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If Todoroki ever found out who had invented the concept of a Secret Santa, they would find themselves encased in ice faster than than they could blink! He had, admittedly, been curious about the idea when it had been announced by, of course, an overly enthusiastic Ashido and had been furiously encouraged by all of the other girls. When they had explained it to him, the idea of giving a mmystery person a gift that he had had to think extra hard about had appealed to him. Something that could build camraderie between the class and something to keep them from getting homesick as they spent their Christmas vacation at the dorms. Classes had been out for a week and most had been working hard on their presents, often disappearing in groups for long stretches of the day in what they had come to call 'research trips'.
Todoroki, wanting to take part in something that seemed to have few negatives, had reached into the proferred hat that had been extended to him when they had been picking out the receipients of their gifts. What he had drawn out, however, had NOT been what he had expected. Unfolding the paper slip, he almost impaled Asui through the foot with a jagged piece of ice that had sprung out of the floor by accident. Apologising profusely and making sure that she wasn't harmed, he hastily slapped the piece closed again when Ashido tried to peek at it and set about melting the ice which hadn't been terribly large, just the appearance of it having disturbed the peace.
He retreated to his room as soon as he was finished and looked at the paper again, his back leaning against the door to keep it shut. Glancing down, he reread the small letters written on the paper in Ashido's messy script.
Midoriya.
Midoriya.
Why did it have to be Midoriya?
It was like fate was laughing at him with a bowl of popcorn in it's lap.
It wasn't that he couldn't think of something to get him. Midoriya had to be one of the easiest people in the world to shop for. Something like a figurine of a lesser known hero or maybe even a new notebook for him to put his analysis into. He had seen the one that he was currently using that was getting pretty tattered so he was certain that Midoriya would approach the gesture, even if he resolutely refused to use it until he was finished with his current one, despite the noticeable burn marks on it. Todoroki had a feeling that a certain volatile blonde was responsible for those.
It was just that Todoroki, despite all of his brains and insight and social isolation (thanks for nothing father!) may or may not have had the teeniest, tiniest, most infinitesimally miniscule crush on a certain shrub headed hero-in-training.
He didn't even mean for it to happen! It just... sort of grew from admiration of his skills to an appreciation for his talents to a fondness for his ass.... assets! Yes that was what he meant to say! Assets! That was all! Shut up Sero, he was not staring!
He just couldn't resist tilting his head a tiny bit whenever he spotted Midoriya as he did that crouch that stretched the spandex of his costume around his nethers right before he launched himself off of whatever solid object he had been standing on.
He spent the rest of the night wracking his brains for something that he could give. He had thought about taking the easy way out and getting him a figurine of All Might, several new ones having come out that depicted the previous Number 1 Hero in his reduced form since his retirement but that was too easy. He wanted something special. Something that would be remembered.
It was around 2 in the morning when two stray threads of thought connected behind his eyes and he was sprinting towards Yaoyorozu's room at a pace that he usually wouldn't have dreamed of.
He had knocked on her door hard enough to send echoes through the quiet hall, leading several of their fellow students to pop their heads out of their rooms and glare at him for waking them. One of these was the girl in question that he had been looking for, accompanied by a sword that she was holding in one hand that she seemed to have pulled out of her forearm and a glare that was fit to set him on fire. He had apologised vehemently to the girls who only cursed him more before disappearing back into their rooms and slamming the doors shut. Yaoyorozu, still glaring at him, had the good grace that came with being the 'Team-Mom', as she had been christened, to hear him about, though not without reminding him of the very large sword that was being pressed against his sternum.
“So... You want something that you can give Midoriya?” She repeated after he had been sat down, supplied with tea and had had explained everything.
“Yeah... Something special. I just don't know what that could be.” Todoroki said, sipping at the tea and trying his hardest not to go scarlet at the blunt explanation. She was always good at getting straight to the meat of an issue. It was what made her such a good study partner.
“Well, have you thought of getting him a book?” She asked and Todoroki nodded over the rim of his cup.
“I thought about getting him a new journal but it didn't seem like it was special enough.” He admitted, fidgeting a little in his seat.
“I see... Maybe there is something I can do to help you.” She advised, getting up from her seat across from him and moving towards the bookcase that was squeezed into the room against the wall.
“What are you thinking?” He asked as she scanned the shelves then pulled out a tome, handing it to him.
“I've got an idea for a gift but we should wait until daylight before beginning. This is going to be slow and difficult but if we do this right, it should be something truly special. Now kindly get out so I can go back to sleep.” Todoroki had a swift exit, still holding onto the book that she had given him. He looked down at the volume when he had gotten back to his room and found that it was a book about making books.
That only served to confuse him further.
In the morning, Yaoyorozu and Todoroki secluded themselves in his room and began to work using materials that Yaoyorozu supplied.
“When I get to know him
We'll find more things to say...”
Todoroki had never thought about making a book before and now he was being given a crash course in it. But first, the pair of them worked together on filling up the page with illustrations of all kinds. Yoayorozu had snuck out several of Midoriya's older notebooks from his room and they had spent hours poring over them to get an idea for his style.
“One day I will reach him
There has to be a way...”
Todoroki mused to himself, chewing on the end of an ink brush that had been supplied to him. His hands were stained with ink but he was beginning to see the positives of this.
“Everyone needs someone
He must need someone, too.”
Yaoyorozu advised, squeezing his shoulder encouragingly.
“When I get to know him better
Here's what I will do...”
Todoroki also added something special to the book, though it meant adding a few extra pages.
“I'll read him stories
From picture books
All filled with wonder
Magic worlds where
The impossible...”
It took a lot of practce but Todoroki slowly began to create a style of manga, just simple panels telling a simple story.
“Becomes the everyday.”
It was slow, almost painful work, with many starts and stops but, piece by piece, page by page, it began to take form.
“We'll find a mountaintop
And some moonbeams
To sit under
I'll lead because I know the way...”
Every page was scrutinised by Yaoyorozu, only being allowed into the book when they were given her seal of approval. Despite her caring appearance, she was a surprisingly harsh critic and Todoroki had often entertained the idea of drowning himself in the inkwell she had given him just for the chance of escaping her critique. He was almost certain that she would pull him out though.
“So much to discover
I do it all the time...
I could live inside bright pages
Where the words all rhyme.”
As surprising as his talent for manga was, Yaoyorozu had an equal talent for poetry and soon the book was having pages of her work added into it, even if he was supposed to do this on his own. He had written it out in his own hand so no one needed to know.
“We will slay the dragons
That still follow him around...”
As the manga storyline began to emerge, it became about a brave adventurer who ventured far from his home to fight a mysterious evil.
“And he'll smile, yes he'll smile
As his dreams leave the ground.”
The adventurer was short and didn't have the greatest skill in combat but his unending determination and out of the box thinking inspired others to join him on his journey. Everyone from a poverty-stricken mage, a noble knight, a long retired warrior and even the crown prince himself.
Though if anyone noticed that a few of these characters held rather striking resemblances to his classmates, he wasn't going to say a word about it.
“Stories and stories
'Bout mermaids, kings
And sunken treasure...”
Joining them was a young woman with strange features who was revealed to be half mermaid and could traverse both worlds, a prince from a kingdom dwelling in shadows and
Magic worlds where the impossible
Becomes the everyday.”
One could say that their own world denied the impossible even existing, but Todoroki was going to create an entirely new one. Something for the person who cared about to lose himself in, even if it was just for a moment.
“I know a tiny place
Just a dot, too small to measure
I'll take him there
I know the way...”
Rounding off the entire saga were pages upon pages of Midoriya's research, painstakingly copied down and with tiny, barely noticeable additions.
“Stories 'bout heroes
Who overcame their deepest sorrow
They'll put hope into his heart again
He'll cherish every day...”
The words, learned from a song that Yaoyorozu had brought to his attention from a long forgotten movie, became his mantra and fueled his determination to get the whole thing finished. He worked tirelessly, even into the wee hours of the morning, to complete the book as the days slowly began to bleed into each other.
“He'll find a better world
And the strength to face tomorrow...”
He hadn't even realised just how hard he had been working, the reality only hitting him as Yaoyorozu was guiding him through putting the process of binding the pages together and putting them together into a proper book. Designing the covers had been arduous task just by themselves and his hands were aching by the end, along with being decorated with several bandages after a mishap or seven with the wood working tools but as he finally closed the lid on the project and slumped back into his chair, he thught that it had all been worth it.
“I'm sure that when he knows the way
He'll want to stay...”
Asking one final favour from Yaoyorozu, he placed the book in a box, tied it off with a ribbon and placed it underneath the tree that they had all worked together to put up.
“Merry Christmas Midoriya.” He muttered to himself, collapsing back onto the nearest sofa with a self-satisfied grin on his face.