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"Okay, who sent Party-Hater and Ms. Cheap to get decorations?" Ashido asked loudly as Bakugou and Uraraka entered the dorms, letting in the cold December air. Deku panicked and ran up to them.
"That's all you got?" Deku asked when Bakugou set a single, half-filled bag on the nearest table.
"The list had a bunch of useless crap on it," Bakugou said simply. Deku lowered his voice and gestured vaguely to the room around him.
"We're planning a party, Kacchan." Deku turned to Uraraka in disbelief. "I asked you to go with him to keep him in the Christmas spirit."
"I did! Christmas isn't about decorations! It's about being together with the people you care about!"
Bakugou nodded in solidarity, then smirked as he started to unpack the bag. "I got the important things."
"Paper to make snowflakes, some candy canes, and a tiny wreath with a bow!" Uraraka narrated as Bakugou pulled out each item. She picked up the wreath, approximately the size of her palm, and held it out proudly to Deku, who sighed.
"It is cute. I'll give you that," he said.
"Don't forget the mistletoe," Bakugou added as he placed the plant next to the rest of their haul. Uraraka's face flushed with heat and she had a feeling her cheeks were a bright Christmas red. She shoved the mistletoe back into the bag and let out a nervous chuckle.
"How'd that get in there?" Uraraka asked. Both Bakugou and Deku raised an eyebrow at her.
"At least they got that," Mineta said in relief, scooting past them to grab the mistletoe and stealing both of the other boys' attention. "Tape it up somewhere good, Sero!"
"You're both off decoration duty," Ashido said as she snatched up the wreath. "Might as well start setting up stations to make snowflakes, Midoriya. I'll see if Kodai can help us out with this."
Deku nodded and left Bakugou and Uraraka alone with an empty bag and candy canes.
"I thought we did okay," Uraraka said quietly to Bakugou, watching Ashido pleaded with Yaomomo to help create more decorations. "I always loved making paper snowflakes."
"They'll get over it. No use spending money on shit we're just gonna throw away," Bakugou said. He opened the package of candy canes and handed her one. She took it gratefully and watched as the rest of the class busied themselves in order to put together a Christmas party. Uraraka felt bad that she'd made it harder for some of them. She really had tried to be fun and frugal. "That'll teach Deku to try and blackmail me into participating."
"Oh? What's he got on you?"
"Like I'd tell you."
Uraraka shrugged, unwrapped the candy cane and sucked on it. She picked up the remaining unopened candy cane packages and started to separate them all out so they could put them on the tree. "I didn't really expect an answer."
After she was done, she was a little surprised to find that Bakugou hadn't left. She looked up at him in confusion. It took her a moment to realize that he was staring at her lips.
"We need help with groceries!" Satou announced as he entered the dorm with Shouji and Kirishima, all carrying so many bags that Uraraka wondered if they were hosting all of U.A. for this party. Bakugou ran to assist and Uraraka squinted at his back. He didn't just help people.
"Hey, Deku," Uraraka called, moving towards him as he tried to pull together enough scissors from deep within the storage closet.
"I really thought you'd help him stick to the list," he said, surfacing with two handfuls of different sized scissors. "The snowflakes will be nice, though."
"I'm sorry!" Uraraka said earnestly. "He made a lot of good points and I didn't want to spend money we didn't have to spend. At least we got candy canes. They were on the list."
"It's okay. Everything will work out. In fact, Yaomomo said she was happy to help." He smiled widely at her and moved past her to go back to the tables. "We'll make do."
Uraraka followed, looking toward Bakugou unloading groceries onto the kitchen counter.
"So Bakugou told me you were blackmailing him," Uraraka said as nonchalantly as she could. Deku laughed hollowly.
"He would call it that," he mumbled, placing a few pairs of scissors in the middle of the first table. "I said it might be good to show he's not a Grinch this year."
"Okay but why?"
Deku stood up straight and glanced in Bakugou's direction. He shrugged but Uraraka noticed a faint blush on his cheeks.
"He said he didn't want people bothering him like last year. I said the best way to do that is participate." Deku quickly moved to the next table but Uraraka stayed put.
"Those boys are acting suspicious," she muttered to herself.
"Says the girl who managed to convince Bakugou that mistletoe was important," Hagakure said from behind her. Uraraka flinched at the sudden voice in her ear but avoided accidentally hitting her. "You can't fool me. I know all about trying to get a guy to like you."
Uraraka grabbed her sleeve and pulled her close to shush her. "Quiet!"
"Girl, you've got nothing to worry about. I bet if you find yourself under that mistletoe, he'll follow."
"What?" Uraraka let go of her and dared another look toward the kitchen. Bakugou hadn't given her any signs that he liked her back and she was actively looking for them. "How can you be sure?"
"Um, he didn't fuss when Deku suggested you go shopping with him. Open your eyes." Uraraka wasn't convinced. Deku was 'blackmailing' him after all. "Don't believe me? Go stand under the mistletoe. See who comes running."
Uraraka let out a disbelieving puff of air and walked briskly to the elevator door where Sero had taped up the mistletoe. That tiny plant was a lot more intimidating hanging on the door frame. She took a deep breath and stepped under it.
"Uraraka is under the mistletoe!" Mineta shouted. He started running toward her but Deku accidentally tripped him.
"Whoops! Sorry!" Deku exclaimed, eyeing Bakugou. He tilted his head in Uraraka's direction and Bakugou rolled his eyes.
"What are you doing, Round-Face?" Bakugou asked, heading over to her and crossing his arms.
"Waiting for someone to kiss me," she said softly. Bakugou's brows furrowed deeper but Uraraka could sense his anxiety. He glanced up at the mistletoe, gulped, then looked back down at her.
"Just anyone?"
Uraraka shook her head and held out her hand to him. Bakugou clenched his jaw, ignored her hand, and stepped under the mistletoe with her.
Hoots and hollers rang throughout the common room.
"Did the nerd tell you? I'll kill him," Bakugou whispered. Uraraka bit her lip. Hagakure had been right. She felt giddy with anticipation.
"No. You're not subtle."
"I knew I should've been meaner."
"Kiss already!" Hagakure called out. Multiple people joined in, yelling out encouragements for Bakugou to make his move.
"Calm down!" Bakugou shouted. He slowly dropped his arms down to his side and flexed his hands. They made eye contact and Uraraka gave him a supportive nod. Bakugou grit his teeth, grabbed her waist, pulled her to him, and kissed her. It wasn't gentle but Uraraka wouldn't have it any other way. She couldn't imagine a better first kiss from Bakugou and melted in his arms. It was much better than she expected; kind of like Bakugou himself.
"You taste like peppermint," Bakugou noted when he pulled away. The elevator door opened and a wolf-whistle exited.
"Nice, Bakugou!" Kaminari said, daring to give him a hard pat on the back. "Getting the party started!"
"Does that mean you're going to enjoy Christmas this year?" Jirou asked.
"Maybe," Uraraka answered before Bakugou could lose it on either of them. She could feel how tense he was in her arms.
"There has to be a better place for that!" Ashido said as Kaminari and Jirou scooted around the intertwined pair. Uraraka let go of Bakugou, floated up to the plant, and ripped it off the frame.
"I'll find a good place for it," Uraraka said as she dropped back to the ground. The best place she could think of was on her person at the moment. Mineta had been a little too excited to see someone underneath the mistletoe.
"You were right. We did need that," Bakugou said quietly.
"Money well spent?"
"Easy yes."
"If only that applied to the rest of the decoration list," Ashido said under her breath as she continued to hang up the streamers Yaomomo made.
"Oh, where's your Christmas spirit?" Bakugou scolded before going back to kiss Uraraka, who dangled the mistletoe over her head with a smile.