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"Deku, hurry up! We're going to start soon!"
Izuku smiled as he heard Uraraka's voice chime from down the hallway of the dorm. "I'll be right there!" he called out to her.
He hurried to put his Santa hat on his head and tugged on a red button-up. He couldn't contain the smile that managed to find its way on his face. The Christmas party this evening was going be a blast! It was the first one that he had ever helped plan with classmates, and he couldn't be more excited for the festivities.
Izuku finished up the last of the buttons on his shirt and grabbed his bag of party favors that he and Yaoyorozu had put together the night before. He couldn't wait to share them with all of his friends.
He hurried out of his room and bypassed the elevator to rush down to the stairs, skipping them two at a time. Even his quirk started to crackle to life as he ran down in a rush.
When he finally made it down to the common room, he was greeted with sparkling lights, green and red colors, a brilliant Christmas tree, and several shining faces.
"Midoriya! Good, you're here!" Iida greeted as he chopped his hand in the air. He was wearing a full Santa's costume, beard and all. It was an odd costume on Iida, but his frame was perfect for the jolly fellow. "Would you like to assist me in wrapping the last of the gifts for the game later?"
Izuku smiled and nodded, letting out an excited, "Sure!"
He put down the party favors and walked over to Iida's side, his eyes gazing out to see the other shining faces in the room. Everyone was wearing Santa hats or reindeer antlers on their heads, each enjoying a nice hot chocolate or sucking on a candy cane. Even Kacchan was in the corner with a Santa hat on. He was brooding, but at least Kirishima and Kaminari were surrounding him with all the love they could give him.
Everyone seemed to be having a good time, Izuku gathered. He glanced around the room once more until a patch of red and white hair caught his eye. And the smile on Izuku's face slowly fell.
Todoroki was sitting by himself on the couch, his eyes curious and somewhat nervous as he gazed around at all of their classmates fiddling with decorations. He wasn't wearing a Santa outfit or antlers, either. Instead, he wore a plain, dark-gray sweater. It matched his right eye but it wasn't Christmas-y at all.
But the worst part of the entire scene was that Todoroki looked lonely, if not a bit confused. Why wasn't anyone sitting with him? Their classmates are usually so inviting, so why was he isolated as if he had the plague?
"Um, Iida," Izuku called to his friend, who was currently squinting through his thick-lensed Santa glasses to spot the imperfections on his present.
"Hm? Yes, what is it, Midoriya?" Iida asked, putting down the present to look at him.
Izuku paused, his hands fidgeting with the wrapping paper in his hands. "Well, I was wondering about Todoroki. Is there a reason he's sitting by himself?"
Iida blinked at him and then lifted his head to peer into the common room. When he also found their friend sitting alone on the couch, he raised a brow.
"I didn't even know he came down," Iida said. He paused for a moment to assess the situation. "Maybe he's not feeling well?"
Ah, so Iida noticed it, too. So it wasn't just Izuku's imagination. Todoroki did seem a bit out of it.
"I guess it's possible. Maybe he can help with wrapping presents?" Izuku offered.
Iida sliced his flattened hand through the air and smiled. "Good idea, Midoriya! It'll get done much faster this way!"
Izuku nodded and set down the tube of wrapping paper to head over to Todoroki's side. It got noticeably colder the closer he got to his friend, and Izuku had to repress a shiver. He stepped in front of his friend and waved, getting Todorkoi's attention.
"Ah, Midoriya," Todoroki greeted. There was a brief look of surprise on his face before it was quickly replaced by his steely demeanor. Yeah, something was definitely up.
"Hey, Todoroki!" Izuku called. "Having fun?"
Todoroki looked a little puzzled by his question as his cold eyes glanced around the room. He landed back on Izuku and tilted his head a bit.
"Yes." The end of the word lilted up unsurely, and Izuku didn't forget his long pause. It was as if he had to think about what about the party made it fun.
"W-Well, that's good. Um, we're having some trouble wrapping the presents, though. Would you like to help us out?" Izuku asked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder to the kitchen counter where Iida still stood.
Shouto hesitated again, eyes a bit wider. "Sure," he finally answered, pushing himself to his feet. Izuku smiled and led them both back to the kitchen. He still felt a chilly draft in the air around Todoroki's body.
