Work Text:
Pit pat.
Dull clouds filled the sky all over the horizon, encasing the whole world in a shadeless gray. Droplets of water fell down, dropping on the hard concrete floor. It’s raining. It’s been raining since an hour or two ago. The way droplets meet the Earth was almost calming— an indistinct faraway drumming. Thumping and clattering against the road, against buildings, against wet grass. A constant reminder that the world was still spinning, moving, and unstoppable.
And beneath all the rain stands two teenagers in a far secluded part of their school. There’s a canopy hanging on top of them, shielding and keeping the two warm even while the sky is crying. There are kisses shared between the two, somewhat of a secret shared only between the two of them. Content smiles reserved for only each other, a grin or maybe two after a whisper of a joke.
Underneath all the noise that comes from the outside world stood the two, trapped and hidden away within a box of bliss made by their own.
There’s a hand threading to blond-colored hair.
There’s a pair of lips peppering small kisses along the edges of a scar.
Pit pat.
Words like I love you are exchanged.
They don’t need anyone else. Just each of them is enough.
Just Shouto and Katsuki.
It was in the middle of winter when they both took a walk outside the dorms, hand-in-hand. White decorated the world, stretching far and wide on every speck they could land their eyes on. There was the noise of snow crunching under their boots whenever they took a step forward. There are people minding their own business, some working even on this cold, cold day, some playing and spending their childhood, some walking with their loved ones, just simply admiring the feeling of snow landing on their hair. Like them.
Shouto watches how beautiful Katsuki looks beside him.
There’s a muted orange scarf draped around his neck, covering the cheeks that were dusted with slight red. And he looks pretty. Katsuki is always a sight for sore eyes , Shouto thinks. He agrees with himself. Because even with the world being set in a pause after winter had come, Katsuki still manages to burn brightly.
He’s like the sun, blazing wildly and yet— yet at the same time, the sun gives the Earth life. Katsuki does too, he gives Shouto happiness, contentedness, he is everything.
And so, he watches.
How the other would have another layer of pink shading his ears whenever Shouto goes to hold his hand in his, or how the other would grumble about ‘ giving pda in public’ when he’s really always the first one to pull Shouto in for a kiss.
“Are you gonna stand there and stare at the oblivion?” The blond pulls his wrist. “Get your ass here, we still hafta go to more places before curfew.” Right. They were supposed to visit another one of Katsuki’s favorite stores. To celebrate the feeling of Christmas, his boyfriend had said.
At first, Shouto doesn’t understand.
Well— it’s true how he’d grown up without receiving the normal life most kids get, but when Katsuki had said that Christmas is supposed to be the time where everyone feels happy.. Shouto doesn’t understand it. Because he was already happy with the blond next to him. He’s already happy every day due to Katsuki’s presence in his life.
But if Christmas makes Katsuki happy then—
Then Shouto would be more than willing to spend the holiday following wherever his boyfriend leads him. (Would there be a point in the future where he will stop calling Katsuki a boyfriend and instead, a partner of his life? Shouto wishes so. But he also believes it’s going to come true.)
And so, again, he watches.
The small grin painted on Katsuki’s face grew bigger as soon as they came through the store’s wooden door. A bell chimes on top of them, the smell of bread being baked wafted lazily through the air. Shouto ignores them, far too caught up by the sight of his boyfriend darting straight to where cakes are displayed.
There’s that again, the small part of himself that Katsuki refuses to show to anyone but Shouto. And he thinks it’s cute, how Katsuki seems adamant about hiding the fact that he has a sweet tooth despite Midoriya and Kirishima already knowing without being told. It brings a small smile to his lips.
“What are ya smilin’ about?” The blond asks soon after he’d finished ordering. Shouto does not drop his smile, instead, he feels it turn wider. Katsuki lightly bumps against him. “You’re being weird again, you’re always a weirdo. A dumbass.”
It was during the first few stages of their rapidly developing friendship that Shouto had learned that Katsuki isn’t literal when it comes to his (very creative) insults. And it was after they’d started to date that he figured that these insults actually meant the opposite.
