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Katsuki- well and truly- had absolutely no one to blame but himself.
Not a single damn person.
And yet, he was sure that this was, like most things, Deku's fault.
Damn fucking Deku.
And Roundface shared some of that blame for talking so damn loud! Why couldn't she take her fucking phone calls in her room and not in the common area, like some kind of animal! Sure, she had thought she was alone, sitting on the couch with her phone to her ear, too intent on her conversation to even look at him when he came into the kitchen.
The audacity of this bitch.
“No, I understand, Deku.”
She said she understood, but she sounded disappointed.
“No, it’s okay! Really! You’re a hero; you can’t exactly control when someone needs your help.”
Who the fuck needed Deku’s help? A kitten stuck up a tree?
She let out a good-natured laugh at something the idiot said. And no, he did not feel jealous because Katsuki made her laugh all the time too! Sure, it had been on accident a lot, but he had discovered at the beginning of his third year how much he really enjoyed that laugh. He started to notice how even when he did something accidentally funny, he sought her out, hoping that she had noticed. Hoping she was laughing.
“No way, Deku,” she said. “Iida won’t fit into the suit, are you kidding me?!”
Katsuki scoffed. So what if fucking Glasses was built like a tank!? No matter how tall or broad the loser was, Katsuki could take him or any other extra on. He was just as strong. He could just as easily toss Uraraka over his shoulder and…
“No,” she sighed. “It’s okay! Kiri would probably be the next best thing, but he’s doing evening patrol with his work-study too, and Shinso and Denki are on a coffee date, so they are both off the table.” Shitty Hair?! Why would he be next in line for…well…whatever the fuck she was talking about. His friend would never betray him like that! Not that he and Kirishima had talked about the festering boil that was his crush on Uraraka, but Katsuki knew he could tell from the way he did everything he could to make sure the two of them sat together on the couch for movie night. Though he very much doubted that Uraraka noticed- space cadet that she was! “Deku! Don’t feel bad, really! It’s not a big deal! I can easily go on my own; there’s no one else who would be able to do it as well as you anyway, so…”
“OI!” Uraraka let out a scream and all but jumped out of her skin as Katsuki reached over the couch and snatched her phone out of her hand. He glared down at her- pissed at her words for reasons she dared to be confused about. She was gaping at him like a goldfish- she didn’t even scold him, likely because she still wasn’t quite sure what the hell was happening.
Fair. He didn’t really know what was happening either. All he knew was that one minute he was eavesdropping respectfully, and suddenly, when he had heard her go through a list of guys for whatever the fuck she needed and his name didn’t come up once, his feet were moving toward the couch.
He heard Deku’s frantic voice on the other end calling for Uraraka. He rolled his eyes and brought the phone to his ear. “She don’t fucking need you, Deku!”
There was a moment of silence before Deku spoke- a couple of idiot peas in a pod, the two of them.
“Kacchan?”
“Who else?” he barked.
“Bakugo, what is…” He held up a finger to silence Uraraka and then stepped away when she had finally gotten her bearings back enough to reach for her phone.
“Pink Cheeks doesn’t need you. I’m here.” He glared again, pointedly, at Uraraka for seeming to forget that the best that UA had to offer also happened to have a day off his work-study too and was available for whatever mission she needed. “So go get the damn kitten out of the tree!”
“First off,” said Deku. “It’s a puppy trapped in a storm drain, so get that right.”
Katsuki bristled at his sassy tone. Katsuki had known this day would come. Deku was getting way too sassy for his own good- being All-Might’s successor was clearly going to his head, and he was drunk on power. He would be the undoing of all of civilized culture. All things that Katsuki could have warned All- Might about if he had bothered to ask.
But noooo.
No one ever listened to Katsuki.
“Second,” continued Deku, his tone tentative and almost disbelieving. “You’re saying you’ll cover for me with Uraraka?!”
“Damn fucking straight, moron,” he barked. “And I’ll do it better than you ever even dreamed of doing it. I’ll be so much better than you that she’ll wonder why she didn’t fucking ask me in the first place.” He glared at her as if to make her a point.
He wasn’t sure what point he was making , but he was certain that there was one to be made.
“Okay, Kacchan. I- I really appreciate it.” Katsuki wasn’t sure, but he was fairly certain that the stutter in his voice was not from nerves or fear.
Was…was this asshole laughing at him?’
Katsuki hung up abruptly and tossed the phone back to Ochako, and crossed his arm.
“Well,” he said.
Her eyes grew even wider- like something wasn’t computing. What the hell wasn’t clear?!
“Well, what?!”
“Well,” he repeated. “I wanna know why fucking Pikachu and Mind Fuck made the list before I did?!”
"What list?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.
"For whatever the fuck you were talkin' to Deku about!" he shouted, gesturing at her in annoyance.