"Look who came to help!" Izuku said to Iida.
Iida nodded and chopped through the air. "Perfect timing! We still have 6 presents left. That would give us each 2 presents to wrap."
"Sounds good," Izuku said, grabbing a few of the boxes. He pushed them to Todoroki along with some wrapping paper. "Thanks for helping us out, Todoroki!"
"You're welcome," Todoroki said, a little distractedly.
Izuku smiled at him, trying to get him a little more involved. He wasn't sure what that look on Todoroki's face meant, but he wanted to erase it as quickly as possible.
So they got to work—each wrapping the presents quickly so they could get started on the party as fast as possible. Izuku was the first to be done, his two presents wrapped semi-neatly with bows slapped on top to make a decent gift. Iida's presents were perfect. They had nice cut-crease corners each seeming to be at a 45-degree angle. Bright, beautiful ribbon wrapped around the boxes, making them neat and shiny.
Izuku turned to look at Todoroki's presents, and his face dropped a little.
The gifts were wrapped a little haphazardly, the wrapping too short on one side and crooked. There were pieces of tape all over the edges of the paper, the poor snowmen on the wrapping paper looking disfigured and bent. The presents didn't even have bows.
Izuku looked up at Todoroki and saw the same defeated look on his face. There was a touch of frustration in his furrowed brows and apprehension in his pursed lips.
"Ah, th-thank you, Todoroki," Izuku said with a wobbly smile. "We really needed your help. Right, Iida?"
Iida seemed to be in a daze, his face a little shiny with nervous beads of sweat as he took in the sight before him. He snapped out of it when Izuku nudged him, however, and he straightened up and adjusted his glasses.
"Yes! An absolute help! Thank you, Todoroki!" Iida said, a little too loudly.
Todoroki shifted on his feet, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck.
"Sorry. I've never wrapped presents before, so I tried following you two. But I guess that didn't really help," Todoroki apologized.
Izuku and Iida both stopped to exchange looks of concern.
"Um, Todoroki... Did you say that you've never wrapped presents before?" Izuku asked.
Todoroki shook his head, still sending a disappointed stare towards his own presents.
And that was when Izuku felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. He remembered the brief story of Todoroki's childhood that he managed to spit out right before the sports festival match, but Izuku hadn't thought of how deep that pain and abuse could've caused for simple things like holidays.
How cruel for someone to deprive a child of the holidays for no good reason.
"No! They're fine! Right, Iida?" Izuku asked.
"Well, yes, but... they could use a little more wrapping..."
"Iida."
Todoroki let out a soft sigh and pushed his presents forward towards them. "Sorry. You guys can fix them if you want."
With those parting words, he walked away, his shoulders a little heavy, and stood in the corner next to the Christmas tree to stare up at the lights.
Izuku frowned, his heart squeezing painfully in his chest. It hurt to think that Todoroki had never experienced any of this before.
"I'm going to talk to him," Izuku told Iida.
Iida frowned, his Santa beard looking a little saggy. "I apologize, Midoriya. I didn't mean for anyone to be hurt."
Izuku shook his head. "It's okay. You were only trying to be honest."
Izuku quickly moved over to Todoroki, copying his pose by leaning against the wall near the tree. Todoroki eyed him carefully but didn't speak. The tips of his ears were red, and Izuku wondered if he was embarrassed by the whole thing.
Crap. Then that meant that Izuku dragged Todoroki into an awkward situation.
"Ah, sorry about that, Todoroki," Izuku apologized. "I wouldn't have asked you to help if I had known."
Todoroki shrugged, his eyes downcast. "It's not your fault my childhood wasn't exactly the greatest at celebrating major holidays."
Izuku winced and rubbed his cheek, unsure of how to respond to that. But before he could stutter out a lame apology, Todoroki saved him from his embarrassment.
"I vaguely remember celebrating Christmas one time before my mom was put in the hospital," Todoroki began. "The day started nice, I think, but of course, like anything else, my old man ruins everything." He paused, eyes looking lost. "We didn't celebrate Christmas at all after that."
Izuku swallowed, his eyes tearing up a bit. He blinked the tears away and sniffled softly so Todoroki wouldn't hear.
This was worse than he thought. Did Todoroki really never get to open a present? Decorate a tree? Hang out with friends?
