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The wind tousled Izuku’s hair as he stood before a shrine. His head was bowed in silent prayer, his palms pressed firmly together. His brows were tightly knitted together in concentration, eyes squeezed shut just as tight. He was utterly oblivious to the specks of snow clinging to his hair, or his lashes.
Katsuki snorted, releasing a small, visible puff of air. His eyes narrowed, brows lowered, as he watched Izuku pray intensely about something. It beat the hell out of Katsuki, whatever it was, but it wasn’t like he needed to know. It was probably something dumb and nerdy, anyway.
Pushing off the wall he’d been leaning against, he forcefully smoothed out the front of his winter coat. After a moment, he tore his eyes away from green to frown down at his coat’s persistent wrinkles. Finally considering it a lost cause, he rolled his shoulders and shoved his fists in his pockets.
He made his way to the torii, suppressing a shudder. It was cold as shit this year, and Katsuki never found himself more grateful that his parents were both fashion designers than in the dead of winter. It afforded him great luxuries, like his stupid, wrinkly-ass coat. The thing was lined with some sort of soft faux fur, making him feel just warm enough that the bite of cold was almost tolerable. He bowed shortly before the gate, taking a step with his left foot, then his right.
It couldn’t be all bad, though, he found himself thinking. His eyes fixed back onto Izuku’s form, who seemed to still be praying his heart away about something. He narrowed his eyes at the snow now covering his stupid, unruly curls. His palms prickled.
“Oi,” Katsuki murmured, trying to maintain some sort of respect for the resident Gods. He reached up, satisfying the itch and ruffling Izuku’s hair as soon as he was within reach. “You gonna be done anytime soon?”
Izuku went wide eyed, blinking up at Katsuki. The taller blonde couldn’t help but smirk at the sight. Izuku’s cheeks colored bright red, making his ridiculous freckles stand out even more. Teeny, barely perceptible, snowflakes still clung to his lashes.
“Ah! Kacchan—” Izuku cleared his throat, lowering his voice from shrieking to a quiet, respectful whisper. “Yeah—yes. I’m done now, I think.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes, working his hand out of Izuku’s curls and making sure to shake off the snow along the way. “Aight, come on then.”
He turned and walked away from Izuku without waiting for a response. He knew Izuku would be right on his heels anyway.
“Wait!” See? “What about our friends? Aren’t they coming too?”
Katsuki shrugged. “They’re late, and I wanna get this shit over with.”
“But,” Izuku breathed, a puff of warm air forming in front of his lips. Once the two exited the shrine and through the torii, he picked up his pace to walk next to Katsuki. “We were supposed to get all the gifts together, right?”
He was right, that was what the group had agreed on. But Katsuki was cold and already sick of the stupid wet-cold combo that was Japan’s winter weather.
“So?” Katsuki slowed to walk half a step behind Izuku. A snowflake fell onto his right cheek, just below one of his most prominent freckles.
“So,” he frowned, staring hard at something in the distance. “We should wait for them…?”
“Fuck that. I only agreed to this shit ‘cause—” Katsuki stopped himself halfway, not entirely sure where he was going with that. Because of what, exactly? His steps faltered for a moment and of course—of fucking course—Izuku noticed. He tilted his head, eyes flitting across Katsuki’s features like he could see right through him. Like he could see—
See what? Katsuki scowled, unconsciously glaring down Izuku. His heart had started racing and he couldn’t pinpoint why. Frustrating as hell.
“What?” Izuku asked, yanking him from his spiral of thoughts that consisted primarily of What the fuck’s.
“What?” Katsuki repeated incredulously. He wiped his hands on his jeans, jerking his head to look at anywhere but bright, green irises, reading him like an open goddamn book. “What the fuck’re you lookin’ at?”
A pause, then a thoughtful hum. “You’re being weird.”
