of his face with a teasing scowl. “Not much. Just hanging out with my family, for the most part. My little sister is in a choir thing, so we’re going to that.”
Ashido, on the couch across from them, interrupts him with a high-pitched whine, dramatically throwing her hands in the air and almost hitting Hagakure in the process. “I wish I had something fun to do. This time of year I always just end up wanting to cuddle with somebody, and go for a walk in the snow.”
“And drink hot chocolate,” Hagakure adds.
Ashido nods excitedly in agreement.
“Well,” Kaminari returns with an exaggerated wiggle of his brows, “if you want someone to cuddle…”
He yelps as Ashido throws a pillow at him, hitting him right in the face. He scrabbles to get rightside-up and Izuku and Sero try their best to dodge his flailing legs, Izuku’s tea nearly sloshing out of his mug.
“You’d cuddle anyone with a pulse!” Ashido accuses, sticking her tongue out like a petulant child.
He retrieves the pillow and tucks it behind his head as Izuku and the rest of his classmates laugh at their theatrics. “You say it like it’s a bad thing.”
Uraraka, on Hagakure’s other side, puts her arm out to stop Ashido from throwing another projectile. “Well, my parents are coming to visit for the weekend, since my birthday is coming up too, and we’re gonna eat so much food!” Izuku sees her eyes sparkle at the idea; she’s undoubtedly imagining her parents’ cooking, and hopefully some mochi to top it all off.
Yaoyorozu, from one of the chairs, nods her agreement. “The meals are my favorite part of the holidays as well,” she sighs dreamily. “Our cooking staff prepares some wonderful seasonal dishes!”
She doesn’t seem to notice the way her friends stare at the mention of her family’s cooking staff, or how Uraraka mutters something about wishing she had that kind of money.
Izuku, placing his mug carefully on the coffee table, now joins the conversation, practically bursting with excitement at the prospect of celebrating the holidays. This has always been his favorite time of the year, and he’s glad everyone else is into it too. “My mom and I always go all out, especially with the baking and decorations! I’ll bring you all back plenty of sugar cookies!”
“Make that double,” Satou laughs. “I’ve got so much baking to do! I can’t wait to get started!”
Uraraka is clearly enthused at the idea of everyone’s cookies.
The only other person in the room is Todoroki, tucked in the corner chair with his nose in a book, only half paying attention to the conversation at hand. Izuku, worried that he might feel left out of the conversation, turns his attention to him. “What about you, Todoroki?”
He looks up from his book, apparently surprised to find all eyes on him, but he only shrugs. “I’m not doing anything. My family has never celebrated the holidays.”
Izuku practically gasps in shock, but clamps his mouth shut at the last second in an attempt to avoid embarrassing Todoroki. He’s never celebrated the holidays?!
Ashido, however, has no such qualms. “Whaaaaaat? Nothing? No cookies or decorations or special food?”
Expression inscrutable as always, Todoroki shrugs again.
But the gears in Izuku’s mind are already turning, coming up with idea after idea. He can’t believe that Todoroki has never celebrated any sort of winter holiday! Izuku, of course, knows a bit about his home life, so it doesn’t entirely surprise him that Endeavor isn’t the celebrating type, but Todoroki is Izuku’s friend now, and Izuku will be damned if his friend isn’t going to have a great holiday!
He barely notices everyone’s surprised expressions as he leaps to his feet, having made a decision, a fire burning in his eyes. “Why don’t we have a holiday party in the dorms, before we leave for the weekend? That way, we can all enjoy the holidays—and celebrate Uraraka’s birthday―together!”
His eyes snap to Yaoyorozu as she claps her hands together at the idea, eyes shining. Kaminari exclaims a loud cheer in support. Most everybody excitedly gets to their feet, all talking over each other—except for Todoroki, who is looking around at the commotion, a bit bewildered. He’ll explain everything to him in a moment. But first, Izuku turns to Yaoyorozu to hash out the details. They’ll have to clear it with Mr. Aizawa, of course, but, Izuku reasons, if Yaoyorozu was to ask, there’s no way he would say no. (Izuku thinks that he might be refused, given his status as a ‘problem child.’) A party needs to have decorations, which Yaoyorozu volunteers to provide, and food, which Satou promises will be no problem. Plus, Izuku would like to extend the invite to class 1-B as well, if everyone else is okay with it.
As soon as Izuku finishes outlining the plan, Yaoyorozu, all but bouncing with excitement, rushes off to get the okay from their teacher, and Izuku turns to Todoroki.