No, this wasn't right. He had to do something to fix this.
Izuku took a deep breath and faced Todoroki, feeling more determined.
"Todoroki," Izuku called, grabbing his friend's attention. "Will you help me with the rest of the party? I need an extra hand with some things."
Todoroki looked at him, surprised.
"But... I don't know what to do," Todoroki said.
Izuku shook his head. "No, no, that's okay! This can be your chance to learn it!" He smiled at Todoroki, trying to cheer himself up as well. "I bet by the end of the night, you'll be a pro at this."
Todoroki stopped to ponder Izuku's suggestion, and then a small smile appeared on his face.
"Well, with an offer like that, how can I refuse?" Todoroki said.
Izuku felt his heart leap and then soar. Todoroki really had the most beautiful smile.
"What do we do first, then?" Todoroki asked, not even noticing Izuku's inner turmoil.
After he recovered from the heart-throbbing sight in front of him, Izuku took a breath and then put his hands on his hips.
"Well, first thing's first," Izuku said, and he pointed to Todoroki's clothes. "We need to find you a better outfit."
One wardrobe change later, and Todoroki was back in the common room sporting a Santa hat and a red-velvet coat. Izuku almost squealed with delight and how cute he looked, but he held back. He had a job to do, after all.
Todoroki was getting a lot of compliments on his outfit, as well, which seemed to be lifting his spirits up. Iida also came over to apologize for his comment earlier, which Todoroki quickly waved off. It seemed that he didn't want to be reminded of it, which was fine with Izuku. If he could make the night less awkward and more enjoyable for Todoroki, then he would want him to be as comfortable as possible.
And then, from the corner, Uraraka turned on the music and the party officially started. Their classmates immediately dug into the food as if they had never seen a crumb in their lives. Mineta, of course, was already getting shunned by Jirou and Hagakure, and Ashido and Sero were trying desperately to keep Kacchan from slinking back upstairs.
It was going well, and Izuku couldn't believe it. A party he planned with his friends was going well and people were enjoying it. It was such a drastic difference from the year before.
He glanced at Todoroki—who was sitting down in his old spot on the couch—to gauge his friend's feelings and then frowned.
Todoroki was quietly eating cookies by himself, his eyes looking a little glazed as he did so. It was as if he was caught in a daydream, mindlessly eating to cope with whatever was going on inside of his head.
"Todoroki…" Izuku whispered to himself, worried sick for his friend. The party could go super well for everyone else, but if Todoroki was still miserable, it would be meaningless. He had to think of something to get his friend back to smiling. How could he get him to enjoy Christmas?
"Hey, let's get the karaoke machine going!"
Izuku was pulled away from his thoughts by a commotion on the side of the room. He saw a few of his classmates hooking up the karaoke machine in the corner, all with smiles on their faces.
Ah, Izuku thought. This might be a neat thing to do with Todoroki to get him more in the spirit of Christmas.
He rushed over to the couch and gingerly reached down to him.
"Hey, Todoroki," Izuku called, tugging on Todoroki's sleeve.
The boy in question turned around to face him, a gingerbread cookie stuck in between his lips. Izuku snickered, slapping a hand over his mouth. Damn, he was cute.
When Todoroki tilted his head in curiosity, Izuku quickly recovered and pointed to the karaoke machine.
"Wanna sing a Christmas song with me?" Izuku asked.
Todoroki swallowed the rest of the cookie and glanced over at the machine. He shrugged.
"I've never done it before, but I'll try," Todoroki said.
Izuku beamed. "Great!"
He pulled Todoroki to his feet and headed over to the machine. Jirou smiled knowingly at Izuku and then proceeded to select a romantic, Christmas pop song. Izuku immediately blushed on the spot.
"Are you okay?" Todoroki asked as he was handed the microphone.
Izuku swallowed and took the second microphone from Jirou, feeling his cheeks burn.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Izuku said, taking a deep breath. "You, uh… might not know this one."
Todoroki fiddled with the mic and shrugged. "I'll follow your lead, then."
Izuku sighed and held the microphone up to his lips, watching as several smirking faces watched them.
The music started and they began to sing. It was off-key and really out of sync, and Todoroki kept messing up the words, but it was so much fun.