Katsuki’s brow twitched. He shoved a hand into Izuku’s mess of curls and shoved his head downwards. Izuku’s eyes were fixed on the concrete between their feet, spluttering around the words of an apology. It was much better than being stared at with those big, stupid, fucking eyes.
Narrow, red eyes lingered on Katsuki’s own hand, glaring at how Izuku’s dark, green hair hid away his palm entirely, only allowing his finger to peek through the strands. His fingers twitched, unconsciously brushing through a knot before he suddenly wrenched his hand free, staring at his palm as if he’d damn near received a third degree burn.
What the fuck.
He shook the feeling off his hand before pushing it back into his pocket. He shook his head next, and then took rushed, striding steps, not bothering to wait for Izuku to catch up. “Shut the fuck up and come on already,” he grumbled, adding under his breath, “always fuckin’ watching me like a damn creep. Don’t you have anything better to do? Jesus fuck. I’m being weird? You’re the weird one.”
“Kacchan,” Izuku was standing next to him, again. Already. “You’re mumbling. I can’t hear you.” He looked like he was just barely containing his laughter, eyes crinkling at the edges. Katsuki huffed, his breath visibly running away from the two of them. Get back here, he thought. If I can’t run away, neither can you.
“Shut up,” he gritted out instead, hunching his shoulders and making a face that was absolutely, one-hundred-percent not a pout. Izuku’s cheeks turned pink and his face took an odd expression—mouth pulled into a frown, eyebrows pinched together, and eyes darting from place to place—and Katsuki squinted at him.
Unfortunately for Katsuki, Izuku had always been the furthest thing from an open book. He was a chronic overthinker, and though he had the—fucking irritating, might Katsuki add—habit of mumbling during their lessons, he still managed to keep his lips glued shut whenever Katsuki was near.
Fucking annoying.
Izuku went silent after that, taking the fucking hint, for once. Katsuki shrugged his shoulders, and pushed his hands further into his pockets. After a minute or two, both boys made it to their destination, a market set up relatively close to the shrine.
Small, twinkling lights connected thin, wooden pillars throughout the square. Katsuki could, reluctantly, admit that it was a pleasant sight to see—the snowflakes floating down to collect in piles of snow on the ground below, the lights glowing against the dark navy of the evening sky, there was even a massive, fuck-off tree in the center. It had the works, sprawling at least a decent eighty or so feet tall. It was decorated with ornaments, tinsel, lights that looked tiny from the ground level. And, to top it all off, at the very top of the tree there was a massive star, almost blinding with how bright it was.
His eyes darted down aisles, created by at least tens of stalls with various handmade items for sale. The makeshift, wooden structures stretched alongside short fences, walling the area in. Katsuki inhaled deeply with his face upturned, inhaling the mixed scent of freshly baked taiyaki, dango, and various other foods. So there were food stalls too.
The air at Katsuki’s side suddenly felt heavy and thick with Izuku’s presence. He tilted his head towards the shorter man to find, unsurprisingly, that Izuku was staring up at him with wide, shining eyes. The lights from the tree and the market must’ve been reflecting in them.
Katsuki suddenly cleared his throat, feeling like his insides were squirming around, trying to crawl up and out of his mouth.
“So,” Izuku started, thank fuck, “the tree is pretty big this year, isn’t it?”
Katsuki nodded, the movement forced and jerky. “Yeah.”
Another long silence passed between them. Izuku began fidgeting and Katsuki clenched and unclenched his fists in his jacket pockets. It was Katsuki that broke it eventually.
“What’s the first person on your list?”
“Huh? Oh!” When Katsuki lazily slid his eyes to look Izuku’s way, he was red in the face. Probably pretty cold in his thin jacket. “Uh. I have Mina first, what about you?”
Katsuki shrugged, picking a random direction and walking that way without supplying him with an answer. Truthfully, he’d finished buying and wrapping all his gifts for his friends near mid-november.