Now that the initial excitement of the idea has died down, he begins to think that maybe he should have asked Todoroki first… after all, what if Todoroki has no interest in participating in a party? He isn’t exactly the most social person… oh no, he hopes he hasn’t put too much pressure on him! He just got caught up in the idea of celebrating with his friends. Stomach already beginning to sink, he considers immediately apologizing, but when Todoroki looks up at his approach, he can’t find any animosity in his gaze. So, nervously fidgeting with his hands, he simply asks, “what do you think?” searching his friend’s face for approval or rejection or—
“It sounds like fun. Great idea, Midoriya.”
The pressure in Izuku’s chest disappears with Todoroki’s approval, and his emotions switch course once again. Izuku beams, the whole of his happiness directed at Todoroki as he promises that it will be tons of fun. Then, Yaoyorozu returns with good news, and his mind returns to churning out idea after idea about how to make this the best first holiday party that Todoroki could ever go to.
The next three days are a whirlwind of activity and excitement. Everyone in class A is ecstatic at the idea of a joint party with class B, so they spread the invite quickly, and a few of them even get in on the party planning. Kendou offers to help Yaoyorozu run errands, and paper snowflake making becomes sort of a contest between some of the boys in the group, especially Kamakiri and Rin, whose quirks give them an advantage over those using scissors. Kirishima manages to drag Bakugou into it, and as soon as he decides to participate, his competitive side takes over. Proud as always, he boasts that his snowflakes are the best by far, and that everyone else’s shitty snowflakes are an embarrassment. Then, Iida scolds him for his rudeness, which only results in Bakugou almost blowing up all the snowflakes they had made so far. Luckily, Kirishima intervenes before all their hard work goes up in flames. Although, Izuku has to admit, Kacchan’s snowflakes are pretty good.
Izuku, of course, wants to help with all the preparations he can. He joins Yaoyorozu in the lounge as she takes the lead on the decoration front, using her quirk to create blue and white streamers and showing Sero where to tape them up. Next to them, Jirou has one of her earphone jacks plugged into her computer, creating a playlist for the party. Through all the bustle, Izuku brings Todoroki into the action as best he can, teaching him how to make paper snowflakes and chatting about all the traditions he and his mom have: making hot chocolate and cookies, watching holiday movies, giving gifts, and generally trying their best to spread love and cheer to everyone they know.
That evening, after an hour of cutting up snowflakes, the two of them are studying together in Izuku’s room, working out some difficult math problems assigned by Ectoplasm, who apparently doesn’t care if he gives students homework over holiday break.
After a little while of working in silence, Todoroki looks up from his set of math problems and clears his throat. When Izuku’s gaze meets his, he notices the little furrow in his brows that indicates Todoroki’s nervousness.
“Midoriya,” he starts, hesitates, sighs.
That’s all it takes for Izuku’s anxiety to immediately kick into high gear. Why is Todoroki nervous? He keeps shifting his gaze from Izuku to the ground, apparently struggling to find the words he’s looking for. Worst-case scenarios flash through Izuku’s mind like the world’s most depressing movie: Todoroki doesn’t want the party to happen after all. He’s angry that Izuku is dragging him into this. He’s tired of being Izuku’s friend. Izuku knows these are unlikely scenarios, so pushes these unwanted thoughts away, but the fear in his gut remains, cold and tightly coiled like a snake.
As Izuku practically holds his breath, Todoroki tries again. “I… want to thank you.”
Palpable relief washes over Izuku, and he silently berates himself for assuming the worst. Still, he finds himself wide-eyed, at a loss for words at his friend’s sudden confession, not understanding where it’s coming from.
“You’ve met my father,” Todoroki states bluntly, frowning at the word, “and you know I didn’t have an… enjoyable childhood.”
Izuku watches as he absentmindedly brushes his fingers over his scar, the look in his eyes troubled. Sympathy crashes through him like a wave, and he has to fight to restrain himself from wrapping Todoroki in a hug; he’s just not sure if that would be welcome. He doesn’t know if Todoroki wants to be touched—they’ve never talked about boundaries before, but he doesn’t seem to be a touchy person like Izuku is.
“So. I really appreciate what you’re doing. With the party, I mean. Thank you for including me.” Todoroki is looking at the ground.
Tears rise, unbidden, in Izuku’s eyes, and he hastily wipes them away. Now is not the time. Todoroki looks up and Izuku holds his gaze, summoning as much reassurance into his tone as he can. “Todoroki, you have nothing to thank me for,” he says gently. “You’re my friend, so of course I’ll always include you! I care about you, and so does everybody else in our class. You deserve to have a happy holiday!”
Todoroki smiles, ever-so-slightly, nothing more than a twitch at the corner of his mouth, and something strange bubbles up in Izuku’s chest; a lightness that he can’t explain.
“Thank you,” he says simply, and, just like that, he returns to his homework, leaving Izuku with the beginnings of a blush that he can’t explain and a feeling in his chest that he can’t name.