During the song, when Izuku's voice cracked, he heard a snort that echoed through the speaker, and it took him a moment to realize that Todoroki had laughed. It wasn't much of a laugh, but it was there. Izuku heard it.
He didn't even care about his embarrassment anymore. He had just made Todoroki laugh and his heart had grown wings.
"Ha, have you two never used a karaoke machine before?" Sero teased.
"Yeah, that was pretty awful!" Mineta laughed.
Izuku yelped right into the microphone and glanced over at Todoroki, who was holding the microphone to his chest, looking a bit sad. The joy that was in his eyes was gone, and now he looked lost again.
"Aw, look! You embarrassed them!"
There were a few chuckles before Todoroki put down the microphone and headed back to the kitchen. Izuku also put down his microphone, his heart no longer soaring.
That was two things that Izuku messed up with tonight. He rubbed his cheek, starting to feel his chest bubble in panic. He had to turn this around before he scared Todoroki off completely.
His eyes gazed around the room, trying to find something that could possibly help, until they landed on the shiny presents in the kitchen.
A light bulb went off in Izuku's mind.
This could work.
"Okay, everyone! Time for the gift exchange!" Izuku called out, gathering everyone's attention.
His classmates all gathered around the tree near the corner, all bright and shining faces who were eagerly waiting to get their gifts.
Izuku's eyes panned over to Todoroki and found him sitting on the floor in between Iida and Yaoyorozu. It warmed Izuku's heart to see him sitting amongst friends and not by himself.
"Okay, everyone, grab a string!" Izuku said, pointing to the strings laid out on the floor. "Each string is attached to a present. Pull on the string and the gift you pull in is yours!"
Everyone immediately jumped up to grab a string. Izuku grabbed one, as well, and snuggled into the open spot next to Todoroki. He flashed Izuku a small smile, and Izuku felt butterflies crawl up his stomach.
Izuku cleared his throat and turned to everyone else. "Ready. Set. Pull!"
Everyone pulled on their strings and several gifts went flying in every direction. Izuku had pulled his too hard and the present smacked him in the face, making him yelp and rub his nose. He glanced beside him to see Todoroki looking at him with a small smile, a pretty present sitting in his lap. Izuku smiled back at him, admiring the two different colors in his eyes.
He was so beautiful, inside and out. And especially when he smiled. He could just lean forward and—
"What four-year-old wrapped this shit?"
Izuku jumped, his small falling from his face as he whipped his head around to stare at Kacchan. In his lap rested one of the presents that Todoroki wrapped.
Izuku paled.
"Looks like that one's been through a war zone," Mineta chuckled through his nose.
"How fitting for someone like you, Bakugou," Kaminari teased.
"Shut it, Pikachu!" Kacchan yelled.
Izuku felt a bead of sweat fall down his neck and he looked to his side at Todoroki, who was looking down at his lap sadly, his fingers ruffling through the bow.
"It does look a little sad," Ashido said. "But I'm sure the gift inside is fine!"
"It could be a gag gift," Kirishima said, putting a hand to his chin.
"A gag gift? Really? That would be cheesy," Jirou said. "Someone probably just wrapped it like that because they're terrible at it. It doesn't matter, just open it."
"Tch, whatever," Kacchan scoffed.
Izuku released a breath and then reached over to touch Todoroki's wrist. Todoroki glanced up at him and Izuku could see the glazed look in his eyes. Izuku squeezed his wrist, giving him a small smile. Todoroki didn't smile back, but Izuku kept smiling anyway, hoping to push away the pain laced in those two-toned eyes.
"Okay, just open your presents now!" Izuku announced.
There was a beat, and then everything descended into mass chaos, everyone opening up their gifts as quickly as they could. Wrapping paper ended up everywhere, covering the floor in front of their feet. Once their presents were out, they were showing each other and fawning over some of the cute items in the batch.
Izuku beamed and shook in excitement as he pulled out an All-Might hoodie.
"Th-This is the one I wanted!" Izuku stuttered out.
"Aw, did Midoriya get the hoodie? That's awesome!" Kirishima said, giving a thumbs-up. "I was hoping you'd win that one, dude!"
"You brought this, Kirishima?" Izuku said, eyes tearing up. He sniffled, hugging the hoodie close to his chest. "Thank you very much!"
