Chapter Text
December 17th
Bakugou hated Christmas. The joyfulness, the offensively colorful decorations, carolers on every corner, people on frenzied shopping sprees, having to listen to his mother on Christmas Eve bitching about, well, anything she could bitch about. Her repertoire was endless.
So desperate times require desperate measures, and that's how the early evening found him hopping on the train to escape the snow. His shoes left muddy footprints on the white floor and the station was to the rim of people coming and going without much care for anything other than their own business. Some were finally going home after a probably busy workday, others had their hands full of bags that hid underneath the annoyingly cheerful wrapping paper.
Yeah, Bakugou hated Christmas with a passion.
He pushed through people without even asking permission, his elbows connecting here and there with the plush fabric of other people's coats. He didn't even look back, just barreled until he got to his destination.
The city was full of fancy libraries, sure, the kind that blasted All I Want for Christmas is You on a loop until closing and had a Christmas tree taller than him on a corner, maybe even offering costumers some hot cocoa. He wouldn’t be found dead in a place like that. So he always went to the same store.
You could say it was cozy, but Bakugou visited it because it was quiet. Not any crowds, nor many people at all. This late, probably just him and the seller, some lanky dude that tried to do some small talk when he noticed him as a regular until just one curt "fuck off". After that, the guy just shrugged and left him to his own devices.
The library was quiet, shelves from floor to ceiling, stacked full with dusty hardcovers. Just what he needed after the nightmare scenario full of glitter and tacky headbands he had encountered just as soon as he stepped out of the subway station. Bakugou yanked the metal stair along and the dust particles danced around him, making him sneeze. The seller let out a small chuckle but when Bakugou glared at him he just put his hands in the air with a toothy smile. The blond scoffed before continuing with his momentum, or at least he tried because something else caught his eye.
In between two hardcovers a small red tome winked at him, looking velvety with golden accents. It was pushed in an impossibly tight spot, and judging by the dust patterns around it, not for long.
The stairs forgotten behind him, he yanked it out with curiosity, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
Soon it was obvious it wasn't a book, but a notebook. Soft matte paper, with an elastic on the side to hold the page. In some lazy handwriting, bold capital letters read the title.
“Do you dare?” Bakugou felt the handwriting with a finger, whispering to himself before scoffing “Fucking 'course.”
The notebook had a few tore out pages, but the first one, marked up with the red elastic, said loud and clear:
I left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf.
Bakugou scoffed loudly before turning the page with more force than necessary.
So, you’ve chosen to play. That’s revealing in itself. So we begin.
On the next page, there were seven blank spaces underlined, a coded message.
“Oh” Bakugou startled before narrowing his eyes to look at his unwanted companion. The seller was looking over his shoulder, reading the message as well before Bakugou closed it with a loud noise.
The guy jumped before straightening and left to his post behind the counter in a rush, while Bakugou’s footsteps disturbed more dust into the air.
“The fuck is this, plain face,” he asked, waving the notebook around.
“I have a name tag, dude” he yanked his t-shirt with the little nameplate that read Sero Hanta but Bakugou ignored it without a thought.
“Tell me who did this” he let the notebook drop on the counter with a thud.
“I can’t tell you that. If you don’t wanna play I’ll leave it back” he moved to grab it but Bakugou’s reflexes were quicker and he snatched it back.
Without another word, he retreated to a corner of the bookstore where he was hidden from the door.
In the next pages, there were a series of clues that he had to decipher to find a book and get access to the word so he could know what this weird stranger had intended to say.
The evening was quiet and the store didn’t have much clientele, so Sero was on his tail, reading over his shoulder and suggesting titles or reading the words aloud. Bakugou was very close to kicking his ass when the doorbell chirmed signalizing someone and the seller disappeared to the front of the store again.
He heard muffled voices but didn’t pay them mind, chuckling on the stranger’s embarrassing puns and going on their treasure hunt of sorts.
Bakugou was deep in thought, his nose inside a book searching for his clue when someone behind his back cleared his throat.
“The fuck do you want now, plain face?” he asked without taking out of sight the words, not even turning around.
“Dang, Baku, and here I thought we were still friends,” a feminine voice said, and he turned around so fast it gave him whiplash.
In front of him, there was a gorgeous blonde, her makeup done to perfection, and her bare legs peeking out from her long coat, even in winter.