He turned to watch over his shoulder as Izuku scrambled to catch back up with him. Well, all except for one. Izuku was one tough motherfucker to shop for. You’d think it’d be easy, given how big of a stinking All Might fanboy he was. Just get him some random merch and he’d be happy with it. Nope. Even if Katsuki excused the fact that it was too fucking impersonal to be gifting his begrudging friend of over ten years, the moment an All Might anything hit the shelves, Izuku would be first in line to get his hands on it.
Now take that and apply it to just about everything. If the nerd wanted something, he went out and got it with zero hesitation. Which was why Katsuki still hadn’t fucking gotten him anything.
Not that he hadn’t tried, believe him he had, but it’d only ended up in him returning a dozen different limited edition All Might figures. Unless he went to his parents, asking yet another Izuku themed favor for custom All Might merch that didn’t exist anywhere else—which he would rather fucking die than do again—he was shit out of luck.
Hence why he was here in the first place. The plan was to watch Izuku like a fucking hawk as he shopped for their friends until he slipped up and commented about wanting something at one of the stalls. It was a toss up on whether or not Izuku wouldn’t just immediately buy the thing, but maybe the Gods would be nice to Katsuki today.
***
The two boys shopped for the following couple of hours, and Katsuki was starting to stress out. Izuku had bought gifts for nearly everyone he needed to and hadn’t mentioned a single item that interested him even vaguely.
Katsuki was rubbing his temples as he tried to plot a new plan for Izuku’s last minute gift, when Izuku announced, “I saw a food stall down there I wanted to check out! I’ll be back.”
Katsuki didn’t process what he’d even said until long after the short man had run off somewhere down the aisle. He quickly ran after him, shouting as he went. “Deku, wait—”
He stopped in his tracks, an item on someone’s stall catching his eye. Izuku laughed somewhere away from him and it seemed to fade away from him, his entire being narrowing in on a scarf amongst several others on the seller’s table. She smiled up at him, welcoming him to browse her apparel. Katsuki snorted derisively but still stepped forward.
The item that had caught his attention was a hand knitted scarf. He swallowed as he lifted it up, running his fingers over the material. It was well made with thick wool and was made to be bulky and warm. The crafter clearly knew what the hell they were doing with it.
It was the colors that had caught his attention, though. Weaved in an intricate pattern was black, orange, and green threads. Katsuki swallowed past a lump forming in his throat, everything feeling so much more life-changing that it should have.
He felt a sense of pride well up and bloom in his chest, his fingers tightening in the garment. Orange and green seemed to fit together surprisingly well, and he could feel his face burning as he traced his fingers over the colors again. It was just a couple of stupid colors, why did it matter? Why did he feel like this?
“You can try it on, if you like.”
Katsuki’s eyes darted up to meet the eyes of the woman selling it. He must’ve looked like a wild animal, because her eyes softened and she gestured to the scarf in his hands broadly.
He cleared his throat, moving his hands to set it down before stopping halfway and lifting it again. “Uh, no,” he started lamely. “It’s not for me. I mean—It’s not for anyone.”
Katsuki quickly dropped the scarf and shoved his hands back into his pockets, feeling his fingers twitching with the memory of how nice the wool had felt in his hands. Why did this feel like such a big deal?
He turned on his heel, throwing a half-hearted thanks over his shoulder. He only made it a few steps before he saw Izuku with a large plate of karaage, stacking as much as chicken as the food vendor would allow. He was smiling ear to ear, his eyes bright with those damn lights shining in them again.
Katsuki swallowed hard and stormed back over to the vendor with the scarf. He snatched it off the table, fisting his hands in the wool and refusing to let go again unless he was shoving it into Izuku’s arms on Christmas day.
“How much?”
The seller seemed slightly startled, but she played it off with a laugh and a kind smile. “Seven thousand yen. Do you want a bag?”
Katsuki nodded hard enough that his head might fall off, handing her the scarf and digging in his pocket for his monthly allowance.