The room chuckled at his antics and then went back to socializing some more. After looking over the hoodie once more, Izuku turned his attention to Todoroki. He froze on the spot, feeling his heart skip a beat.
Todoroki was still holding his wrapped present in his lap, his eyes looking conflicted as he held the box tightly in his grip.
"Todoroki?" Izuku called softly, making the latter jump. "Why haven't you opened your present yet?"
Todoroki looked at him like he had two heads, his eyes still a bit shiny. Then, he blinked away the glossiness and then focused back on his present.
"Oh," was all he had to say.
Izuku could feel his stomach swoop. Had Todoroki been zoned out that entire time?
Todoroki's fingers gingerly started to tear at the wrapping, his face wincing with every sound. His fingers were even shaking a bit.
"Todoroki…" Izuku called, trying not to call any unwanted attention their way. "Are you okay?"
He reached out his hand and touched Todoroki's shoulder to try to comfort him, but it was an instant mistake.
Ice immediately spread from Todoroki's arm and down the right side of his body, shooting out to cover the floor and turning the Christmas tree into one giant popsicle.
Everyone in the room yelped and jumped up from the ice, holding their arms together to try to warm up from the sudden frigidness.
"Todoroki! What the hell?" Jirou complained, shivering next to Yaoyorozu.
"Dude, if you didn't like your present, you didn't have to freeze everyone else's," Kaminari whined.
Izuku watched in horror as Todoroki stayed silent, his eyes looking lost and shocked as he gazed at the mess he had just caused. With shaking hands, Todoroki lowered his half-unwrapped gift to the floor and stood to his feet.
"I'm sorry," he muttered out, and then he quickly fled the room, leaving his Santa hat behind.
"Ah, Todoroki!" Izuku called, jumping to his feet. "Wait!"
He slipped on the ice as he ran after his friend, managing to catch him going up the first flight of stairs. He grabbed ahold of Todoroki's wrist and stopped him from going up any further. His friend's arm was cold to the touch.
"Todoroki, wait," Izuku said. "Please, wait."
Todoroki looked reluctant, almost ashamed, as he wouldn't meet Izuku's eye. Izuku tightened his grip on Todoroki's wrist, trying to be soothing but also firm.
"Talk to me. What happened? You seemed fine most of the night," Izuku said. Todoroki stayed quiet, his eyes cast to the floor, and Izuku felt his stomach clench. "Was it something I did? Did I pressure you too much into doing too many things?"
Todoroki whipped his head up and quickly shook his head. "It wasn't you, Midoriya. Not at all." He paused, his free hand coming up to absentmindedly trace his scar. "I just… remembered something."
Midoriya's brows furrowed and he walked up another step to be closer to Todoroki.
"What did you remember?" he dared to ask. Normally, he wouldn't be so forward. But this time, he felt that a gentle nudge would actually help Todoroki.
His friend stood quietly on the step for a long time, his arm freezing in Izuku's grip. But he didn't let go. He refused to let go of this boy, not when he was looking so vulnerable and alone.
"It was… about the Christmas before my mom was sent to the hospital," Todoroki said. "I… remembered opening presents with my siblings. My mom was there, too, and she seemed happy. My old man was out on patrol or something, so he wasn't supposed to be home."
He paused, looking off into the distance as his mind traveled back in time. The look in his eye sent shivers down Izuku's spine.
"But… he came home early. Something about the patrol going wrong. He was angry," Todoroki said. His voice started to shake. "And in his rage, he burned down all of the Christmas decorations. The tree, the lights… even all of our presents. I had just gotten an All-Might action figure from my big brother, I think." He paused, looking forlorn and lost. "My toy was the first thing he burned."
"Todoroki…" Izuku said with tears in his eyes.
"I don't really think I'm meant to be down there. Thanks for trying to include me," Todoroki said.
When he pulled his hand out of Izuku's grip and started to walk up the stairs, Izuku felt his chest sink in a panic.
"Todoroki, wait!" Izuku called, trying to grab him again, but his friend snatched his hand away.
"I know you're trying to help, Midoriya. And I'm grateful for that," Todoroki said sincerely. "But I just need to be alone. I'm sorry."