“What are you doing here, in a bookstore of all fucking places?” he said, his eyebrows shooting up.
“Searching for a gift, and you talked about this place so much that I thought I might as well visit,” she said, taking her long blonde strands of hair out of her face with a swift shoulder motion and looking around rather in disgust. She was too polished for that place, looking out of place.
“Fuck off, Camie,” he said, making a point to go back to reading, even if he wasn’t anymore.
“Look, baby,” she said, sighing dramatically like it was all taking a toll on her “I’m not trying to be a bitch here. You should come to my Christmas party”
“I rather choke”
He rather felt her rolling her eyes than saw her, but she just tapped the book in her hand slightly against his shoulder. He looked at her with narrowed eyes.
“Shouto is gonna be there” she sang before waving her long fingers goodbye and he was alone again, in a dark corner of a bookstore trying to pick up clues from a stranger that might as well be a psychopath murderer looking for a new victim. What the hell.
He threw the notebook on the counter for Sero to catch, before bracing himself to the winter cold in full swing outside.
He was already two blocks away when the coded message came back to his mind.
Are you gonna be lonely on Christmas?
“Fucking hell” Bakugou grumbled to himself before undoing his steps and finding himself back at the bookstore doors.
“For the last time, I can’t tell you anything about him,” Sero said, his hands in the air in surrender but an amused smirk on his lips.
“You will unless you want me to set your store on fire” Bakugou yanked him from the front of his t-shirt but to no use, the other guy just shrugged before smiling at him again.
“I guess you’ll have to keep playing to find out, man”
He let go of his shirt with a grumble and left the store with heavy footsteps, not before sending him the middle finger.
Bakugou took quick steps, the notebook safely tucked under his winter coat to protect it from the snow. In almost record time he was in his best friend's small coffee shop, shoved in between two tall buildings somehow resembling how he found the red notebook.
A bell on the door announced him cheerfully and a pink puff of hair emerged from under the counter.
“You took your sweet time getting here!” Ashido said in a high pitched scream, startling the customers and making Bakugou wince.
“I had more important shit to do than entertain your ass while you work,” he said sitting down in the bar while taking off his coat and leaving it to his side.
“You don't have anything to do on your holiday vacation, that's why you come here every day,” she said while pouring his usual coffee order and setting it in front of him “What's that?”
Bakugou cursed under his breath. Even when he had made sure the notebook was well hidden under the faux fur of his coat, Ashido's eye was like a hawk.
"Nothing of your goddamn business” he replied, nudging the not-so-subtle red under the fabric.
Ashido just clicked her tongue before quickly snatching it from under his nose and moving to a prudential distance from the counter.
“Give it back or I'll end you,” said Bakugou, nearly toppling over his chair in his haste to get up.
“Do you have a diary now, honey?”
“No! What the fuck am I, fifteen years old you?”
“Then you won’t mind if I check it out”
“I'll kill you”
“God, Baku, don't climb on the counter!” Ashido put the notebook on the shining surface before resting her forearms on it “So dramatic”
“Nosy bitch” he grabbed it before swiping invisible dust particles off its cover.
“You say as it is a surprise” she grinned before serving him a muffin, knowing that he wouldn't eat because it was too sweet, but would charge him anyways for it even when she was the owner and would shove it down her throat.
“Just found it in the bookstore. Some weirdo left some clues to decipher some bullshit message”
“And you are the weirdo who can't back up from a challenge. May I?” she extended her hand and this time Bakugou gave it to her after rolling his eyes pointedly and ignored him while she inspected it.
“You are not gonna answer, right?” she said matter of factly but Bakugou gave no response. “Bakugou, you said so yourself, this is from a weirdo, it could be dangerous”
“I could take him out if I wanted to,” he shrugged. She just glared at him “He reads all these romantic young adult novels, I wouldn’t put my money on a big muscular guy”
“You are an ass. I'm charging you double for the muffin”
Bakugou arrived home rather late at night, after helping Ashido close down the shop and seeing her take the subway safely.
He was received by an empty apartment, no lights on and dark curtains drawn, not allowing even the light of the city to come in. He flicked the lights on and not even bothered to announce his arrival home.
Slowly he peeled off his clothes to take a shower, shivering from the cold in his house. It usually felt like it was always too cold.