Izuku doesn’t get much more math done that night.
When the night of the party has finally arrived, Izuku is ready far too early. He’s been pacing the room, wearing the ugly holiday sweater that Yaoyorozu made for him: a dark green turtleneck featuring a Christmas tree design, decorated with colorful ornaments and a star on top in the shape of All Might’s face. Izuku loves it. He doesn’t know how Yaoyorozu has the ability to make things so detailed—the thought makes him itch for his latest hero analysis notebook—but she made one for everyone coming to the party, even those in class B.
He can’t stop thinking. He’s more nervous than he anticipated, and all of his thoughts are centered around Todoroki. Izuku is certain that Todoroki will love the holidays—who doesn’t? But, since this is the first time he’s celebrating, it has to be really, really good. Todoroki is a reserved person, so maybe such a big party wasn’t a great idea to start out with. In Izuku’s mind, it’s the more the merrier, especially during the holidays, but will Todoroki feel the same? He realizes he’s been muttering to himself and stops in his tracks, frustratedly dragging a hand down his face. No. He just has to have faith that this will be the best holiday party anyone has ever been to. Especially Todoroki. Although, that isn’t exactly the only reason he’s been pacing. On top of all that, there’s the strange new nervousness that he’s been plagued with lately whenever he’s near Todoroki. He just can’t pinpoint the source of it—he hasn’t felt like this around him before, so what’s changed? Sure, he’s probably overthinking it, as he does everything, but it seems important that he figures it out, before it—god forbid—starts to impact their friendship.
He checks his alarm clock again. 4:45. It’s probably late enough now that he can go downstairs, right? The party is supposed to start in fifteen minutes. Izuku takes a deep breath, gives himself a final once over in the mirror, and heads out the door toward Todoroki’s room.
He knocks—three raps in quick succession, then two. “Todoroki?” He calls. “The party’s about to start, are you ready?”
When he opens the door, Izuku sucks in a breath. Todoroki’s sweater is patterned with little candy canes, the red and white matching his hair perfectly. It has a turtleneck collar, which Todoroki fidgets with as he steps into the hallway to greet Izuku. It’s adorable. He takes in the small pout on Todoroki’s lips, the expression in his mismatched eyes, one bright blue, one stormy grey, and thinks:
Oh. Oh, shit.
Izuku can feel his face begin to heat up, and internally, he panics. Well, sure, he can’t deny that Todoroki is attractive, it’s not like he hasn’t seen it before, and after all, the girls in class A often refer to him as the hottest, but he’s a friend! A very good friend who probably—no, definitely—doesn’t think of Izuku in any such way! Todoroki would be embarrassed if he knew what Izuku was thinking! Besides, he knows that Todoroki, like himself, didn’t have many friends growing up, so the last thing they need is Izuku getting all weird for no reason. It would just complicate things and make Todoroki uncomfortable! Izuku tries to breathe deeply. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Now is not the time to think about this. They have a party to attend.
Todoroki tugs his collar again as Izuku attempts to compose himself. “This is… a little itchy,” he confesses.
“O-oh!” Izuku hadn’t considered that the sweater might make him uncomfortable. He rushes to reassure him. “You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to, I’m sure Yaoyorozu will understand if it’s uncomfortable!”
But Todoroki shakes his head. “It’s not that bad.” He closes his door behind him. “I’m ready.”
They walk down the stairs together, and Izuku (nervously) starts telling him about the preparations they’ve been doing for the past couple hours. They hung more decorations from the ceiling, heated up a huge pot of hot chocolate, and tried to keep Kaminari from squirting the whipped cream directly into his mouth. Sero had wrestled the can out of his hands. But then they all had to get ready, and Izuku can’t wait to see what all of their sweaters look like! Once they reach the common room, they can see that several people have already arrived: besides the party planners themselves, Izuku spies Kirishima greeting Tetsutetsu with a complicated handshake; Kendou and Komori have taken to the couch with Yaoyorozu and Jirou, and Monoma is there early, despite the fact that he had told everyone he had no interest in coming to a party hosted by his rival class.
Yaoyorozu spots them first as they walk in, waving them over to the lounge. “Todoroki,” she calls, eyes bright with excitement, “I’m so glad you came!”
“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it.”
His expression is deadpan as usual, but Izuku can tell that he means it.
Looking around at their small group, Izuku has to admit that Yaoyorozu has gone all-out creating everyone’s sweaters. Her own turtleneck is mostly red, but it has a shiny gold pattern that looks like the ribbons on a present. Jirou’s is music themed, with the notes of some popular carols printed across it in rows. Komori’s, of course, is patterned with mushrooms in green and red, and Kendou’s features a little sleigh full of presents pulled by reindeer, one of which has a brightly-lit red nose that blinks on and off.
