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“Hey Yaomomo! Where do you think we should put this?”
“Yaoyorozu, what should we do with this?”
“Does anyone have an ETA on that tree yet?”
“Not yet! Kacchan said that they can't find one that's 'So good it'll knock all the other trees dead' yet. So... well... It'll be a while.”
“He realises that this isn't a competition, right?”
“It's Kacchan. He'd make breathing into a competition if he could.”
“That's true. Do you want to help with this tinsel? I can't get it to stay up?”
“Sure, I'll be right there.”
This strange cacophony of back and forth questions and replies had been echoing through the dorm all day and, if she was being truthful (which she was), Yaoyorozu couldn't have imagined a better sound. December had settled around the campus and classes like a warm blanket and 1-A had been taking full advantage of the time to go all out with the decorations. Yaoyorozu's quirk had been in high demand the whole time, making baubles, tinsel, fairy lights, clear ornaments to put over the windows, materials to make snowflakes to stick on the glass, even plastic mistletoe (because Ashido was an unrepentent troll and couldn't resist the opportunity to try and get pictures of people getting caught underneath it. So far, she had tricked Uraraka, Shoji, Kaminari, Sero, Ojiro and even Hagakure into gathering underneath it so most were giving her a wide berth and flatly refusing to do anything that she asked them to do without making sure that she hadn't hung anything green over the nearest doorway. It had even led to some of the more paranoid members of the class avoiding Ashido like the plague.
Their jubilation hadn't been confined to the dorms either. Ithad been all hands on deck with decorating the classroom as well. Aizawa had given them free reign to decorate themselves as much as they wanted when they were in class and they had gone all out. The corners of the windows had become frosted with fake snow, a small tree had been set up in the corner with everyone adding a decoration of their own and tinsel had been hung from the ceiling and around the edges of the desk. Several of the students had revealed previously unheard of talents for arts and crafts, like Bakugou, in typical Bakugou-fashion, had made baubles shaped like grenades, Kaminari had created snowflakes with the ends spiked like lightning bolts, Uraraka had been essential in getting into all of the nooks and crannies of the room so it looked like it had been hit by a bomb of festivities and Jirou had convinced Principal Nezu to let her make playlists of Christmas music and play them over the speakers, as long as she didn't play the same songs over and over and would pause the music whenever someone wanted to make an announcement and when the school day was over. They were silently wondering if she had bribed him with fancy tea to get him to agree so quickly.
“-Mo? Yaomomo? Yaomomo! Earth to team mom!” Yaoyorozu snapped back to reality as Kaminari's voice echoed through her mind, bringing her sharply back down to Earth.
“Ah! Yeah? What can I do for you?” She asked, going pink across her cheeks at being caught staring into nothingness. Kaminari held up a pair of ornaments, one being a Christmas tree that would light up when turned on and the other being a small model of a snow village with a pair of skaters that would move around on the plastic lake.
“Which of these should we put on the table?” He asked, pointing over towards the dining area where each of the tables was getting an ornament in the center. All but one of them had been placed but it seemed that they had gotten one too many.
Yaoyorozu considered them for a moment and glanced over at the table in question, mentally imagining what each of the decorations might look like on the table.
“Put the village on the table. We're getting a real tree so we won't need that one and the village looks better.” She advised and Kaminari grinned at her, calling his thanks over his shoulder as he went down the stairs to do as she instructed.
Bakugou, Kirishima and Shouji had gone out in the morning to get a tree, armed with a credit card with a suspiciously familiar looked E TODOROKI printed on it, and so far had yet to come back, probably trying to find one that would fit with Bakugou's, frankly, absurd sense of style. All whilst they had been waiting, squads of their classmates had been sent out to the store to collect decorations, since they hadn't wanted to put too much pressure on Yaoyorozu when she was already doing so much to help them co-ordinate the decorating of the dorms. Gazing over the bannister at the people milling around beneath her, a thought popped into her head that led to a smile spreading over her face.
“There is more to this time of year
Than sleigh bells and holly...
Mistletoe and snow.” She mused, walking slowly down the stairs, taking in everything happening around her.
“Those things come and go
Much deeper than snow,
Stronger than the strongest love we'll know
We'll ever know...” Though she was speaking quietly, everyone turned around to look at her and similar smiles spread over their faces. It was the words from a song that had flown under the radar since it had come from a less than successful movie but a lot of them had heard it at some point and Jirou, being a human music encyclopaedia, started up the music from her phone and a pair of speakers that she seemed to make appear from thin air.
“As long as there's Christmas I truly believe...
That hope is the greatest of the gifts we'll receive.” Jirou wasn't one to sing in public usually but the Christmas spirit that Yaoyorozu seemed to be radiating was infectious.
“As long as there's Christmas we'll all be just fine
A star shines above us
Lighting your way and mine...” Even Ashido was getting in on it, though she was more of a dancer than a singer. She had a good voice and could definitely carry a tune better than most, plus with her bubbly personality, no one really wanted to tell her to stop.
“Just as long as there's Christmas
There'll be Christmas pud!” Announced Sato from the kitchen which he had claimed, spending all day cooking up a storm in preparation. Though since Christmas was still some days away, they weren't sure for what.
“Tons of turkey...” He commented, pulling open the oven and the scent of roasted bird washed over them like a wave, all noses pointing into the air.
“And cranberry sauce!” Ashido called back, licking her lips.
“And mince pies if we're good!” Hagakure chimed in, looking surprisingly festive with her invisible arms full of tinsels.
“Loads of logs on the fire...” Todoroki called, thinking that the heating they would suffice.
“Lots of gifts on the tree
All wrapped up in red ribbons!” Ashido and Hagakure said together, joining hands and dancing around.
“Wonder if there's one for me?” Pondered Midoriya and Uraraka had the sudden urge to grab the shrub haired boy and hug him.
“We're due for a party
Where on earth do we start?” Iida remarked, making everyone around him snort.
“I may wear my tiara
They bought me in Monmartre!” Aoyama crooned, leaving everyone looking very confused.
“All the silver will sparkle!” Satou said, checking on the contents of the cupboards.
“And the china will gleam!” Yaoyorozu insisted, peeking in only to be shooed out by the culinary-talented hero-in-training.
“And we'll all be as shiny
As a brand-new centime!” Aoyama continued,
“After dinner we'll play games!” Midoriya decreed, taping a string of lights up over a doorway so that it was like a archway of illumination.
“Till the morning, right through!” Uraraka was almost bouncing with happiness.
“Then we'll meet in the garden
This is what we shall do!” Sero declared, spotting something approaching them.
“We will build us a snowman
That will reach to the sky!” Midoriya cried and Todoroki stared at him, then down at his hands.
It will stay up until July!” Yaoyorozu laughed, grinning back at him.
“They're back!” Sero called, throwing up the door to let in a massive tree that was being carried on the shoulders of Bakugouwho was brushing the snow from his hair with a scowl, a beaming Kirishima and Shoji who was taking the brunt of the weight at the end of the line with some of his tentacles wrapped around the trunk. Yaoyorozu, suddenly remembering that they had neglected to get a stand for the tree and, moving quickly, created a metal one from her stomach. Satou, acting quickly, offered her one of the many desserts that he had been working on before retreating back to the kitchen. Yaoyorozu happily accepted it and ate it, the other's insisting that she go and have a sit down after doing so much for them already.
Midoriya and Iida joined in to help the three of them stand the tree up in the stand, making sure that it was steady before moving away and grinning up at it. It was a magnificent thing, standing at several feet tall, immensely leafy and everyone looked immensely proud of it, even Bakugou was suppressing a smirk of appreciation.
Uraraka and Ashido led the charge in grabbing the boxes of decorations that they had spent the day putting together and soon everyone was threading the various baubles, lights, strings, ornaments and figurines onto the branches. Hagakure and Aoyama were dusting some of the branches with glitter that was going to be a nightmare to get out of the carpet but Yoayorou didn't mind that. That was for after Christmas, when they had to clean pine needles and other things from the floor.
“As long as there's Christmas I truly believe
That hope is the greatest of the gifts we'll receive
As long as our guiding star shines above!” Yaoyorozu began, looking over her shoulder when she heard the door open and beaming when she realised who their visitors were. Aizawa, the rather diminished form of All Might, Midoriya's mother, Bakugou's parents, Jirou's parents, Todorki's siblings, though his mother was still waiting to be discharged from the hospital and it seems that he had neglected to even invite his father, Iida's family, his brother included in his wheelchair, Tsuyu's family and these were just the people that Yaoyorozu could recognise. There were families that she had never seen or even met before but she could place each of them with the visible similiarities between them and their children. It also helped that most of them came to stand behind them and the similiarities only became more apparent.
It was a huge gathering of parents and caretakers, all here to celebrate the season with their children and take in the fruits of all of their hard work. The looks of surprise on each of 1-A's faces was enough to tell anyone that none of them had expected this but, given how there were already waterfalls of tears rolling down the Midoriya's cheeks, it didn't seem to be an unwelcome surprise.
Of course, the real star of the show was being guided inside by Aizawa who was holding her hand and her white hair was braided down her back with a bright red ribbon. The tiny figure of Eri was staring up at the tree with a look of pure amazement, looking like she had never seen something so beautiful in all of her life. In her small hands, she was holding a plastic golden star that was almost as big as her head but she didn't even seem to register the weight. Midoriya zeroed in on her in an instant and she darted over to him, letting him scoop her up in a big hug which made her beaming brilliantly down at him. Uraraka and Tsuyu were by his side in a flash and she was delighted to see them. The crowd moved further into the room, making space for everyone to approach and have a good look at tha tree that was now laden with every kind of decoration that one could think of.
But, the decoration that stood out the most was a collection of individually decorated models that Yaoyorozu had made herself. They were her signature matryoshka dolls, each decorated to look like their hero costumes, with even ones made to look like Aizawa, Toshinori (with much critiquing and advising from Midoriya) and, of course, a tiny Eri who was hanging by the top, thanks to Uraraka who had levitated it into place.
With everyone gathered around and Eri assured of her role, Uraraka gently touched both herself and the tiny girl, bringing them off of the ground and floating towards the top of the tree. Eri, a little bit scared by the sudden weightlessness, held tightly to Uraraka with one hand and held onto the star with the other one. As they floated, Jirou turned the music back on and everyone joined in singing, Yaoyorozu in the lead.
“As long as there's Christmas
We'll all be just fine
There'll always be Christmas
So there always will be a time
When the world is filled with peace and warmth!”
Delicately, as if the star was made of glass, Eri placed the star on top and only allowed Uraraka to bring them back down when she was positive that it was going to stand without assistance. Looking immensely pleased with her contribution, Eri let Izuku hold her up near his shoulder, the lights (which Kirishima had stepped away to turn on) glimmering in her eyes.
This was the first Christmas that she had had away from Chisaki and his operation underground and she was certain that she would never forget it.