All of the words Izuku was going to say instantly died on his tongue as he watched his friend slump back up the stairs to his floor. And Izuku was left alone in the stairwell with his heart in pieces in his chest.
Coincidentally, the present that Todoroki was going to open was a space heater. They cranked up the heat on it to melt the ice and used paper towels to soak up the mess. The lights still twinkled on the tree, but the rest of it was pretty much ruined–the branches drooping and dripping.
Izuku tried to remain positive throughout the whole ordeal, but he found that he couldn't stop wiping away stray tears here and there.
What a disaster. Nothing he tried with Todoroki seemed to help him love Christmas and forget his awful past. But Izuku knew better. It wouldn't be that easy for Todoroki to just forget.
"Deku..."
Izuku jumped when he felt a hand on his back. He turned and saw Uraraka along with several other of their classmates standing behind her, all with concerned looks on their faces.
"Hey, are you okay?" Uraraka asked.
"Don't cry, Midoriya! We really thought your party was fun!" Hagakure said.
"Yeah, it's not your fault Todoroki went berserk," Kaminari said with a shrug.
At the mention of Todoroki's name, more tears spilled from Izuku's eyes. He was quick to shake his head and wipe the tears away.
"No, I... I'm not upset that the party got... interrupted," Izuku said, sniffling. "I was trying to make the party fun for Todoroki so he could enjoy himself for Christmas for a change."
A few of his classmates exchanged weird looks.
"For a change?" Kirishima asked.
"Yeah, what does that mean, Midoriya-chan?" Tsuyu asked.
Izuku swallowed, his eyes finding Iida's, who looked equally as concerned. There was no getting out of this one now.
Sorry, Todoroki.
He sighed heavily and faced everyone, his cheeks raw from how much he had rubbed them.
"Okay, well... Todoroki has never really... celebrated Christmas before," Izuku said.
"Was his family more traditional?" Yaoyorozu asked, her brows knitted and hands folded together.
"Uh, well... in a way, I guess they are. But Todoroki never got to decorate a tree or wrap presents or bake cookies," Izuku explained. "He said he remembered one year they had Christmas, but... his presents got burned."
Kacchan, who had seemed disinterested in the conversation before, raised his head to look at Izuku with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Eh?! Burned?" Mineta shrieked.
"Jeez, who knew Endeavor hated Christmas so much," Sato said, looking down to the floor.
"Is there any way we could help?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"Yeah, there's got to be a way to make Todoroki's Christmas better," Uraraka said.
Izuku was a little in shock, touched by his classmates' kindness in such a difficult time. He sniffled more, wiping his eyes as he tries to focus on the task at hand: making this Christmas the best one Todoroki has ever had.
"Tch. If I were him, I'd wanna burn all of Endeavor's lame-ass presents," Kacchan said in a gruff voice, but it was somewhat sentimental at the same time.
An idea sparked in Izuku's mind at the suggestion, and he started to think it over.
"How crude," Iida mentioned with a quirked brow.
"It's a little extreme, isn't it, Bakugou?" Kirishima asked.
"You all are just a bunch of sissies!" Bakugou yelled. "I'm only tellin' ya what I would do! Bunch of wusses."
"Wait," Izuku said, stopping them all from getting into a huge fight. "That might not be a bad idea."
"Eh?! Deku, are you insane?!"
"That's really not a good idea..." Jirou said softly.
Izuku waved his hands in the air. "That's not what I meant! I mean... ugh, just hold on."
He pulled out his phone and searched through his contacts. He hit the call button and put it up to his ear.
"Midoriya, what are you doing?" Hagakure asked.
Izuku smiled. "Calling in backup."
It was a little while later, after Izuku had set everything up, that he walked upstairs and headed to Todoroki's room. He felt a little giddy and nervous at the same time as he stopped in front of his door and knocked gently.
"Yes?" came a small voice from inside.
"Todoroki? It's me," Izuku called.
There was some rustling and then the door opened, revealing an exhausted-looking Todoroki. He had bags under his eyes, and Izuku wondered if he had been stressing himself out too much today.
"Midoriya," Todoroki said. "Sorry. I left a mess downstairs. I'll go down and clean it up."
Izuku smiled gently. Of course, he would be worried about that.
"Don't worry about it, Todoroki. It's all taken care of," Izuku said.