Once the scarf was paid for and tucked securely in an ugly brown bag, Katsuki dragged himself over to where Izuku stood, paying the vendor for his karaage. The blonde had a deep scowl on his face, annoyed at the scarf for existing in the first place. And at his own heart for pounding against his ribcage painfully as Izuku smiled, wide and happy, up at him.
“Kacchan!” He said around a mouthful of food. “What did you get? For who?”
Katsuki grimaced for more than one reason. “Shut up,” he grumbled, stuffing a hand into Izuku’s hair and pushing his face away. “Don’t speak with your mouth full, idiot.”
Izuku laughed and swallowed. “Sorry, sorry. Who did you buy for?”
“None of your fuckin’ business,” Katsuki barked, yanking his hand free.
“...That’s mean.” Izuku made a hurt expression, his lips sticking out in a pout. Katsuki felt a surge of guilt, then joy, then shame.
“Whatever,” he breathed carefully. “Do you have anyone else to shop for?”
Izuku shook his head, smiling tentatively. It was better, but didn’t exactly reach his eyes like it should’ve. “No, I think I’m done now. You?”
Katsuki just shrugged. A silence that felt much too long followed, and Katsuki shifted his weight between his feet, glancing around as Izuku ate.
“Did you see a curry stand anywhere?”
Izuku nodded, swallowing before speaking. “Yeah, down that way.” He pointed in a vague direction. It was further into the market, towards the giant Christmas tree.
Katsuki nodded and began walking that way. When Izuku didn’t immediately hurry to follow him, he glanced over his shoulder before turning towards him fully.
“Oi.” That seemed to get his attention. Izuku’s eyes widened, snapping to him. Katsuki tilted his head, shifting his eyes away. “You comin’?”
Izuku didn’t need any further prompting, rushing to walk side by side with Katsuki. It was a little awkward in the crowded space, but Katsuki didn’t mention it.
“I didn’t think you wanted me to.”
Katsuki scoffed. “Course I did, why else would I come out here in the first place?”
Izuku’s eyes widened a laughable amount. “Wait, you came here for me?”
Conveniently enough for Katsuki, they arrived at the curry stall at that moment. He semi-successfully hid his quickly reddening face by turning to the vendor and ordering the spiciest meal they had to offer. He was sure his ears were a bright, obvious pink though, because Izuku dropped the subject after that.
They continued walking in silence as Katsuki ate his far-too-hot curry. Izuku walked a bit closer this time, their shoulders occasionally brushing. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the crowd or if Izuku was getting braver.
He sure as hell was going to blame it on the former.
Several minutes went by before Izuku broke the silence by clearing his throat. “Do you want to go check out the tree?”
Katsuki glanced up from his mostly empty plate to eye the towering tree. It wasn’t too far away from them by now, having made it deep into the market. He tossed his plate in a trashcan nearby and shrugged, shoving a hand into his jacket pocket. “Sure, why not?”
Izuku smiled impossibly wide and Katsuki felt his insides squirm. Something had to be wrong with him. Maybe he should schedule a doctor’s appointment soon.
They made it to the tree relatively quickly. It was getting late, and although Katsuki thought it made it an even better time to look at the twinkling lights of the tree, apparently everyone shopping at the market thought otherwise. It was the least crowded place so far, with only a handful of couples hanging around the base of the tree. His eyes caught one in particular making out. Feeling a burning sensation overtake his cheeks, he averted his eyes back to the tree.
It didn’t take him long to understand why there weren’t many people here. It was boring. Sure it was a nice sight, and it made him feel warm and fuzzy with the magic of Christmas or whatever, but at the end of the day it was just lights on a big tree. He cast his gaze sideways, ready to grumble a complaint Izuku’s way, but what he saw made him pause.
Izuku was staring up at the tree in complete and utter awe. His eyes were wide and starry, gleaming like he might—and he probably would, knowing him—start crying at any given moment. His cheeks were flush a soft, barely there red, and he still had a bunch of snow clinging to his hair and lashes. His lips were parted slightly, a small puff of air leaving them.