She rubbed the back of her neck. “Well,” she said. “Shinso was never on the table either, but Denki may…”
“I’m better than all of them!”
She should know he could do anything she needed better than everyone! Sure he wasn’t the most effusive in his support- but he had never done anything but take her seriously and respect her as a peer. Least she could do is have a little bit of faith in him!
Her brow furrowed, and her nose scrunched slightly as she weighed her words. “W-well, honestly, I didn’t think it would be something you could pull off!”
“HA!? What the hell are you talking about, Uraraka?! What can’t I pull off?” She pursed her lips and looked like she was about to sheepishly supply an answer, but he got there first. “Nothing is the answer to that question! Not a god-damn thing.”
Suddenly, a wide smile broke over her face, and he felt like he was going to combust under the blinding sunshine of it all.
“Oh my gosh, really Bakugo?! You’ll help me?!”
She was all but bouncing on the couch. He looked up at the ceiling, away from how other parts of her bounced with the motion without the restraint of what she would normally wear in the field while doing some of her more acrobatic work. “I said I fucking would!” he insisted. She laughed again, and he felt some of his anger at having been initially excluded melt from his posture. Before he could react, she was on her feet, catching him in a tight hug.
While he had loosened up a bit on his 6-foot personal bubble rule, he still wasn’t entirely comfortable with overt displays of physical affection. He never knew how to return them. Though, he had more than once berated himself for having done a too good of job laying down his physical boundaries because, dammit, Uraraka respected them.
She hugged all of her friends.
She leaned into them.
Played with their hair.
All that shit.
And he could see her, at times, move to him only to restrain herself, as if remembering who he was.
He liked that about her, but also it frustrated the hell out of him.
But now she had him locked in a bone-breakingly tight hug around his torso, her squishy cheeks pressed into his chest as her gratitude came pouring out without her say-so.
“Thank you so much,” she squealed, doing a little hop. She ran past him, and he only just realized she had his hand the moment he felt himself being tugged behind her.
“OI! Where the fuck are we going?!”
“My room, silly!”
His heart stuttered in his chest. Her fingers were wrapped around his wrist- not able to close completely around the width of it.
He knew her hands were small, but they looked particularly tiny when he saw them right next to his.
And they were going to her room.
Her room.
He had never been inside.
He had walked by a few times.
Like some pathetic sap.
He had watched, pouting, as everyone from Icy-Hot to Glasses popped over to visit with her, and he had wondered what that must be like- to be able to bask in her undivided attention whenever they wanted.
Damn extras probably didn’t appreciate it as much as he would.
“Why?” he asked, suddenly feeling very much like a coward.
He wasn’t ready for her room.
He needed time to…to…brush his hair?
She looked at him with an amused smile. “Because that’s where the Santa suit is, we have to make sure it fits!”
He dug his heels in, stopping abruptly. She let out a squeal of panic as she jerked on his hand again, expecting him to move but finding him locked in place, which in turn sent her almost careening to the floor.
Eh. She’d be fine.
But Katsuki!? He certainly would not be fine.
A Santa suit?!
What the actual fuck?!
No way.
No fucking way.
He would die first.
A slow, painful death by cheese-grater
So… one could see, it was not a leap to blame Deku for this mess. This was all his fault, Katsuki was sure of it (yes, that was easier than facing the music of his own stupid competitiveness, and his only slight weakness for the mochi-cheeked ball of Christmas fucking cheer standing to his right in an outfit he is certain is designed to put children in the holiday spirit and not to humor some weird fantasy that he would certainly like to lock away in a box and store deep, deep in his unconscious mind. He may even be inclined to blame Uraraka if those damn elf ears weren’t doing something for him….)
DAMMIT ! Weird Middle-Earth fantasies needed to stay in the box, along with his musings about wondering how close she could get to strangling him to death with her thighs without actually killing him.
All things that needed to stay in the box until he was emotionally ready to handle them.
Today was not that day.
He did not have time for this shit.
And yet, here he was. Standing inside some run-down building, supposedly some community center or youth center or daycare or some shit like that- it was hard to hear anything over the sound of this fucking hat on his head… not to mention the sheer green tights wrapped around Ochako’s gorgeous fucking…
This was all Deku’s fault.
He looked at her again; she was bobbing up and down, rocking from heel-to-toe, the bells at the end of her shoes jingling.
“Mr. Takagi,” she waved as some guy made his way over to her. He looked youngish, a little disheveled looking, but he had a smile on his face that kind of reminded him of Uraraka. “He’s the director here,” she added to Bakugo.
What kind of living hell was he living in?!
“You’re here! You look great, Uraraka!”
She laughed and did a little twirl, making the bells on her skirt jingle. “Thanks! It has pockets.” She then demonstrated the depth of said pockets by sticking her hands inside and pulling out several candy canes.