Todoroki's shoulders slumped a little, looking disappointed. "Oh."
Izuku's heart couldn't take much more of this.
Todoroki opened the door wider and allowed Izuku to walk inside. When he entered, he immediately shivered. It was freezing in there.
"Todoroki, it's so cold in here," Izuku mentioned, turning towards him.
Todoroki crossed his arm in front of him and latched onto his other one, looking small.
"Sorry," he said again, and Izuku sighed.
"You okay?" Izuku asked.
Todoroki blinked down at him and then looked away. "Yeah. Sorry."
"You don't need to apologize, Todoroki," Izuku said desperately. "It was an accident."
"I lost control over something stupid," Todoroki said.
"It's not stupid. It's something that's troubled you in the past. You shouldn't be ashamed for getting upset over it," Izuku said. "I would be upset, too."
Todoroki frowned, looking away. He didn't say anything, and Izuku knew he had to fix this.
"You know... this is my first Christmas party, too," Izuku said.
Todoroki looked at him sharply. "Really?"
Izuku smiled shyly. "Yep. I had to google a bunch of the games, actually. I mean, my mom and I used to play those games together growing up, but it's really different when it's a bunch of people rather than just two, so I had to find games that would work for a group and..."
Izuku stopped himself when he realized he had been muttering. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck.
"A-Anyway, my point is, you're not alone. I was also nervous about the party."
Todoroki tilted his head. "You didn't seem nervous."
Izuku chuckled. "Well, neither did you, to be honest. I could only tell because I know you so well."
Todoroki nodded. "That does make sense. You are my closest friend."
Izuku sighed fondly. It was too precious.
"Thank you, Todoroki. You're my closest friend, too," Izuku said. He could feel his cheeks burning. "A-Anyway, we're about to start part two of the party. We want you to be there."
Todoroki winced. "I don't want to be a burden to everyone. I was the one who ruined the party in the first place."
"You didn't ruin anything," Izuku said gently. "Just... Will you come? Please? For me?"
Todoroki paused, pulling his lip in between his teeth. Izuku gave him his best puppy dog eyes and Todoroki let out a huff.
"Fine. But I don't know how long I will stay," Todoroki said.
Izuku beamed.
Izuku watched Todoroki's face as they passed right by the common room and headed outside. Todoroki tried peeking into the room to see the damage done but Izuku pushed him out right away.
When they got outside, Todoroki looked surprised to see their whole class waiting for them. There was a bonfire happening in the courtyard, and several of their classmates were carrying sparklers in their hands. Even All Might was there–he was in his shrunken form, but he was there, also holding a sparkler.
Todoroki looked confused and he looked to Izuku for an explanation.
"What's going on?" Todoroki asked.
Izuku smiled. "Well, we decided to celebrate the new years, too! Since we're all going home for break." He grabbed Todoroki's arm and tugged him forward. "C'mon! There's something we need to show you!"
As they walked closer to the middle, they could see two large presents sitting near the fire. One box was neatly wrapped while the other was wrapped sloppily.
Izuku led him to the presents and smiled at him. "Merry Christmas, Todoroki!"
Todoroki's eyes went wide as he tried to figure it out.
"Those presents have my name on them," Todoroki mentioned.
Izuku nodded. "Yep. They're both for you!"
Todoroki blinked. "Me?"
Kacchan sighed heavily from the side, a candy cane sticking out of his mouth. "For the love of–Will you just open the damn boxes already?! How dense can you be, Half 'n Half?!"
The group chuckled and Kacchan snarled, making Todoroki even more confused. But he stepped forward to open the pretty box first.
Izuku waited on bated breath as he ripped open the paper and pulled the lid of the box off.
Todoroki froze when he saw its contents.
Inside were several All Might action figures, just like the one he had for a second when he was a child. They were all in mint condition, still in the box and ready to be played with.
Izuku's cheeks were hurting from how hard he was smiling, but he couldn't help himself. He was just too excited. He ducked a little to see his friend's face and saw a look of shock splayed on his features.
Todoroki seemed to be at a loss for words.
"These are for me?" Todoroki asked.
"Mhm!" Izuku nodded, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Todoroki still looked flabbergasted.
