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It was a month before Christmas and already Christmas carols were blasting through all the speakers, making the weeks leading up to the day increasingly bleaker.
It was one of the reasons Katsuki hated Christmas.
He used to be quite indifferent to the holiday, until he’d made the mistake of joining the ranks of the long suffering retail workers. If it wasn't the customers clambering over each other to get the last cucumber in the produce section on Christmas Eve like a scene from some sick zombie movie, it was the long lines of never-ending customers that he checked out through his register. Every single one of them felt the need to ask what his plans were for the horrific day and if he'd finished his Christmas shopping.
Nothing, however, irritated him as much as the incessant Christmas carols that were blasted over the speakers non-stop, and if he had to listen to Paul McCartney wish that everyone was 'simply having a wonderful Christmas time' one more time, he might just hand in his resignation. Working the Christmas season in a supermarket a few years in a row would do that to you.
This Christmas, however?
"Hey, Kacchan!"
This Christmas was a little different.
"Deku," Katsuki replied, watching the man in question disappear around a corner and into the drinks aisle.
This year's Christmas hires were nothing special, just a bunch of nobodies Katsuki wouldn't bother to get to know because more likely than not they wouldn't stick around. Except for Deku. With bright, shining emerald eyes that took in all the Christmas decorations around the store with glee; bouncy green curls; and a sunny disposition that grated on Katsuki's nerves, Deku was everything that was wrong with Christmas.
And Katsuki hated him for it.
Well, maybe hate was a strong word. He strongly disliked Deku, detested him, loathed his presence, loved how his eyes crinkled at the sides when he giggled, and despised everything the man stood for.
It especially didn't help that the moment Deku had introduced himself to Katsuki in the lunchroom before his first ever shift, intent on being friends with everyone in the store, Deku had learned of Katsuki's hate for the Christmas season. This apparently didn't sit well with Deku, intent on turning Katsuki's Scrooge-like spirit around and getting him excited for the holiday. Katsuki had snorted at the ridiculous notion.
"If you think for even one second that I'll be wearing something as ridiculous as that," Katsuki started, staring pointedly at the Christmas shirt Deku was wearing, "you are out of your mind."
"What's wrong with my shirt?" Deku asked, genuinely offended, "The reindeer are all in the snow making snowmen? And you can see this one here is struggling to get the scarf on his snowman with its little hooves. It's cute!"
"It's ugly, Deku, and I hate Christmas."
"Obviously you're blind, as you have no taste in fashion and you can't read that my name tag says Izuku."
"It can be read as Deku, though."
"Yeah, cause that's what my parents decided to name me, Deku," Izuku replied haughtily, unimpressed with Katsuki's antics.
"Well if they didn't name you that, I will. That's your new name. Welcome to the team, Deku."
"As long as you don't call me that over the P.A. system, go for it, Kacchan."
"What was that? Hey! What did you just call me?"
But Katsuki never got a reply as Izuku walked out of the staff room with a giggle, heading off to start his first shift.
Since that fateful night, Katsuki had been unfortunate enough to see Deku every single shift he worked. Katsuki would be stuck on the registers pretending to care when customers would explain that the enormous amount of cat food was just them stocking up cause it's on special, because Katsuki definitely cared about that, while Izuku would go from aisle to aisle, filling the shelves with the new stock that had arrived that afternoon. Each night, Izuku would be sporting a new Christmas shirt, each one more hideous than the last.
At first, Katsuki thought the bright green shirt with a white and orange cat on the front was bad. It doesn’t sound all that offensive, and wouldn’t have been in Katsuki’s books, if it wasn’t for the fact that the cat was wearing a stylish pair of shades and a Santa hat. The pom pom on the cat’s Santa hat had been glued on to the shirt. It was incredibly large and soft which had the rest of the staff pawing at Deku’s chest for the majority of the night, and Katsuki was totally fine with that. Totally fine .
But it only got worse from there. The next night Izuku was clad in an ugly red sweater with a ridiculously large plush reindeer sewn to the front like it was mounted over a fireplace. Katsuki saying it was hideous was an understatement.
At this point Katsuki was convinced that the entirety of Izuku's wardrobe was some form of Christmas paraphernalia. Either he was buying them in his sick attempt to get Katsuki excited for Christmas, or even worse , he already owned all of these shirts.