God, she was such a dork.
And he was starting to sweat in this damn Santa suit.
“Mr. Takagi,” she said. “This is my friend, Katsuki Bakugo! He’s our Santa for the day.”
Duh. Katsuki would have thought his damn suit would give that away.
“Great,” he said. “So, this won’t take long! The kids will finish with outdoor time, and then they’ll be filing in soon.
“I’m not letting a little kid sit in my fucking lap and asking what the hell he wants for Christmas!”
Uraraka looked up at him nervously, which offended him more than he would like. What the fuck did she think he was gonna do? Explode the children?
Okay, fine. That was fair! But he wasn’t.
“They actually don’t do that,” said Uraraka. “Most of the kids in this program aren’t so well off. It’s hard on the parents when kids who believe in Santa ask for these ridiculously nice presents.” Oh. He had never thought of that. He always got what he wanted from Santa, back when he believed in Santa. “Kids don’t understand why “Santa” brings really good gifts to their friends and not to them.”
Katsuki was suddenly feeling like shit- though he wasn’t sure what for. But for some reason, he had a very upsetting picture in his head of little Uraraka, pink-cheeked and excited, wondering what she had done to piss Santa off that year to explain why other kids had better presents.
He was all but scowling at the thought- at the thought itself and at the way it made him feel.
“It’s important for the kids to know that not being able to afford nice things or being low SES doesn’t mean they are on Santa’s bad list.”
“Right,” he grumbled. “Good. Then why the fu-…” the swear word died at a quick look from her, simultaneously scolding and requesting. “Why am I here?”
“Well,” said Mr. Tikagi carefully. “Usually, Santa reads a story to…” Katsuki was certain Mr. Tikagi did not miss his murderous gaze. The man looked from him to Uraraka, beseechingly.
“Buuuut,” interrupted Uraraka. “I don’t think the kids will mind if Santa’s little helper elf reads the story.” She looked at the director insistently, making it clear for EVERYONE’S sake that, yes, the kids would be fine with that.
“I’m sure they will love it!”
“Great,” said Uraraka. “Santa can just turn the pages for me! But…” she turned to look at Katsuki, her hands folded under her chin.
Tch…like that was going to work on him.
(mighty big words for a hero currently decked in a Santa suit)
“We do need you to pass out the gift bags!”
“Eh?”
“Your Santa,” she reminded him. “We have a big Santa bag ready for you, and inside are all their little gift bags. Their names are just written on there, so you just have to…” She bit her lip, trying to think of how to describe it in a way that did not make him want to die right then and there.
She should save herself the time and energy.
“What?” he asked, his voice low and lethal.
But she wasn’t afraid of him.
She never was.
“You…uh…you need to just call out their names and tell them to come and get their gifts.”
He growled, low and rumbling in his chest, but she continued to look up at him through her long lashes. This close, he could see the light dusting of sparkles along her cheekbone and over her brow. She had really committed to this elf thing.
“Fine," he barked. Quick and hard.
She clapped her hands together and patted him on the shoulder as if his tone had meant nothing to her. “Thank you so much!”
“Yeah…yeah…whatever…”
He was so mad.
So very, very upset.
But still… she had asked him to do this, so he was gonna fucking do it.
Because he was Katsuki Bakugo. He did not fail at anything.
He was the best at everything he did, and this would be no different.
At Uraraka’s urging, he followed her to another part of the center into what looked like a small playroom, Santa’s big bag waiting at the front.
He breathed out, trying to get some perspective. He did harder things every day. He risked life and limb regularly. So there was no reason he couldn’t handle this. No fucking reason he wouldn’t take his role of Santa and make it his bitch!
She’d be glad she didn’t ask Deku’s boring ass! She would…
“You’re not a very happy Santa!”
“What the he- ck do you mean!?”
Fuck. He had ruined this already. A little boy was standing in front of him, the room behind him filling up with kids.
“You aren’t smiling,” he accused, pointing at Katsuki’s face.
“Neither are you, you brat!”
He heard Uraraka sigh beside him.
“I’m not Santa,” insisted the kid, crossing his arms stubbornly.
“So, what,” snapped Katsuki. “Santa has to be smiley all the time, but the little brats that I deliver presents to don’t?! Santa is allowed to be cranky sometimes too!”
“Not at Christmas,” the kid argued.
Okay, maybe Uraraka’s worries had been well-founded. “Especially at Christmas,” he said, crossing his arms. “It’s my busy time of year! I got a million demands, and a brat telling me to smile ain’t helping.”
The boy scrunched his nose and put his hands on his hips. “Where’s your reindeer?!
Katsuki’s eyes narrowed at the kid, and he raised his hand up, ready to shoot off a few sparks- not like he would ever hurt him, he just needed to put him in his place.