"We didn't understand the meaning behind the gifts, either," Uraraka said. "But Deku said that you'd like them."
Todoroki glanced up at Izuku, eyes full of wonder. "This is what I had as a kid," he said softly.
Izuku smiled even wider. He leaned down to whisper into Todoroki's ear. "I asked All Might if he had any action figures from that time."
Todoroki pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth, his eyes glistening for a moment. He took a deep breath and then reached up to grab onto Izuku's hand that rested on his shoulder. It sent tingles down Izuku's spine.
"Thank you, Midoriya," he said softly and with that small smile of his.
Izuku shuddered all over, his ears beat red. He cleared his throat and slowly retracted his hand, ignoring Kaminari's smirk in the corner, and then he pointed to the other box.
"I had another idea that you might enjoy. Go ahead and open that one, Todoroki," Izuku said.
Todoroki stood to his feet and marched over to the other box, easily removing the terrible paper and tape, and opened it. He paused, his eyes blinking rapidly.
"Midoriya," he said as he reached into the box. He pulled out an Endeavor action figure and held it up, looking to Izuku curiously. "Why are there action figures of my old man in here?"
He asked it with so much boredom that it almost made Izuku chuckle. But he resisted and pointed towards the small bonfire crackling softly in the background.
"I thought it might would be satisfying to burn some of these…" Izuku said. "They're old and damaged anyway. No one would want them."
Todoroki blinked at the box, his eyes finally looking clearer than they had all day. He smiled up at Izuku, determined and excited—as excited as Todoroki could look. He grabbed the box and hefted it up, carrying it over to the pile. He lifted up his left hand and placed a small flame at the bottom of the box, allowing the fire to spread through the entire bottom. He dropped the box into the pile and let the fire grow larger.
Their classmates cheered and lit up more fireworks.
"All right! Let's get this party back up and running!" Kirishima said.
Jirou gave a thumbs up and pulled out an acoustic guitar, strumming a Christmas song lightly and singing. The rest of the class joined in, each off-key and loud. But the atmosphere was warm and so, so kind.
Izuku never felt fuzzier. It had been a rocky start at the beginning, but he could truly say that this was one of the best Christmases that he had ever experienced.
"Hey."
Izuku felt an arm brush up against his and he looked over to see Todoroki standing to his left. He noticed that Todoroki's right side wasn't as frigid as before. Actually… he felt warm. His proximity made Izuku blush.
"Ah, Todoroki," Izuku greeted happily. "I hope this wasn't too intrusive for you."
Todoroki shook his head. "Not at all. It was perfect, actually."
Izuku's heart did a strange flip in his chest. "R-Really?"
Todoroki nodded, smiling down at him. He nudged his arm lovingly and Izuku shivered at the touch.
"Thank you for making this the best Christmas I've ever had," Todoroki said.
Izuku's eyes watered but he kept the tears from falling. He smiled and nodded, bumping his arm against Todoroki's.
"You're welcome."
"Oooh, hey, hey! Look over here!"
Todoroki and Izuku both startled at the voice coming from behind them. They glanced up and saw something dangling over their heads. It was green with red berries and…
Izuku's entire face flushed. He turned and saw Hagakure lurking behind them, holding up the accursed thing over their heads.
"Hagakure!" Izuku whined. "Don't!"
She giggled and shrugged, rushing back to the rest of the class to try it on their unsuspecting classmates. Izuku rubbed his red cheeks. How humiliating.
Todoroki blinked for a moment, watching her go. "What was that?"
Izuku sighed and looked at him. "That was mistletoe. When two people are caught under it, you have to kiss."
Todoroki's eyes widened and he studied Izuku carefully. The extra attention made Izuku blush and he waved his hand in the air.
"But it's not really important! We don't have to do anything you're not—"
Suddenly, before Izuku could even finish his statement, a red and white blur whooshed in front of him, and he felt something warm and wet press against his freckled cheek.
Izuku froze.
His brain short-circuited.
What…
What?!
Todoroki leaned back, his cheeks a bit pink as he looked into Izuku's eyes.
"Merry Christmas… Izuku."
Izuku gaped at him like a fish out of water. He rubbed his cheek where Todoroki's lips just were and peered up at him, his face twitching into a wobbly smile.
"A-Ah… Merry Christmas... Shouto."