The next week was relatively tame in comparison, Deku wore shirts with reindeer on them, shirts with Santa on them, and shirts with reindeer and Santa on them. Katsuki thought that maybe Izuku had gone too hard out of the gate and couldn’t back up his bold statement, but apparently the purpose of this collection of shirts was to lull Katsuki into a false sense of security.
On Katsuki's next shift, he didn’t see Deku on the shop floor at all. He thought maybe he had finally escaped his clutches for a night, a welcome reprieve for his eyes from the visual onslaught of Izuku's shirts. But he was not lucky enough to be spared, for Katsuki found Izuku in the staff room, surrounded by a group of his other colleagues. They all had glow stick bracelets in their hands, chattering excitedly as they took aim at Izuku in the middle of the circle they had formed. Katsuki walked past as they all erupted into cheers, causing him to look over and see the abomination of a sweater Deku had chosen to don that night. It was navy in colour, white snowflakes decorating the length of the sleeves. On the front, however, was a sick variation of the plush reindeer sweater Izuku had worn the previous week.
This reindeer was printed onto the sweater. The antlers, however, were stuffed and stuck out from the sweater at haphazard angles. The antlers were decorated with a number of glow stick bracelets, making it look like Izuku had gone to the effort of decorating the reindeer for the occasion.
So that’s what all the other extras were doing, playing some sad version of ring toss with Izuku’s sweater. Katsuki rolled his eyes at them, choosing to sit away from them in the furthermost corner of the room. He pulled out his phone, scrolling mindlessly though his social media feeds with a pout on his face.
He glanced over on occasion, each time meeting Deku’s eyes, causing Katsuki to scowl with embarrassment and turn back to his phone to scroll with more aggression. It didn’t help that each time their eyes met, Izuku offered Katsuki a soft smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners in the most adorable way, sending Katsuki’s heart into a flutter.
Man, Katsuki hated that Deku.
Katsuki was happy to see that Izuku’s next shirt wasn’t interactive, the extras that he worked with having no reason to lay their hands on his man tonight. His friend! Friend.
His friend .
Katsuki shook his head to clear those thoughts, turning back to take in the entirety of the abomination Deku had decided to wear that night. The sweater he had on was royal blue, patterns in white and green decorating the collar, sleeve cuffs and hem. On the front was an image Katsuki was wholly unprepared for. Katsuki had seen the shirts with Santa in the sleigh, and the shirts with Santa riding the reindeer through an obstacle course like they were some kind of show pony, but what he had never seen before was Santa riding a tyrannosaurus rex with a collar of bells around its neck, bright red bridle in its mouth and fake antlers stuck to its head.
It was one of the most ridiculous things Katsuki had ever seen and it forced out a loud laugh from him, standing there in front of Izuku and uncontrollably laughing in his face.
“Ah, it seems I finally found a shirt that Kacchan likes!”
“I don’t- haha, I don’t like the shirt Deku,” Katsuki got out between laughs, “I just think it's ridiculous and that you look ridiculous in it.”
“Yes, but every other time I see you on the shop floor you scowl at me like I’m the cause for everything that ever went wrong in your life. This one made you laugh!”
“No it didn’t. What made me laugh is how dumb you look. Now scram, Deku, unlike you I have work to do, these conveyor belts aren’t going to clean themselves.”
“Ah huh, whatever you say, Kacchan.”
With that, Izuku was off, headed into the back to collect the trolley of stock he needed to complete that night.
Katsuki couldn’t help but watch Deku disappear, standing there dumbly with a spray bottle of sanitizer in one hand and a wet cloth in the other. He didn’t want to think the silly Christmas shirts were endearing or that Deku was specifically wearing them for him, but he couldn’t help it. His heart had run ahead of his head and all Katsuki could do was hold on for the ride. It was almost embarrassing, how enamored he had become with Deku since their first conversation. It made it difficult to speak to him, Katsuki constantly overanalysing everything he said and did, making him feel like he wasn’t being himself. Izuku wouldn’t know any different, he’d only known Katsuki for a few short weeks, but Katsuki felt like he could, like Deku’s piercing green eyes could see right through him and into his soul.
Katsuki turned back to the register he was cleaning, hoping that the repetitive motions of cleaning every register in preparation for the store closing would keep his mind off of Izuku and his stupid little smile and the stupid little freckles dusted across his cheeks and his stupid curly hair. He didn’t have high hopes, though, his mind always had a way of circling back to Deku.
It was the week before Christmas and all throughout the store were obnoxious customers that would block the aisles with their trolleys, making it difficult for any staff member to make their way across the shop floor.
Katsuki always hated this week, customers demanding stock of products they didn’t have and asking for things supermarkets didn’t even sell. Seriously, why did they expect a supermarket to stock live reindeer customers could hire for the season to display in their front yards? But nothing ever beat the customers that came through his register and asked if they were open on Christmas Day.
He couldn’t believe their audacity, he’d have to ask them where they bought so much of it.
Whenever he’d tell them no, they’d be shocked, as if being open every other day of the year wasn’t enough—being closed this one day was inconveniencing them greatly.
“What if I forget something for my Christmas lunch?” they would ask him, “It might be important and it would be an emergency!”
All he could do was stare at them incredulously, their selfishness leaving him speechless. Apparently, retail workers weren’t important enough to spend the holiday season with their families.
It was those entitled customers that irked him the most about the holiday season, which is why, in the middle of a trip to the back to throw out a bag of rubbish, Katsuki heard a shrill voice speaking rudely to one of his colleagues and made a beeline for that aisle.
He rounded the corner and walked into aisle number five, only to see a woman leaning into Izuku’s personal space, her posture quite aggressive. Katsuki started towards them, preparing his best customer service smile and voice until he noticed the unshed tears in Izuku’s eyes.
All bets were off the table now.
Katsuki walked right up to Deku, standing in front of him and placing the garbage bag he was holding between himself and the woman like a smelly shield. He took a moment to size up his opponent, taking in the asymmetrical bob she sported, the back so high and full of volume Katsuki wasn’t entirely sure that there wasn’t a small poodle under there holding it up. He knew this haircut well, five years in retail would do that to you; it was the calling card of the customer who was going to make your day just that much worse. Katsuki wondered if they all had the same hairdresser or if it was a law he was unaware of that if you were rude to retail staff it was mandatory you sport this haircut as a warning.
Katsuki would have to look it up when he got home.
“What seems to be the issue here?” Katsuki asked.
“This useless colleague of yours refused to cook this ham in that perfectly good oven you use to roast chickens!”
“Yes, ma’am, like I said they’re only for the chickens and-” Deku started.
“Then he tried to tell me that you aren’t open on Christmas Day so you can’t do it for me! I’m paying good money for this ham and you’re trying to ruin my Christmas by not providing basic customer service!”
“Ma’am, the store will be empty. No one will be here to cook the ham for you,” Izuku tried to explain.
“Deku, let me handle it,” Katsuki whispered to his colleague before turning his attention back to the wailing banshee in front of him.
“I’m sorry, but my colleague is right,” Katsuki said, “the store isn’t open at all on Christmas Day.”
“Well, cook the ham for me on Christmas Eve, then! Do I have to do all your jobs for you? Customer service should be common sense. No wonder you two work here, you’re so stupid you probably couldn’t get a job elsewhere!”
“Even if we could cook the ham for you on Christmas Eve, which we can’t because our ovens don’t have the facilities for it, it would be cold by Christmas Day,” Katsuki spat through gritted teeth.
“You just don’t want to do your job. You’re lazy.”
“You know what, if you’re going to continue to be rude to both me and my colleague you can leave the store without your goods, neither of us will be serving you today.”
“Excuse me!” she replied, the pitch of her voice reaching ear-splitting levels, “I am a paying customer and this is a very expensive ham. You will be losing a good customer if I walk out that door.”
“You don’t pay my wages.”
“My purchases do pay for your wages, you stupid boy.”
“If you don’t buy anything today I am still going to get paid for today’s shift and tomorrow's shift and the one after that. Your purchases alone aren’t keeping the store afloat.”
“Well, I’m never coming back here. I hope you tell your manager you’re the reason you lost a customer,” the woman yelled as she grabbed her shopping cart and pushed it forcefully into the shelves next to Izuku, causing a large number of soft drink bottles to tumble off the shelves and onto the floor, just barely missing Izuku’s feet.
“Have fun cleaning that up and putting my shopping back on the shelves. Make you work for your wages for once.”
Katsuki knew he shouldn’t reply, knew that whatever he would say would be mean and most likely get him into trouble, but the customer had almost had Deku in tears and then almost hit him with her full trolley. So, he took the only course of action he saw fit.
“Yeah, no worries, Grandma . Hey, you know what? With the money that you’ll save from not shopping here anymore, maybe you can get those ugly blonde skunk stripes dyed out of your hair and get a better haircut. It really does nothing for your ugly face.”
Katsuki knew she’d be going to his manager and that he’d be getting written up for what he said, but the wet laugh Izuku let out the second he finished his tirade was going to make it all worth it.
“Thank you, Kacchan,” Izuku said softly, moving to stand next to Katsuki as they watched the woman storm towards the front desk, “I appreciate you standing up for me.”
“You’re welcome, Deku. I would do anything for-” was all Katsuki was able to say before he heard his manager’s voice come over the speakers and page him to the front desk.
This was going to be a fun one to explain.
It was a few days before Christmas and the holiday season was driving Katsuki insane, he was hoping that his actions the day before had not all been in vain.
But luckily enough, Katsuki only got a write up; it was his first strike on his record which meant his job was safe. He didn’t love the job by any stretch but the thought of not seeing Deku on a regular basis was painful. Katsuki’s antics had inadvertently prevented Izuku from getting into trouble. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but with how the customer had been carrying on and the fact that Izuku hadn’t been working at the store for very long, it was possible he could have lost his job.
Katsuki was still grateful for the customer, no matter how bad the interaction was, because now he and Deku were closer than ever. Izuku would walk up to him if he had no customers at his register and have a short conversation with him, usually about how cool he thought the graphic on his Christmas shirt was that night. Katsuki would disagree with him every time, but it never dissuaded Izuku, always excited to talk to Katsuki. The short conversations soon turned into the two of them going on break together, sitting in the lunchroom and talking about anything and everything from Katsuki’s passionate distaste for liquorice to Izuku’s obsession with superhero movies. The latter topic caused a heated debate, the two of them almost yelling at each other in the staff room.
“All Might has the most amazing movies, Kacchan! And the animation is superb.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re a fanboy. The Miruko TV series is where it's at. The storyline is compelling and the characters get real development and growth. Plus, the All Might movies only started looking as good as they did during his silver age. What was all that rubbish before that?”
“Oh, so you even know about all the ages of All Might but you call me the fanboy?”
“Hey!” Katsuki started, standing up and jabbing his finger into Izuku’s chest, “it takes one to know one, nerd.”
“Well then if you’re the expert on who is and isn’t an All Might fanboy, using your logic, that makes you the biggest fanboy,” Izuku replied, moving closer into Katsuki’s space.
Katsuki wasn’t sure if it was the baseless accusations that Izuku was hurling at him or if it was their close proximity, but he was rendered mute. All the words he tried to spit out died on the tip of his tongue leaving him looking like a fish out of water, mouth opening and closing but struggling to get any air. Izuku seemed to be struggling too, his breathing was hard and heavy and a bright red flush decorated his face.
The two stayed like that for a while, staring at each other but neither brave enough to say a word, until Katsuki couldn’t take the tension anymore, stepping away from Deku and clearing his throat.
“M-my break is over,” Katsuki said, “I better get back to my register.”
“Yeah… Me too. Not my register, just to work. You know I don’t work on the registers, I fill the aisles but you know my break is over. Don’t get very many breaks in this place, but I mean I only work short shifts. But I better get back, don’t want to get in trouble. It would be so bad if-”
“Okay, Deku,” Katsuki interrupted, “let’s just go back to work together.”
“Okay,” Deku replied, falling into step beside Katsuki as they headed back onto the shop floor.
It was the night before Christmas and the aisles were bedlam, the amount of customers walking around the store were most unwelcome.
Katsuki’s line of customers was never-ending. He stood at his register with a scowl as he scanned everyone’s goods. His manager had forced him into a Santa hat, the fabric pressing down the spikes of his hair against his head, making it look like he had a bowl haircut.
He was very unimpressed.
The only thing keeping him alive through the eight hour slough of a shift was Izuku. He made an effort to get Katsuki’s attention at least once an hour, which made Katsuki smile. He wasn’t sure if Deku did it in an attempt to cheer Katsuki up because he was stuck on the registers or if it was because Izuku had a different Christmas shirt on every time he saw him.
Katsuki wasn’t sure if any of his other colleagues had noticed or if he was the only one paying close enough attention to Izuku to be able to tell, but Katsuki was going to have to demand to see the inside of Izuku’s locker when they went on break to see just how many shirts he had stowed away in there.
The first hour Izuku wore a black shirt with a chicken on it. The chicken was covered in colourful Christmas lights and wore a Santa hat. That one got a small laugh out of Katsuki, wondering just how small this Santa hat had to be to fit on the chicken’s head. The next hour had Izuku strutting around the store in a red sweater, a fluffy white llama wearing a red scarf printed on the front. The shirt Izuku wore for the third hour, however, had Katsuki in stitches, unable to continue serving his customers while he was doubled over in laughter. The idiot had put on a black sweater, a huge gherkin wearing a Santa hat printed across the front with the words “Good tidings we bring to you and your gherkin!” That was Katsuki’s favourite shirt in Deku’s collection by far and he might have to look into getting his own. For research purposes, of course.
The fourth hour of Katsuki’s shift rolled around and he was finally sent for his hour break. As he walked across the shop floor, he didn’t spot Deku in any of the aisles so he headed over to the locker room. Just as Katsuki went to open the door to the locker room, Izuku barreled out. He smacked right into Katsuki’s chest, Katsuki having to catch the little green bundle in his arms to prevent them both from toppling over.
Katsuki looked down at Deku, holding him a little away from himself so he could make sure he was uninjured but not far enough as to let Deku go.
“You good, Deku?”
“Yeah, I am. Thanks for catching me, Kacchan.”
“I’ll always be here for you when you fall.”
“That’s the sappiest thing I’ve heard you say.”
“Better remember it because I’m never saying anything like that again.”
“Whatever you say, Kacchan,” Izuku said, staring into Katsuki’s face.
They stood like that for a while, a comfortable silence washing over them, until Deku broke it by trying to remove himself from Katsuki’s grasp.
“Oh, yeah sorry,” Katsuki said, letting Izuku go, finally able to get a good look at his current outfit.
Izuku was already green enough before but now he was dressed head to toe in green velvet. He had on a green velvet Santa hat, jacket and pants, the full ensemble making him look like one of Santa’s elves.
“So, are you going for Santa’s green brother or an elf?”
“An elf, obviously Kacchan,” Izuku said, pushing some of the curls away from his face to reveal the pointy ears he had put on.
“Yeah you’re short enough to be one.”
“Hey! Rude.”
“But true.”
“But true…” Izuku replied, “So I see you were a fan of my gherkin sweater.”
“Honestly, probably one of the best Christmas shirts I’ve seen in your collection.”
“Good! I was hoping one of my shirts from today would convert you into a Christmas fan. I had a one in eight chance.”
“You brought eight shirts to work.”
“Well technically seven…” Deku trailed off, pointing to the outfit he was currently wearing, “This one isn’t exactly a shirt.”
“You should wear that one for the rest of your shift. It's very… Green.”
“Oh, shut up, Kacchan.”
“I’m serious.”
“I’ll consider it. Now I better get back to work, enjoy your break Kacchan.”
“Thanks, Deku. See you later.”
It was the night of Christmas Eve and finally all the shops were closed, this holiday season wasn’t all that bad, Katsuki supposed.
It might have had something to do with the little green elf that was currently waiting outside the store for him, shivering in the cold while he held onto a large bundle of clothes.
“You all good, Deku? Need a lift home?”
“No, Kacchan, I’m all good, thanks. I just parked over there,” Izuku said, indicating down the street with his chin, “I just wanted to say good night to you and wish you a Merry Christmas!”
“That’s extra special coming from one of Santa’s elves.”
“Hey! You asked me to keep it on, remember?”
“Yeah cause you look cute,” Katsuki blurted out, the words out of his mouth too fast for his brain to stop him.
Izuku’s mouth fell open in shock, staring at Katsuki with wide eyes.
“What did you just say?”
Izuku hadn’t run at Katsuki’s comment, he was still standing there in front of him and his eyes seemed to have a hopeful glint in them. Katsuki decided he was doing this, right here and now.
“I said,” Katsuki started, crowding into Deku’s space, “That the elf get-up makes you look super cute.”
“Kacchan thinks I’m cute…” Izuku said with reverence.
“Absolutely. Even in all of your dorky Christmas shirts. Seriously, how many of those do you have anyways?”
“I have 12 sweaters, 38 shirts and 5 full outfits.”
“That… That is concerning.”
“But you still think I’m cute?”
“More than you could ever know,” Katsuki said.
Katsuki took another step closer to Izuku, grabbing his shoulders and pressing him into his chest. The bundle of clothes in Izuku’s hands was squashed between them as Katsuki leaned down to place his lips on Izuku’s freezing cold ones, sealing this Christmas as the best Christmas Katsuki had ever had.