To remind him who’s in charge here.
Santa-fucking- Claus, that’s for sure!
“Well, kid, this year the…”
But his brain went stupid when he felt her arm snake through his and urge him from his stance. “The reindeer are resting up,” she exclaimed loudly, still clinging to his arm. “Christmas is a week away, and they have a whole night of flying, so they stayed at the North Pole today.”
“Who are you?” asked a little girl, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked up at Uraraka. “You look familiar!”
“Dummy,” said another girl. “That’s Mrs. Clause!”
“No, it’s not,” said another kid, climbing over his friends to get a closer look. “Look at her ears.” Don’t mind if I do , thought Katsuki, his gaze sliding to the right to find Uraraka blushing furiously next to him. She seemed to have forgotten that she was holding onto his arm at all. Not that he minded. “She’s an elf!”
“That’s right,” exclaimed Uraraka, trying to reclaim control of the room. She shook out her shoes for them and did something that Katsuki could only assume was supposed to be an elf dance, but he wasn’t sure what made it particularly elfy. Really, he was kinda upset that she had to let go of his arm to do it. “I’m Santa’s Helper elf!”
“Oh, I remember,” exclaimed the first kid who had wondered about Uraraka’s identity. “That’s Uravity! She comes here and does game-time and reads to us on Sunday mornings!”
She did? That was news to Katsuki.
When the hell did she have time for that?
Uraraka looked distressed as if she was torn between maintaining the magic and not explicitly lying to them.
“Oi, you don’t know what Uravity does in her spare time,” he barked over the titters and questions. “She does combat and rescue! If she can do all that, making time to be my helper elf is a piece of cake.”
She made an odd little choking sound beside him, her eyes cast down on her curled, jingly shoes as the blush that was usually focused in her cheeks spread all over her face and neck.
“All right, everyone,” she called out over the kids as they gathered, trying to silence their chattering, but it was to no avail.
The ages were incredibly varied. Some looked like they could barely even talk, and some looked almost teenagers.
“Okay,” Ochako repeated. “Can everyone hear me! We are going to get started, so…”
“OI!”
The kids quieted almost immediately and looked up at them. Katsuki had heard many times that he was hard to ignore- he would take advantage of that right now.
Damn kids should know better than to disrespect his helper elf, dammit!
That was tantamount to insulting Santa himself.
“Thank you, Santa,” said Ochako, beaming up at him. He looked down at his shoes and grumbled under his breath, something that should stay under his breath in a room of kids. She turned back to the room and introduced them.
Santa and his helper elf.
His .
Helper elf.
That should not be affecting him as much as it was.
He blushed furiously.
Dropping his gaze to the ground to hide it.
He looked up briefly at her again. And even though Santa was supposedly the main attraction, she was doing a good job picking up his slack. Answering ridiculous questions from the kids with ease and humor, and respect, taking each one in stride.
What kind of cookies do elves eat?!
Why do your shoes have bells?
What does Santa want for Christmas?
Are you married to Santa!?
Katsuki willed himself to melt away, but it did not work.
“No,” she said with a laugh. “Santa is married to Mrs. Claus! I’m just an elf!”
“I’ll marry you, Helper elf!”
Katsuki glared threateningly at the boy three rows back who had shouted that out. “Fat chance you’re stealing my helper elf,” Katsuki declared.
“Does Santa own the elves?” asked one of the older girls, looking deeply horrified. “Like pets?!”
Oh.
Oh god.
This was bad.
“No way,” said Uraraka, doing a little hop. “The elves love our job in the North Pole! We get to make toys and sing and dance and pet the reindeer! Santa treats us all so well!”
“Damn straight, I do!”
It slipped out before he could stop it, and the room burst into laughter. He supposed it probably wasn’t anything that they hadn’t heard before- well, at least most of them.
“But you know one of our favorite things to do in the North Pole?!”
He had no idea. Katsuki supposed Santa should know.
“We love to read!”
Really!? Is that something elves are known for? He supposed they were well-read in Lord of the Rings, being immortal beings and all that.
His train of thought was interrupted by Uraraka, looking at him expectantly.
“What?” he whispered.
She rolled her eyes and motioned for him to sit in the chair. The chair had a book sitting in it- with an elaborately designed cover splashed with color and sparkles. He wasn’t sure what the plan was because he had made it clear he was not reading a damn story. He sat down in the seat only for Ochako to drop down to the floor gracefully, in front of him and slightly to the side.
Right! He was supposed to turn the pages for her.
He set the book up against his knees so Uraraka could see the pages.
He just needed to turn the pages.
That was easy enough, right?
Simple.
Impossible to mess up.