He sat down on the island, eating some leftovers from lunch while looking around his place. It was neat and well put together, not a thing out of its place. He didn't even bother to put up decorations or some twinkling lights. It was the same minimalistic, black and white apartment as ever.
He is okay with it as it is, but some nights are harder. He doesn't miss Shoto per se, it's not like they were in love. That's precisely why he was dumped on Christmas Eve the year before. But Bakugou appreciated the company sometimes, at least when it was someone as quiet as Shoto. Someone who could camouflage themselves into his apartment and life without taking so much room.
That said a lot, too, since Shoto had mentioned that day his inability to commit and change for his significant other. To get out of his comfort zone.
The silence was baffling, so before he could change his mind he grabbed the notebook and a spare pen he had on one of the kitchen drawers and wrote.
Taking from your funny little challenge (which was easily mastered by me) I think you and I must think alike.
Christmas fucking sucks.
His excuse to leave so early in the morning in the middle of his most despised season was to grab breakfast with Ashido. Definitely not the detour he had planned as he shook the snowflakes from his shoulders as they were starting to melt into his clothes while he entered the warm bookstore.
“Well, hello, you came back soon, something caught your eye?” Sero leaned against the counter with a knowing grin. Bakugou just flipped him off before forcing the red notebook back in the place where he found it the day before, this time with a challenge of his own.
“Dammit, Ashido, you had one fucking job,” said Bakugou, a hand running over his hair.
“I know that I had to catch him while he came to deliver the notebook. But he came in rush hour so I missed him. He left it under the tip jar.”
“You suck,” he said, taking the notebook from her hand with a little more force than necessary but she only grinned.
“You are in for a treat with that one,” she said happily.
“You nosy bastard read it?” he demanded but she just shrugged.
I see you are planning sneaky ploys to get information. But cheaters are on the naughty list, so you'll have to work for my name.
He felt the corner of his mouth twitch upwards involuntary, gaining him a perfectly done eyebrow being lifted by Ashido. He scowled at her before going back.
And you will work hard, my dude.
“Are you sure about this, honey?” Ashido said standing outside the biggest mall in the city. She was shivering under her coat.
“I don't half-ass anything,” said Bakugou, before looking at her with a feral grin. This time it earned him both eyebrows jumping to her hairline.
“This is gonna end badly” she whispered to herself before following Bakugou already midway to the entrance.
The twinkling lights winked at her as she waited by the door, rubbing her gloved hands together to gain some warmth.
Not even five minutes had passed when a lightning speed puff of blond hair crossed the glass doors, startling her. A hand shoot out and grabbed her by the arm, urging her body to move.
“Fuck, Mina, run!” Bakugou shouted and looked back at her. He was smiling, savage, and free, with no regard for anyone on the sidewalk as he dragged her through the streets.
Ashido dared look behind them and saw two securities from the mall, quickly left behind.
Bakugou turned on the corner and jumped into the subway station in one swift motion, Ashido almost tripping and only keeping her balance because he was still grabbing her arm.
The station was packed, the same landscape from previous days. But tonight Bakugou didn't seem to mind. He walked to the nearest wall and rested his back on it and she followed suit.
“Fuck” she said, and Bakugou let out a laugh. A wild one, full of his personality, a loud and ugly laugh.
“Fuck indeed” he was still smiling when he showed her his tight grip on the Santa Clause hat.
“You actually got it”
“Fucking course, who the fuck do you think I am” Bakugou dug into the soft velvety fabric until he found a very familiar piece of paper, it's borders ripped.
In neat red ink, it read Eijirou.
December 17th
Kirishima was running, stumbling occasionally with an unaware passerby but he was always polite and excused himself.
One of his new years’ resolutions was to arrive on time, but since it wasn't the next year yet, he was running late.
So he didn't see the blond guy until he was quite literally colliding with him, the decorations he had on his bags spilling into his coat covering him in red glitter.
“I'm so sorry, dude,” he said, reaching out to help him clean up but the guy shoved his hand away so instead he straightened his antlers headband.
“What the fuck, you shitty haired asshole!” the guy roared and Kirishima was not about to have that.
“Excuse you, man, such a pity that a cute guy like you is so rude” he blurted out before continuing his way, not looking back but feeling a set of intense red eyes on him.