“It’s nothing,” he says, eventually. “I just thought you were cute.”
Katsuki sputters at this, face turning into a shade of red. “That was fucking out of the blue you— ”
There’s silence. A comfortable one at that.
“Well,” the blond coughs, looking like he’s trying to hide underneath his scarf. Adorable. “I’m always cute and good-looking, so I don’t know what you’re on about.”
Shouto hums. How can he disagree with that?
A worker shouts that their order is to be collected, and Shouto takes it upon himself to receive the bag of treats. “I could’ve been the one who took that, y’know,” Katsuki told him after they’d left the store. There’s the smell of piping hot bakery goods spinning around them.
“You were the ones who bought the food,” he answers in the end, left hand already interlacing with the blond’s. ”It’s the least I can do.”
“Actin’ the gentleman, huh?
“Perhaps.”
There’s a snicker in return. Shouto’s heart feels warm.
Various musical jingles accompanied as they walked. Some he’d grown to know, courtesy to Kaminari and Ashido telling him all about Christmas music, but some were completely unfamiliar to him. Still, Shouto thinks it should be worth it if he gets to know them if it means he’ll be able to hum along with Katsuki.
In the end, it all leads back to Katsuki.
He can’t help but feel the quick burst of pride whenever he thinks about how far their relationship progressed since then. Just a year ago, right before they’d begun attending remedial classes together, Shouto would’ve never thought about the idea of staying next to Katsuki in close proximity. Let alone imagine holding hands with the blond. They were friends, sure, that’s correct, but they were never close enough to do that.
And even if they were, never would they think about touching each other in the slightest. Because they weren’t Midoriya and Kirishima. Never brave enough to initiate physical touch with another person.
But then the end of their remedial classes came, and suddenly they began drifting closer and closer to each other. Faster than what he would’ve wanted, but acceptable nonetheless.
When a kiss was shared between them, the first one, everything just felt right . Like pieces of a puzzle that click together despite all odds.
It’s been a year since that.
And still, the fluttering feeling residing in his chest never once took a lift-off.
Shouto wants it to stay forever.
Forever is a strong word, he knows. For it asks, wishes the future to stay unchanged no matter what happens. Forever is a strong word, and yet Shouto finds himself using it because the more he focuses on the present, well, the more an unlikely forever can become likely.
So, he pours his everything into this moment where Katsuki is leading them deeper into what seemed to be a maze of stores. There’s laughter bouncing against buildings, coloring the atmosphere around them just like what the setting sun is doing. And there’s a halo cast around Katsuki’s blond hair by the flickering ornaments placed all along the pavement.
After what was minutes of walking, the two finally took refuge on a bench. The park was empty, since people were busy scurrying in the heart of the city for the holiday. The bag of goods bought earlier was opened between them, still warm despite the cold weather.
“Halfie, here, try this one.” Katsuki hands him a piece of a Panettone. “Bet you’ve never fucking tasted one of those. It'll kill you on the spot.”
Shouto takes the piece into his mouth. It’s sweet, understandably so.
“Good,” he says, opening his mouth for another bite.
“Greedy bastard.” Katsuki scoffed, mirth hiding behind it, but he gave another piece to Shouto anyways.
They stayed in silence, with Katsuki occasionally feeding him or their shoulders bumping to one another because of how close they were.
Then a chorus of fireworks echoed from afar, coming from the direction where the markets are. He hadn’t thought about a firework show being held before night had reached its peak; still, it’s a welcome surprise. Colors danced around dusk, it was mesmerizing to watch.
When he tore his gaze from the sky, heterochromatic eyes met red ones.
And he,
He leans in.
Their lips met, a sudden burst of euphoria cut through him.
It’s sweet.
“Merry Christmas,” he whispers after they’d parted.
There’s an all too familiar smirk glazing his lover’s lips.
“Merry Christmas too, love.”
Though again, who was he kidding? Everything is sweet when Katsuki’s around.