Except for the fact that every fucking thing about her was designed to distract him. She was a succubus in elves' clothing! Her magical lilting voice lulled him into a state of hypnosis as he listened intently (he almost missed his first page turn). The light was dancing across the sparkles around her eyes (to be fair, he liked to think that would be distracting to anyone) except for the fact that they drew his eyes to hers, and, clearly, those were distracting because, even if he was going to be the number one hero one day, he was still just a human! And he defied anyone not to get lost in that pool of liquid warmth.
Shit. She had stopped reading. Kids started to giggle as he sat there like an idiot. He hurriedly turned the page. She continued reading, this time, leaning in close.
And- HOLY SHIT- shit, her elbow was on his knee as she leaned into the pages.
Oh god.
Oh god.
Oh god.
She was so close to him. She smelled all piney and pepperminty.
How in all of god’s green earth was he supposed to focus on turning pages with her.
“I think Santa is broken!”
“The hell did you say?” he barked, looking back at the kids- his eyes searching the source of the voice. Once again, they descended into giggles at his profanity. “Come and say that to my face! You wanna end up on the naughty list?!” Several of the kids had broken out into full-blown laughs, covering their mouths and kicking their feet. “Now stop interrupting! Ura- my helper elf is reading you a story! Now listen!”
Below him, Uraraka was shaking her head, but not in a scolding way- almost in a “what did she think would happen” kinda way. She didn’t look upset about it, though. He nudged his knees slightly toward her, encouraging her to continue reading.
After the story (the rest of which went by without a hitch, thank you very much!), they passed out the little gift bags. Uraraka stood beside him, reaching into the Santa bag and taking out the gift bags and handing them to him.
He called out the names- each one inviting cheers and squeals of his excitement as the kids eagerly accepted the gifts from his hands. The bags weren’t very big. As some kids had already opened theirs, he could see that they were all similar in size but somewhat individualized for each kid. But every last one of them looked thrilled- bouncing up and down in the middle of the floor, showing off their gifts to each other with pride.
When the endless train of children finally came to an end, and they were all too distracted with their presents, Katsuki had hoped he could ditch and go get changed into his clothes. But Uraraka was in the middle of all of it- looking at each gift the kids proudly held out to her with unbridled enthusiasm- like it was the coolest thing she had ever seen.
And not some lame dollar-store presents.
It should annoy him. It really should. But there was nothing inauthentic about it. He was fairly certain she didn’t have a deceptive bone in her body. She just wanted everyone to feel good, and she was good at making them feel good.
“I don’t think Mrs. Claus wants you to look at your helper elf like that.” He turned his gaze down to a girl standing beside him. Her eyebrow was raised, and her arms were crossed like she was scolding him- but she was a little older and looked at him with an impish smirk. “It’ll get you off the nice list.”
“Tch…” he rolled his eyes. He looked unapologetically back to Uraraka, who was twirling her skirt for a little girl, who was watching the way the bells fanned out with delight. He couldn’t blame her. “Good thing I’m in charge of the list then, huh?”
The girl laughed and shook her finger at him scoldingly. “Good thing,” she agreed before being called over by one of her friends.
Eventually- FINALLY- Uraraka came trotting over to him, looking flushed with joy (maybe heat, he was dying in this damn suit, not to mention the beard! At least she didn’t have to cover her face). “You ready to get out of that suit!?”
“What?! No! No! Why the hell would you…”
Oh, right…right. She wasn’t being sexy; she was being normal.
His head just was stuck in the gutter, it seemed.
“You okay, Bakugo?”
“Fine!” He turned on his heels to head back out to the lobby to grab his bag. “Let’s just go get changed.”
“All right,” she said. “I’ll meet you out front, okay!?”
He turned and glared at her accusingly. “Aren’t you getting changed?”
“No,” she said with a sheepish laugh. “I forgot to bring extra clothes!”
“Airhead,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I think you did it on purpose.”
She gave him an exaggerated shrug and did a little hop. “I do look pretty damn cute.”
He scoffed, but he didn’t deny it. He wasn’t convinced he could pull off a lie as big as that one.
###
Katsuki would die happy if he never had to look at another Santa outfit.
Ever.
Or see any Santa at all.
He was fairly certain this whole thing had traumatized him deeply.
He would never be able to go to a mall at Christmas again. He folded the suit and carried it out of the bathroom with him, unsure where it was supposed to go. He was about to turn the corner when he heard Uraraka’s voice, stubborn and insistent, and then the other guy- the director whose name he couldn’t remember-talking back to her. He paused before turning the corner into the lobby.
“I really appreciate that, Uraraka, but really you’ve done so much already. I know being a hero-in-training isn’t lucrative.”