A wave of emotion suddenly crashed over Katsuki like a tidal wave, enough that he felt like he might’ve fallen over from the intensity of it. He blinked, and blinked again, and it was like something snapped into place in his brain. Like two magnets, over a long distance came rushing together and clicked, the sound reverberating through his entire being.
None of his feelings had made sense up until this point, but standing here next to Izuku, watching him look up at this plain, boring tree with childlike wonder—like it very well could be a wonder of the world—made everything so much clearer.
I want to kiss him, Katsuki thought, and then that hit him like a tidal wave too.
Before he could even process his own actions, Katsuki was reaching over and gently cupping Izuku’s face in the palm of his hand. He used the gentle grip to tilt his face towards him. He softly swiped his thumb over Izuku’s cheek, melting a snowflake under his thumb and feeling Izuku’s cheek get warmer under his touch.
“Kacchan—?” Izuku managed in a high pitched tone.
“Can I kiss you,” Katsuki asked before he could lose his nerve. His eyes were fixed on Izuku’s lips as they parted and his face got three shades redder.
Izuku swallowed hard and nodded slowly. Katsuki dropped the bag haphazardly to cup the other side of his face in his other hand.
Their lips met tentatively at first, neither really knowing what they were doing. But Izuku worked his fingers through Katsuki’s hair and tilted his head to encourage him. And that was as good encouragement as any.
When they broke apart, Izuku looked at him with dazed disbelief. Katsuki was breathless and Izuku was panting alongside him.
“I didn’t realize you felt that way about me,” Izuku whispered, an unconscious smile breaking across his lips. Katsuki tilted his head, brushed an incessant strand of hair away from his cheek. His fingers lingered there a moment too long.
“Yeah,” he croaked, voice thick with a hard to name emotion. “Me neither.”
Izuku smiled and kissed him again. When they pulled apart, Izuku hummed again, cheeks rosy and so pretty.
“Hmm, I wonder where our friends are? They should’ve shown by now.”
Katsuki shrugged, pressing a kiss to one cheek and then the other. He couldn’t get enough of it now that he’d gotten a taste. Izuku giggled.
“Dunno,” Katsuki muttered, voice taking on a teasing tone. “Maybe the Gods answered your prayer for alone time with your Kacchan.”
Izuku yelped, pushing away as his cheeks colored a darker red. “What?!”
Katsuki raised an eyebrow. “What?” Izuku went suspiciously quiet and Katsuki leaned further into his space, having an idea or two why Izuku was suddenly so flustered. “No shit. Deku.” Izuku squirmed away from him, so Katsuki grabbed ahold of his forearms. “Izuku.”
Izuku froze in place, looking like a deer in headlights. Katsuki couldn’t help but laugh.
“What’s with that reaction?”
Izuku chewed his lower lip. Katsuki could feel the burning urge to kiss him again building in the back of his skull.
“How’d you know?”
Katsuki furrowed his brow. “Know what?” Izuku made a face like he wanted to bolt. Katsuki squeezed his arms.
Izuku whined. “That I prayed before you got here.”
“I saw you? What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Izuku huffed, wriggling in his hold some more. “I prayed at the shrine for a…” Izuku bit his lip, hesitating. Katsuki narrowed his eyes, urging him to continue with his gaze alone. “...a date. With you. I prayed that our friends would show up late and I’d get to, you know.”
“Holy shit.” Katsuki barely got the words out before allowing himself to kiss Izuku once more. “You’re so cute.” Izuku whined and Katsuki barked a loud laugh. He paused for a small moment before tilting his head slightly, his tone becoming teasing again. “Hey, there was a crepe stand back there, wanna split one?”
Izuku’s eyes went wide and he almost looked like he might cry. Katsuki would’ve panicked if Izuku’s hands weren’t on either side of his face, kissing him again.
“You’re amazing, