Chapter Text
Bakugou lets out an exasperated sigh, the sight of the store becoming way too familiar in the back of his eyelids. He can picture it now even as he squeezes his eyes shut, almost as if he hadn’t closed his eyes to begin with.
How did he find himself in such an awful situation? Oh, right, it was all thanks to one dunce-faced bastard.
The memory of last night replays in his head, reminding him of why he was here in the first place.
Ponytail had called them all in for a meeting in the common room, and although Bakugou didn’t want to go, Kirishima had made him come, saying something along the lines of ‘Kaminari said she [Momo] worked hard on this, so don’t let her efforts go to waste, okay?’
He really needs to learn to not give into Shitty Hair’s requests so easily.
“As you know, Christmas is coming up soon!” she had said, an overly eager smile on her face.
Earphone girl appeared from behind her, holding a basket filled with tiny scraps of folded paper.
“Jirou and I have planned a Secret Santa for you all! So please, pick a name, and make sure to have a gift for that person by the end of the week! Then we’ll all come together at around this time next Friday and exchange presents!”
“Yaomomo, that’s such an amazing, thoughtful idea!” Raccoon Eyes cheered, her weird eyes practically glowing at the mention of it.
“Why the fuck should I get anything for any of you?” Bakugou grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Come on Blasty, don’t ruin the Christmas spirit!” Dunce Face said, which made Bakugou want to punch him.
“It’ll be fun, Bakugou! Come on, please?” Kirishima was looking at him, that stupid smile of his too bright to say no to. He let out a mutter of curses, and finally agreed to do it. Kirishima, 2; Bakugou, 0.
When he looked up, he saw Dunce Face whispering something to Ponytail, and it made him wonder what the hell he was talking about, but frankly, he didn’t care.
Or at least, not until that sparky bastard walked up to him and handed him a piece of paper crumpled slightly in the corner, and left with an idiotic grin on his face.
“The fuck?” was all Bakugou said before peeling the flap open. When he saw the name that was neatly written onto the paper, he felt the universe come down all at once on his chest, almost making it hard for him to breathe.
Kirishima Eijirou, it read. Fuck. Why did it have to him out of everyone else? If it had been anyone other than him, he could’ve gotten some random-ass gift and not given a shit, but for Kirishima? There’s no fucking way he’d get him anything that wasn’t worthy or special. And there’s no way he’d let any other asshole in this room beat him in having the best present either.
So now, here he was, in a weird old antique store, staring at a vast array of items as he tried to decide what he could get for that Shitty-Haired idiot.
“Bakugou, is that you?” calls an annoyingly familiar voice, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Bakugou turns his head and scowls when he sees Kaminari waving to him as if they were good friends or some shit. His weird hair flops as he runs over to him, and a bag of something he has clenched in his pale fist flails behind him.
“What’re you doin here?” the idiot asks, and Bakugou has to suppress the Dunce Face-induced migraine thrumming behind his eyes as he pinches the bridge of his nose, trying not to scream.
“None of your business,” Bakugou answers simply, not facing him. He picks at a random necklace which happens to be nearby, pretending to be interested in it, hoping it'd be enough to convince this moron to leave. “What the hell are you here for?”
“I was gonna buy something for my family. I heard this place has really nice antique things. Are you here because you’re buying something for someone too?”
What. A. Pest.
“I said it’s none of your business,” Bakugou says again, walking away. But of course, the idiot has to follow him like he’s Mary’s little lost sheep.
“Oooh, I bet you’re buying a gift for your special someone, right?” he asks, and Bakugou notices his waggling eyebrows, wondering why his face looks more stupid than usual.
“Do I really have to spell out ‘fuck off’ for you to understand?” Bakugou snaps, not wanting to deal with this any longer. He finally looks Kaminari in the eye, noticing that his gaze was glassy with an emotion Bakugou can’t seem to understand. All he can do is let out a sigh when the idiot starts speaking again, despite his attempt at telling him to leave.
“I can help you out, you know. I know Kirishima pretty well, and I am a bit of a ladies’ man, and I know what kind of things would make him happy—"
“How the hell did you know that I’m here buying something for Kirishima? You didn’t even…” He pauses then, a couple of things piecing together in his mind.
“Woah woah woah, hold on!” Kaminari blurts out, probably after seeing the look Bakugou was giving him. “I didn’t mean for the Secret Santa, if that’s what you’re thinking! I just meant in general, since he’s practically the only one of us you really like, right?”
Bakugou can tell from the tone and slight hesitation in his voice that there’s a lie buried in there somewhere.
“You’re stupider than I thought,” is all Bakugou says to that, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Just get him something nice, okay? I know it’s not really your thing..to, uh, do nice things for others, but trust me…if this works out, I know something great will happen."
“Don’t tell me what to do, fucker!” Bakugou explodes with frustration, his hands sparking.
Kaminari flees from the store then, yelling something about trying another place, and Bakugou finally has some peace and quiet, with the exception of what Kaminari said before he left annoyingly pushing its way into his mind.
Of course he was gonna fucking get something nice for Kirishima. He didn’t need that idiot Kaminari to tell him that, but now he felt this strange feeling within him, wondering if there was something going on about all this that he wasn’t aware of.
But he couldn’t think too much of that now. The store was only open for a few more hours, and although Bakugou had felt like he looked at everything a hundred times already, he decides to take another lap around the store, concluding that it was better than just standing around and overthinking things.
He passes by the watches, which he considered, but didn’t think had much meaning to it. Maybe he should try another store. Ugh. This was a goddamn pain.
Just as he’s about to stomp out the door in defeat, something catches his eye. He pivots on his heel, heading towards the faintly shiny object in the back corner of the store. It was sitting inside a glass box, and Bakugou peers into it, examining the item. Holy shit, he got lucky. This was just what he was looking for.
“I’ll take it,” he says immediately, when the store clerk approaches him. The elderly man gives him a peculiar smile and then curtly nods, unlocking the case with a small key and putting the item in a fancy golden box. He hands it to Bakugou and walks up to the cash register, prompting Bakugou to follow.
Bakugou pulls out a few bills and pays for the item once he's at the register. It was a little pricey, but definitely worth it. With a muttered “thanks” he leaves the store, heading home. There were still a few days left before their designated meeting date to exchange the gifts, and when Bakugou went to bed that night, he hoped the days would move a little faster so he could see Kirishima’s reaction when he opened his oh-so-perfect gift.
The day had finally come. This is what Bakugou had been waiting for. What he wasn’t waiting for, however, was his nerves to act up. He was usually confident about his decisions, but something in the back of his mind nagged him with worry. Would Kirishima understand the meaning behind his present? Would he even like it at all? What if he embarrassed himself in front of all his classmates if Kirishima didn’t like the gift?
Shit. Maybe he shouldn’t go. He'd rather die than be a laughing stock. He wonders if he can just anonymously drop off the present at Kirishima’s house or something and then go train to relieve his stress.
Yeah. That’s what he’ll do. It’s not like he has time for these childish things anymore anyway.
Bakugou takes a deep breath, and moves to get dressed. He pulls on a coat and a scarf, then carefully grabs Kirishima’s gift, double-checking the wrapping paper to make sure it wasn't falling apart. It was pretty early, so he doubted Kirishima would be awake at this hour, which meant it would be the perfect opportunity to complete his task.
The wind hit him hard the moment he stepped outside. He debated going back inside to find his earmuffs, but chose to prioritize the gift delivery instead. It wasn't that far of a walk, after all. He made his way towards Kirishima’s house, observing the snow fall and various Christmas decorations with intent focus.
It didn’t take very long to reach his destination. He’d practically memorized the route and all the shortcuts by this point, and didn’t even have to think about where he was going when he finds himself standing in front of Kirishima’s house almost if by instinct. Bakugou lets out a sigh, approaching the front porch. He'd just drop this shit and leave, no questions asked. Just as he’s about to set the gift down in front of the door, he’s greeted with a startled, “Bakugou?”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Hey there, Shitty Hair,” Bakugou huffs out casually, gripping the gift in his hands. He didn’t have enough time to hide it; he had been caught completely off-guard.
“What are you doing here?” Kirishima asks, his eyes wide. He seems to be full of energy as always, even at this early hour of the day. He's got bedhead, and he's wearing his stupid shark pajamas, which somehow strikes Bakugou as being a little...adorable.
“Just making sure you’re coming to that stupid exchange thing today. I thought you might oversleep and miss it so I came to drag your ass out of bed, but looks like you saved me the work.” Bakugou had come up with this on the spot, skillfully hiding his true reason of being here. Kirishima wasn’t the brightest person either, so that made it even easier for his little plan to work. He was safe—for now.
“Oh! Well thanks, man!” Good, he took the bait. “But I wouldn’t miss this for the world!” Kirishima exclaims a second after, running a hand through his hair. He then looks down at Bakugou’s hands, noticing the gift. “Ooh, is that for your person? I wonder who it is! I bet you got them something amazing!”
Something inside of Bakugou changed in that brisk moment. Maybe the stupid fuckin’ holiday spirit and joy bullshit had finally invaded his system, filling his veins with a little too much happiness. Well fuck, he just had to be in a good mood today, didn’t he?
“Actually,” Bakugou starts, stepping closer. “It’s for you.” His heart begins pounding in his chest, but he remains still, waiting for Kirishima’s response.
“Wh- huh? Hey, didn’t you just spoil the secret part? You're joking, right? If not, you were supposed to wait till the—“
Bakugou interjects by pushing the present into Kirishima’s chest, hiding his gaze. Once the box is safely in Kirishima’s grasp, he shoves his hands into his pockets, and proceeds to walk away.
“Merry Christmas, Shitty Hair,” he grumbles as he leaves, the snow crunching beneath his boots. “I hope you like your gift.”
In that moment, Kirishima’s heart skips a beat. And if the drastic chill of the air wasn’t deceiving him, he could’ve sworn he’d seen Bakugou’s ears turn red—and not just from the cold— as he left Kirishima there, with warmth in his heart.
Bakugou can’t fight the smile pulling at his lips, and just lets it take over, cuz fuck it, it’s Christmas after all.