“No way,” she said. He couldn’t see her face, but he could imagine how her face looked right now. Her lip was probably pulled into a tight line, the kind of look that he usually saw before her heroic declarations of intent, followed by a fist pump or a high five, encouraging herself and her peers to do their best. “We’ll get all of the names covered!” she declared. Katsuki peered around the corner briefly for reference- both of them were standing in front of the tree in the lobby, one hadn’t taken notice of before. It wasn’t decorated with real ornaments but rather paper ornaments with names written across the front. She went up on her tiptoes to snatch some of the paper ornaments. “I can do at least four more! We’ll wait a few more days to see if any more names get taken! And then I’ll come back before I leave to go home for break and grab whatever is left!"
The director shook his head, a clear objection in his expression. “Uraraka, truly you don’t have…”
“Yes, I do,” she said, clearly leaving no room for argument as she folded the little paper ornaments and putting them in the pocket of her bag. “Things were up and down for me growing up, but I know there were one or two Christmases where my parents couldn’t afford presents, and it was organizations like this one that helped them out when times were tight.”
Katsuki felt a stab of guilt. He was pretty sure that wasn’t meant for his ears. Sure, her financial situation wasn’t a secret, but still, deeply personal stories about her childhood struggles may be.
Those were probably…like…third date conversations? He wasn’t sure.
“The least I can do is help you now. It’s what heroes do, after all! And this hero is going to make sure that every kid on that tree has at least one present!”
The director didn’t bother arguing with her anymore. That was wise.She wasn’t about to be deterred. Though, the guy was right. Katsuki knew that the small stipend they got from their work as third years was not a lot. He had never really thought about it, though, because, well, he didn’t have to.
His parents made sure that his account was sufficient to cover his needs and then some.
He also knew Ochako’s “money-saving” plans in the past, ones he imagined she was planning on using to afford gifts for the brats on the tree.
That would happen over his dead- fucking-body.
Their whole damn class had been pissed off after she passed out at the beginning of the second year. She had been walking down the hall one minute and then face-planted the next, which led to the confession that she regularly skipped meals to save money. They hadn’t even been friends then, and he still would have made sure she had enough food.
It was no fun fighting someone who wasn’t at their best, and, additionally, it made him excited to fight her when she was at her best and well-fed.
And it would be just like her to sneak-skip meals again so that she could buy presents for a bunch of kids whose parents couldn’t afford it.
Dumb ass.
And while her heroic badassery on the field certainly managed to get him hot and bothered, he was progressively coming to a more disturbing realization. When it had just been that , her in a tight suit beating the hell out of villains, that made sense; that could just be his horny teenage brain and his raging competence boner. But when it was her smile, her laugh, the way she hugged her knees during a scary movie, and now her being her stupid, sweet, sincere self that just wants to do the right thing and be a hero for everyone, he had to just realize it was more than just a physic thing. It was a Uraraka thing. Something about her just did it for him.
Even dressed in her ridiculous get-up and her jingly shoes, which of course she was perfectly fine walking home in, because, why shouldn’t she be, she looked fucking hot.
And she had no fucking idea.
And not in the dumb-ass “you’re beautiful because you don’t know it” kinda way. She had no fucking idea, and that, in fact, pissed him off! She should KNOW that she’s the hottest bitch in a room.
Or girl? Woman?
He supposed if he ever wanted anything more, he shouldn’t call her bitch- even if he didn’t mean anything by it.
Either way! She should know it.
And if she would let him, he would hype her up every damn day.
Even if the thing he was hyping her up for was dressing up like a damn elf and reading to a bunch of brats.
He waited a few more minutes, assuring that it didn’t look like he was eavesdropping on her for the second time in 24 hours. The director saw him first. “…And thank you so much for stepping in last minute, Bakugo!”
“I was tricked into it,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Uraraka, who was grinning up at him impishly.
“That’s not the way I remember it,” she said. “I seem to remember you demanding that I let you play Santa. In fact, you declared that you would be the best Santa there ever was.”
“Well, certainly the most memorable Santa we’ve had in a while,” offered the director.
“See,” said Katsuki, choosing to take that as a compliment. “That’s the same thing.”
Uraraka shook her head, but she was looking at him with something that almost looked like affection, almost like if he was one of her dumb friends, then she might hook his arm with hers or something like that. He had no idea how to tell her that he didn’t mind so much when she violated his personal space without sounding like a perv.
He didn’t want to be one of those weird “hey, where’s my hug” dudes. He just…wanted her to know that she could…
If she wanted to.
That he wouldn’t mind.
“Either way, thank you both so much.” He offered them a parting nod before turning and returning back to his work.
“All right,” said Uraraka, blowing out an exhausted breath. “Ready to head back, Bakugo?”
He nodded, hands shoved into his pockets as they crossed the lobby to the door. Katsuki opened the door for her, and she paused for a moment- not surprised necessarily- but noting.
Which put him on the defensive, so he narrowed his eyes at her and mimed like he was going to close it on her. She let out a squeak and hurried through the door.
“Thanks, Bakugo!”
He grunted in return as they stepped out into the cold winter air. It wasn’t dark yet, but it was getting there. She looked every bit the part walking along the sidewalk. The jingle of her shoes created a beat that he wanted so badly to be annoyed by but only found charming.
“You do that every Sunday?” he asked.
She tossed the floppy part of her elves hat over her shoulder and looked up at him. “Yeah,” she said. “Mr. Tikagi actually called us in when one of the kids went missing, and that’s how I learned this place even existed. But they do a lot of really heroic work.”
She wasn’t stingy with that word. Something he would have once been annoyed by.
“After school programs; support for houseless youth; and they do a community Christmas tree for some of the families in the area.” He nodded like that was his first time hearing about it- like he hadn’t listened to her talk about it a few minutes ago. “So, I like to help out when I can! I think it’s good for them to see that anyone can be a hero!”
He stopped walking suddenly. Something in her words giving him pause- in fact, irritating him a little. She stopped and turned to face him, her head cocking to the side, putting him in mind of a golden retriever trying to discern why their person had stopped walking.
“Bakugo…what…”
“You know you’re a badass, right?”
“Huh?”
“Tch…” he did his best to sound disinterested, which he so clearly was not. “What I said!”
She frowned at him, almost pouting, and put her hands on her hips. “Use your words, Bakugo.”
“I did!”
“Why did you sound so put off?”
“I’m not.”
She leaned into him, her eyes roving up to his face in a way that made him want to hide- not something that he was used to. “You are,” she said with as much certainty as him.
“You said that anyone can be a hero,” he repeated, emphasizing her words. “I mean…you’re not…you’re…” She was looking at him patiently, waiting for him to finish his sentence, almost like she was listening to a child taking the scenic route in telling a story. And she was not letting him off the hook. “You’re not… just anyone .”
There that oughta do it!
Her nose scrunched in confusion. Fuck, she was so dense sometimes. “I’m…not?” She asked, drawing out the word.
“No,” he said. “You’re not.”
“Thanks?”
She didn’t get it.
Clearly.
“I just mean…sure, sure it’s great to come and let the kids see that someone who comes from similar circumstances or some shit like that, but you don’t have to fucking downplay yourself like that.”
“Bakugo,” she said, rolling her eyes in a way that did piss him off. “I just meant that I wasn’t like you or Shoto or…”
“I know damn well that’s what you meant,” he interjected. “Because that’s exactly how you sounded. Like “anyone can be a hero, even silly, little, not-to-be-taken-seriously, weaker-than-everyone else, here- for-the-wrong-reasons, underdog Uraraka.”” Her mouth opened in offense as if she was going to protest, but he kept going. He had a point to make. Sure, this might not be the best way to hype a girl up who you had the hots for, but he was just learning. “You aren’t proof that just “anybody” can be a hero, and you shouldn’t see yourself that way.” Her brow softened slightly, the confusion and frustration in her eyes replaced with understanding, and maybe something softer. “You should tell those fucking kids that you’re Uravity, and you work your ass off to be a hero who can rescue and kick villain ass!” Her lips quirked up into a small smirk, and he felt relief that her anger had been short-lived. “I mean- clean the language up for their little baby ears,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down at his shoes to hide his post-rant blush. “But you get the idea.”
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth as if trying to keep herself from smiling too wide. If he were better with words, if he wasn’t such a spaz, he might tell her that she didn’t need to do that. That he liked the way her cheeks puffed out when she smiled, the way she smiled with her whole everything.
She nodded slowly. “Thank you, Bakugo,” she said. She didn’t argue with him or offer an explanation. He liked that about her. She fought hard when she needed to, but she didn’t fight for the sake of it. He had learned a hard, long lesson in humility, and he still had to learn it every day. But she had an ease with failing, with being wrong and admitting it, that he was low-key jealous of.
He was convinced that was why she had excelled so much in the last two years.
“It’s nothing,” he said. “Just the truth.” He took one step toward her, and then something stopped him. Maybe it was just her- the sight of her standing in front of him, the sun setting behind her, making her look like an honest-to-god Christmas angel (elf? What was the difference really?), trying to do all she could to make Christmas good for someone else even if it meant skipping out on eating, one of her very favorite things. Either way, he stopped in his tracks.
Maybe he could be humble enough to learn that there were more ways to be a hero than he thought.
“I…I’ll be right back…” he turned on his heels to run the block back to where they had come from.
“Bakugo?! What are you…”
“Forgot my damn phone in that fucking Santa suit!” She heard her laugh, clear as a bell.
“Hurry up, Bakugo, we’ll miss the bus!”
Sure, it may be a lie. But he supposed it was like letting the kids believe she was Uravity and an elf at the same time- harmless enough.
Plus, she would make it out to be something bigger than it was. Something noble or cheesy. Really, he just didn’t want her to skip a meal to buy these brats' presents.
It was all for her. And he could barely admit that to himself.
Like hell he’d be able to admit that he didn’t like the idea of kids waking up on Christmas without something under the tree.
He was Santa, after all, the best fucking Santa around, so he couldn’t let that happen.
###
Ochako was on her way back to her room after a long night of studying with the other girls in Jirou’s room (chosen for her impressive and varied playlists that served to guide their many, many dance breaks). She was tired and a little bit out of it, but she could certainly hear a raised voice on the other side of the hallway.
A voice she recognized.
A voice that she was VERY familiar with at this point- one that played over and over again in her head, hyping her up and telling her that she not just “anybody.”
She swallowed down the emotion rising in her chest at the memory. It had been 48 hours since they had spoken; since he had been the hero of the day by donning a Santa suit. She very much doubted he had had any idea how many times she had gone back to those words, wrapping them around her like a blanket as she studied, prepared, fought, and trained.
Pushing herself just a little further.
Reminding her of who she was.
How badass she was.
“Open the fucking door, Glasses!”
She rolled her eyes. How could he be simultaneously so inspiring while also being such a spiky little gremlin?
“Bakugo!” She snickered at Iida’s voice, covering her mouth to keep it in as she peeked around the corner. “That’s is not an appropriate way for a hero to address his peers. You should knock once at an acceptable…”
“I’m about to knock you on your ass if you don’t shut the hell up!” Bakugo didn’t even bother entertaining Iida’s affronted gasps, and, honestly, right then, neither could Ochako. She was busy watching Bakugo shuffle through some folded papers, muttering to himself. She recognized them right away. She had four in her room and had planned to have 30 more in a few days at the pace they were being taken down from the giving tree.
But it looked like Bakugo had all thirty in his hands right there.
“Here,” he barked, demanding, and insistent. He held out one of the ornaments to Iida, who looked positively, adorably baffled. “Family of 5, 4 kids, ages 2, 7, 12, and 16. Their list is on the back.” Katsuki looked down at his pile of ornaments. “If I can’t unload all these brats, then you, Pony-Tail, and Icy-Hot get two! I’ll be back in three days; make sure you have gifts wrapped and ready.”
Iida took the paper without arguing. Ochako wasn’t sure if it was because he was generous and approved of Bakugo’s non-traditional community service or if he was still just too confused to respond. But it seemed Bakugo wasn’t going to explain anymore as he moved to walk to the next door.
But then he stopped briefly and looked over his shoulder. “And we all know you’re loaded,” he said. “So I don’t want to see any cheap-ass Elsa costumes that’ll rip after one day, you got me? That damn lace better be immaculate!”
Iida nodded dumbly before slowly closing his door.
Ochako didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as Bakugo moved to the next door and pounded just as hard on the wood. “Pikachu, open the fuck up!”
Slowly, she moved away from the corner and took a deep breath, trying to settle her emotions, trying to keep herself from running right up to the explosive blonde, and throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him the way she had wanted to for the past 6 months.
Now, more than ever.
It was kind of embarrassing, honestly, how distracted she was by his face…his arms…his shoulders…his mouth…his everything.
And none of this was helping.
Or it was? She wasn’t sure.
It wasn’t that she didn’t think he was a good person- she felt like she had always been able to see the good side of Bakugo- see what was going on beneath all of that blustering. She respected him so much, but she had never once been afraid of him. She knew he was a hero.
Despite what Bakugo may say, she knew he did care about people. She was sure he cared about the kids he was adopting out to their peers in a brash demand that Ochako didn’t have the confidence for. She had thought of it, of course, but she struggled to ask for help, especially when it came to other people’s money.
But it seemed Bakugo didn’t have any of those hang-ups.
She knew he cared.
But a part of her wondered if maybe he was doing it a little for her too.
Because she knew he cared about people.
And she was beginning to think he cared about her.
Maybe in a way that she had never dared hope until recently, her insecurities always getting the better of her if she ever seriously entertained the thought that he might see her as something more.
But maybe he was right. Maybe she wasn’t just anyone. Maybe she was Ochako fucking Uraraka. Maybe she was a badass hero. Maybe she was hot and funny and smart.
So… why shouldn’t Bakugo be into her?! He certainly wouldn’t be settling!
She walked down the steps back to her dorm with a little more swagger, a little more confidence. Right now, she had to focus on finals, on continuing her path to be a hero. But… maybe at their New Year’s Eve party.
Maybe she would wear a dress that made her feel cute and sexy.
And maybe she would find him before midnight (if he stayed up that late).
Maybe….
She smiled to herself as she climbed into bed.
Best damn Santa that place had ever seen.
Maybe he was right.