After they exchange pleasantries, and Izuku compliments Yaoyorozu’s sweater making abilities (with promises to ask her more about it for his journals later), Izuku leaves them to get himself and Todoroki a couple of mugs of hot chocolate. The walk to the kitchen allows him to really look at the decorations, and Izuku is astounded by the amazing job everyone did. The whole area has been transformed into some sort of icy wonderland, with blue and white streamers hung artfully from the ceiling and walls, paper snowflakes dangling at various heights above them. On the left wall are a row of pine trees made from felt, decorated with ornaments and fake snow to give an impression of a forest in wintertime. Yaoyorozu and Kendou had gone out to get paper and felt, and lots of his classmates had worked together to cut and tape them all to the walls.
Once in the kitchen, Izuku fills two large mugs with steaming hot cocoa, adds a generous dollop of whipped cream to each, and finishes them off with marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles. Perfect. He smiles to himself. If Todoroki doesn’t love this, then, well, Izuku doesn’t know what he’d love!
When he returns to the group and carefully hands Todoroki his drink, he watches his face carefully, noting the slight uptick of his lips that is as much a smile as Todoroki ever shows—and that makes Izuku’s breath hitch. He notices him cool it slightly by holding it in his right hand, and he takes a tentative sip… and closes his eyes with a hum of contentment.
Score one for Izuku.
He can’t help but to laugh; Todoroki looks like a cat napping in the sunshine. Todoroki opens his eyes and clears his throat, clearly a bit embarrassed, but Izuku won’t judge, so he gives him a big grin.
“Do you like it?” Izuku asks hopefully, though he thinks he knows the answer already.
“Yes,” Todoroki says as he looks up quickly, and probably a little more forcefully than he meant to, which prompts the whole group around them to laugh as well.
But Izuku is trying to hold back his giggles to tell him… “Todoroki, you’ve uh… got a little something right there,” he motions to his upper lip.
Yaoyorozu, also laughing, pops a mirror from her arm and points it at him, revealing to him is impressive whipped cream moustache.
Todoroki’s cheeks redden slightly when he sees his reflection, and he swipes his tongue across his lip to remove it.
Izuku coughs suddenly, hiding his sudden fierce blush behind his hand; of course now is the time that he would really notice Todoroki’s lips, like it’s the first time he’s seen him. He’s always thought him attractive—who doesn’t—but at first he had been intimidating and then he had turned into a friend, so it’s not like Izuku ever really thought about it! Until he had to go and give himself an adorable whipped cream ‘stache and have the nerve to lick it off instead of, like, wiping it on his arm! And Izuku had the unfortunate luck of realizing only several minutes earlier that he has a crush.
Todoroki is looking at him strangely; concerned. He pats Izuku’s back like one would pat a choking child, causing Izuku’s mortification to skyrocket, and he asks, “Are you alright, Midoriya? Did you choke on a marshmallow?”
And of course Jirou lets out a bark of laughter, swiftly covering her mouth when Yaoyorozu elbows her lightly, and of course Todoroki notices this and frowns in confusion, and of course Izuku is dying right now so that he doesn’t ever have to think about this again.
Thankfully, a distraction arrives. “Heyyyy, party people!” Kaminari calls out as he descends the stairs, joined by Sero, Ashido, Hagakure, and Ojirou. Kaminari is decked out in some sort of elf outfit, with not only the sweater made by Yaoyorozu, but also a pair of silly pointed boots and a hat that gives him pointy ears. It has some sort of rod sticking out of the top of it, with a little plant hanging off of it above his head.
Jirou groans, warning Kendou and Komori loudly so that he can hear. “Watch out, Jamming-yay over there’s got mistletoe, and he’s not afraid to use it.”
“Damn straight,” he calls back with a pair of finger guns pointed her way.
“I thought you were bi,” Ashido retorts.
Kaminari shrugs. “Potato, potahto.”
Todoroki turns to Jirou with a questioning look. “Why does he have mistletoe?”
Jirou gapes at him, incredulous. “Todoroki. Dude. You don’t know what happens when two people stand under the mistletoe?”
He shakes his head, expression blank.
She levels a wicked smirk at Izuku, who has finally stopped coughing, but his face is still beet red. “They have to kiss.” She wiggles her eyebrows, and Izuku is going to sink into the floor right now and never be heard from again.
His wish to be swallowed up by the earth doubles as Todoroki looks from Jirou to Izuku, confused. How can he explain to his friend that he’s blushing because he was definitely just thinking about his lips and you can’t think about someone’s lips without thinking about kissing, so of course Izuku’s mind had made the logical leap, it’s not weird, it’s fine! He’s not going to think about kissing his friend again! Nope!
Still, Todoroki questions further. “Why?”
Yaoyorozu explains. “Some say the tradition comes from Norse myth, when the god Baldr was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe. The goddess Frigg, his mother, then cried onto the arrow, and her tears were turned into white berries, which she placed upon her son’s wound, bringing him back to life. Frigg then blessed the mistletoe, and promised a kiss to anyone who walked beneath it. Although,” she frowns, “most versions of the myth end in Baldr’s death, so that might not be the true reason. Mistletoe has long been associated with fertility, though, since it’s green all year, even in the winter.”
They all nod in unison, satisfied (and a bit mystified) by her explanation.
“What’re we talking about?” asks a bubbly voice, and Izuku looks over his shoulder to see Uraraka approaching with Tsuyu, and Iida behind them.
“Kaminari brought mistletoe, and Yao-momo says the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe comes from a Norse myth and because it’s always green, which she knows because she’s amazing,” Jirou smiles at her, and Yaoyorozu blushes. Uraraka shares a knowing glance with Tsuyu, Izuku notices, and he thinks he knows why.
Iida, however, frowns, looking to Kaminari. “I assume I do not need to tell you that kissing under the mistletoe is voluntary, and that it would be unbecoming of a hero to force anyone into a kiss?”
Kaminari gives an affronted gasp, placing his hand over his chest. “Class prez,” he accuses, “I’m offended! Who do you think I am?”
“Besides,” Jirou adds helpfully, “he wouldn’t be able to force anybody anyway, since we could all easily destroy him in a fight.”
Kaminari’s indignant protest gets a solid laugh out of everyone gathered, especially when a group of class B students, including Shiozaki and Tokage, are the next to arrive. Kaminari practically races over to Shiozaki, pointing to the mistletoe hanging from his hat. She glances between him and the plant, gives a curt, “no thank you,” and walks off. Kaminari hangs his head for a second, and Jirou howls with laughter, but, never to be deterred long, he quickly shakes off his disappointment and looks up at Tokage with a wink.
“Whaddya think?”
She bursts out laughing, joining the chorus of the room; but, smiling, she simply shrugs, detaches her lips from the rest of her body, and uses them to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. As she walks off, Kaminari pumps his fist in the air, exclaiming, “it counts!”
Ashido elbows Tokage as she walks past, lamenting, “he’ll never give up now!”
The laughter eventually dies down and several more people arrive, and soon the common room is full of people laughing and talking and eating cookies and cake. Looking over at Todoroki, Izuku thinks again that maybe they invited too many people for Todoroki’s comfort level. He seems a little spaced out. He remembers Sero comparing him to Shinsou when the latter declared that he wasn’t there to make friends, and hadn’t Todoroki said the same thing, at the beginning of the year? But that was a long time ago. Todoroki has changed a lot since the sports festival. Still, he thinks he should check to make sure he’s doing okay.
“Todoroki?” asks Izuku with a gentle tap to his side. “Do you want to go get some cookies?”
Their eyes meet. Todoroki nods.
Izuku leads the way to the kitchen, passing Kaminari using Sero’s tape to hang up another piece of mistletoe from the ceiling.
As they each grab a plate, Izuku glances at Todoroki nervously, biting his lower lip and trying to think of the right way to ask. He settles on, “so, are you having fun?”
To his immense relief, Todoroki nods. He takes a bite of chocolate chip cookie, chews for a moment, swallows. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen everyone laughing so much.”
Izuku frowns slightly; he wants to know if Todoroki is having fun. “But what about you?”
Todoroki huffs an approximation of a laugh at Izuku’s concern. “I’m having fun, too,” he assures. He waits a moment before adding, “there are a lot of people. But I’m enjoying the conversation. And the hot chocolate,” he lifts his mug, showcasing that it’s already empty.
Izuku sighs in relief. “Good, I’m so glad! I just thought, you know, you should be able to celebrate the holidays with everyone, if you’ve never done it before! It’s my favorite time of the year, and,” he hesitates. “I thought that maybe it could be yours, too.”
Todoroki smiles at that, and Izuku’s happiness doubles—triples, even. One of Todoroki’s smiles is worth all the effort they put into the party and more.
Unfortunately for Izuku, whatever deities rule over his life have no intention of letting him get out of this party without causing him death by embarrassment. As he and Todoroki finish stuffing their faces with cookies and return to the lounge, they’re stopped by Kaminari, who saunters up and throws an arm over each of their shoulders. “Uh-oh,” he singsongs, “look who’s under the mistletoe!”
Izuku looks up. Sure enough, a little sprig hangs from the ceiling above their heads. When had Kaminari put that there? He looks to Todoroki as his face grows hotter, and sees his confusion give way to a slight blush. Izuku begins to ramble, his words coming out rushed like they do whenever he talks about heroes, or whenever he’s deeply embarrassed. But he feels the need to assure Todoroki that he doesn’t have to kiss him. “It’s okay if you’re uncomfortable with this, you totally don’t have to participate in any holiday tradition that you’re not comfortable with! Af-after all, it’s a silly tradition anyway, because if people want to kiss then they should just kiss, right? It’s not like they need a plant to tell them that. But I don’t not want to kiss you! I mean if you don’t mind, then I don’t mind,” then he realizes what he’s just said, and immediately backtracks. “I mean, you probably mind though so maybe I shouldn’t have said that. No, I definitely shouldn’t have said that. Could you please forget that I ever said that and also never think about it ever again? Wow, I should really stop talking because I’m definitely rambling aaaaand people are starting to stare.” He clamps his mouth shut, absolutely mortified. Now would be a great time, ground! Swallow me up already!
But the ground will not have mercy on him. Izuku’s gaze darts from left to right as he studiously avoids looking at Todoroki, waiting for his response. He wouldn’t laugh at Izuku, would he? No, of course he wouldn’t, he’s a good friend. A good friend that probably doesn’t want to kiss Izuku, which is fine! That thought should not open up a pit in Izuku’s stomach like it does! Besides—
Izuku’s train of thought is instantly derailed as Todoroki rests his left hand on his wrist, warmth radiating from the point of contact. Izuku gulps audibly, forcing himself to meet Todoroki’s mismatched eyes.
Todoroki’s voice is quiet, so that only Izuku can hear him. “It’s a tradition, right?” he says. “So it’s fine.”
Izuku lets out a little squeak as everything in his brain screeches to a halt. Todoroki says it’s fine. Todoroki is fine with you kissing him. Todoroki wants you to kiss him under the mistletoe. It doesn’t have to be anything but platonic, he reasons, friends kiss under the mistletoe sometimes, right?
But Todoroki is looking at him expectantly, so Izuku takes a deep breath, face on fire, and rises up on his tiptoes until he’s Todoroki’s height, close enough that he can feel the heat radiating off his left side, the slight chill from his right. He hesitates one breath, then two, as his brain works to process that he’s literally less than an inch from kissing Todoroki, and finally, finally, he presses his lips against Todoroki’s cheek, quick and chaste.
This would be much easier if Todoroki’s face wasn’t so inscrutable, but they’re looking into each other’s eyes now, even as Izuku pulls away, and Izuku is on fire, his cheeks are so hot, he’s burning, and—wait. His wrist is burning. He looks down as wisps of smoke start to curl off his sweater. Todoroki’s left side.
“T-Todoroki?” Izuku presses quietly. “Um. Your hand is getting really hot.”
It almost seems as if Todoroki snaps back to himself, yanking his hand back to his side with a wince and an apology, then looks steadily at the ground.
“It’s okay!” Izuku rushes to reassure him, though he can’t stop his eyes from darting wildly around the room, refusing to look at Todoroki as he continues telling him it’s no big deal, don’t worry about it, he’s fine!
Then, from across the room, Ashido calls out, “hey, Todoroki! You’re steaming!” And then all eyes are on them.
Sure enough, Todoroki’s left side is emitting steam as the two of them leap apart in surprise. Izuku begins to stutter incomprehensible sentence fragments, and the temperature of the room suddenly drops several degrees cooler. Izuku notices a few girls beginning to giggle. Now Todoroki is covered in a thin layer of frost, but the red on his cheeks stands out vividly. He clears his throat, and the room returns to normal.
Yup, this is it. Izuku is going to die. Can someone die from embarrassment? Izuku thinks that even if no one else has before, he’ll be the first. Actually, that would be merciful, because if he dies then he never has to face Todoroki again! Todoroki said it was fine, but did he really mean it? He’s probably regretting it already! Why else would he lose control of his quirk like that? Oh god, Todoroki is never going to talk to him again. If he survives this night, Izuku is going to pack his bags and leave the country. He could follow in All Might’s footsteps and go to America. Maybe he’ll call Melissa Shield, she’ll probably have something he could do on I-island. Or, he could go to Europe—
Luckily for both of them, they’re spared any further embarrassment as a string of small explosions—followed by an equally impressive string of curses—rings out. All attention falls on the new arrival to the party: Bakugou, flanked by Kirishima, has run into Monoma. Kirishima, both arms hardened, stands between the other two; Bakugou, with smoking palms, scowls at a smug and taunting Monoma. Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku sees Kendou sigh heavily and begin making her way toward the commotion.
“Oh, come on, don’t be so rude,” Monoma is saying, his words dripping with smugness, even if he’s not saying anything particularly inflammatory. “I thought you were a team player now. I just said your matching sweaters were cute,” he shrugs.
Upon closer inspection, Izuku realizes that Kacchan is, in fact, wearing a sweater that matches Kirishima’s—Kirishima’s announces that he’s on the nice list, while Kacchan’s declares him on the naughty list. Izuku is honestly a little surprised that either Kacchan or Monoma are even at the party; Yaoyorozu had told Izuku that Monoma had sneered at the idea when he was invited. And, well… Kacchan isn’t exactly a people person. But, if Izuku has noticed anything about Kacchan, it’s that the only one able to convince him to do anything is Kirishima. He remembers I-expo, when Kirishima had brought a suit for Kacchan to wear, and he had actually worn it. And Kirishima had had full faith that he would.
“Shut up, you shitty extra,” Bakugou snarls, and Izuku tenses, both because it’s Kacchan, and because he’s ready to intervene should things get ugly. However, before anything bad can happen, Kendou appears behind Monoma, whacks him in the shoulder with the side of her hand, and he collapses to the floor. She drags him off to the other side of the room. Everything is silent for a moment as everyone watches this happen, but before long they resume their chatter just as before, and both that incident and Izuku and Todoroki’s embarrassing moment are forgotten entirely.
The two of them are still blushing, although Izuku’s is far more noticeable, but, hoping to avoid any further awkwardness, Izuku gives Todoroki the best approximation of a reassuring smile as he can, and they head back to join their friends.
The rest of the party passes in a bit of a blur, and Izuku honestly can’t pay much attention to anything when his mind is so preoccupied with the fact that he just kissed his friend. It was on the cheek, sure, but Izuku’s mortification was as bad as he thinks it would have been had he had the courage to actually kiss his lips—no, no, he shoves that idea back down. He looks around, trying to distract himself. Everyone is having fun, talking and laughing like forty of the best friends in the world. Izuku sees Kouda surrounded by several girls as he signs to them to move slowly and speak quietly so they don’t spook his pet bunny. Uraraka holds her, and he hears her remark to everyone that his hero costume, with its All Might inspired helmet, reminds her of bunny ears. The girls laugh, and he blushes. Tsunotori in particular seems to get along well with Kouda’s bunny, and it spends a long time nestled between her horns as she takes selfies with her friends. Iida, Kendou, and even Dark Shadow encourage Tokoyami and Kuroiro to stop being wallflowers and join the party, and they do, but Izuku thinks they look pretty uncomfortable, at least until Jirou starts to talk to them about metal music. Meanwhile, Kaminari is waxing poetic about the glory of mistletoe—making Izuku blush all over again—and he refuses to tell anyone where he hid the rest of it, as everyone keeps a few feet away from him. Apparently Jirou had warned everyone as they walked in, so the only one who had come close enough to him had been Bakugou, although he had grabbed the mistletoe and blown it up before Kaminari could even ask. Looking to the couches, Izuku sees Awase, with two mugs of hot chocolate welded to his hands, and Tsuburaba, balancing a mug on one of his solid air platforms as he gesticulates wildly. Uraraka’s mug is floating next to her, and every time it starts to float away, Tsuyu grabs it with her tongue and pulls it back down. Monoma, leaning over the couch to talk, is absentmindedly touching his friends, using each of their quirks for a second or two.
Hagakure joins Izuku, Todoroki, and Aoyama on their couch, and asks Todoroki to heat her hot cocoa for her. Izuku watches as he gives her a nod and takes it in his left hand. He concentrates, and in a couple of seconds, the mug begins to steam. Hagakure squeals her thanks and starts to rush off, but then stops. “Has anybody seen Yao-momo?” She asks. “I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“Oui, I saw her go to the kitchen with Jirou,” Aoyama winks, and Hagakure squeals again, but says nothing else as she, presumably, goes to tell Ashido.
Izuku cranes his neck to peek into the kitchen, curious, and he can see Jirou standing there, holding, he assumes, Yaoyorozu’s hands; he can’t see Yaoyorozu, since a wall is blocking his view. But he sees Jirou point upward, to the mistletoe hanging above them, smiling gently, and Izuku looks away quickly as his face heats up once again. He has a feeling that this is a private moment for them.
Throughout the party, Izuku thinks that Todoroki is talking a little bit more than usual, and his eyes are bright. His face is mostly neutral, but that’s nothing new, and Izuku has known him long enough to be able to tell the slight differences in facial expressions that indicate his feelings. When he’s happy, there’s a little lift to the edges of his lips. Most people don’t notice it, but Izuku is good at reading people’s emotions. When he’s confused, his brows knit together; when he’s upset, his eyes lack the brightness that Izuku often sees there. His expressions are almost like a puzzle, but it’s a puzzle that gets easier to solve with every day they spend together.
Todoroki turns to look at Izuku, who blushes and stutters again, caught staring.
He cocks his head, questioning. “Is something wrong?”
“No! Nope, nothing’s wrong! Everything’s fine! How- how are you?” Izuku waves his hands around as he resists the urge to just run away.
Confused, Todoroki begins to frown slightly. “I’m fine, but are you sure you’re okay, Midoriya?”
And, wow, Izuku never really stopped to listen to the way Todoroki says his name, it sounds so nice, and what if he called him Izuku? Are they good enough friends that Izuku could call him Shouto? Wait, no. Stop, stop, stop!
Jirou and Yaoyorozu appear behind them, cutting Izuku’s stuttering short, and Jirou stretches her arms up with a yawn. “Wow,” she says, louder than necessary, “it’s getting pretty late. I’m beat! I think I’m gonna head on up to bed!”
Next to her, Yaoyorozu nods fervently. “Yes, it is rather late. I’m also going to turn in for the night.”
Several people turn to wish them goodnight, and a few others check their phones and realize that it really is beginning to get late. Soon, a bunch of students from class B are saying goodnight, having to get back to their building before curfew, and the lounge is emptying fast.
Izuku is itching to get back to his room, ready to stop embarrassing himself in front of Todoroki over and over again. But he doesn’t exactly want to leave Todoroki, and he has to make sure he had a good time.
Todoroki makes his decision for him, looking to Izuku to tell him he’s also a bit tired. And truthfully, Izuku is too. Maybe being absolutely mortified drained him.
Regardless, they bid their friends goodnight as they make their way toward the stairs, promising to help clean up in the morning. As they head up the first flight to Izuku’s floor, he tries to put his embarrassment on hold for a moment.
“So?” he prompts, somewhat nervously. “What did you think? About the party, I mean,” he quickly clarifies.
Todoroki looks down at him, both a step above him and a little bit taller, and Izuku can hardly hold his gaze. Why are Todoroki’s eyes always so intense? But Todoroki looks away again, hiding whatever is in his eyes from view. “It was… really good.”
Izuku can’t help the smile that splits his face—if Todoroki had fun, it was worth everything, even the embarrassment he’ll be reliving for weeks. Years, maybe. “Really?” He asks. “So it was a good first holiday?”
As they stand there, on the first floor landing, Todoroki gives Izuku another one of his small smiles, and Izuku feels like he could burst. Or melt. Or both.
“It was a good first holiday,” he confirms. “Thank you.”
Izuku, blushing, assures Todoroki that it was no problem, he’s so glad he had fun, and then they say their goodnights, and each go to their rooms.
And Izuku collapses into bed, throwing his arms dramatically over his face. His mind, which is never quiet, even on a good night, is whirling with thoughts and emotions and half-baked ideas. So. He has a crush on Todoroki. He’s pretty certain now that that’s what’s happening. And, really, when he thinks back, maybe he’s had this crush longer than he thought. Just last week, he had been more nervous than usual as they sparred together… He groans into the empty room. This is not good.
His phone buzzes in his pocket, and he digs it out to find a message from Uraraka lighting up the screen.
Ochachachako: aaaaaaaaaAAAAA deku!!!!!!! did u SEE kyouka and yaomomo??? omg they are SO CUTE!!
Ochachachako: oh and dont think i didnt notice u and todoroki under the mistletoe ;3c we are DEF talking about this tmrw!!!!
Izuku buries his face in his pillow and groans louder.
Chances are, he’s just ruined everything, and if Todoroki ever finds out, he’ll never speak to Izuku again. Izuku will lose one of his best friends, end up alone, and will probably have to leave Japan and change his name and fake his death. Yeah, that sounds reasonable.
But maybe, just maybe, it won’t hurt to let himself think about Todoroki’s cheek beneath his lips, just for tonight. And maybe he can allow himself, just this once, to imagine Todoroki’s lips on his. After all, if he’s going to die of embarrassment anyway… he can dream, right?
As Shouto gets ready for bed, he can’t wipe the small smile on his face. Midoriya had done so much for him, and for the rest of their class, helping to put this all together. It doesn’t surprise him—he’s one of the most kind and caring people he knows—but it strikes him once again how much Midoriya has changed his life. Shouto considers this party a huge success in terms of his own social development, and his discovery of hot chocolate. He had enjoyed all the traditions that everyone talked about, even if some of them confused him. His mind returns to the moment Midoriya had pressed his lips against his cheek, and his mind had gone blank. Heat rushes to his face at the memory. He’s not sure why he reacted the way he did, clearly Midoriya was trying to be a good friend by showing him a kiss under the mistletoe, but he thinks that now isn’t the time to dwell on it too much.
Just before Shouto falls asleep, he decides that yes, he really does enjoy the holidays.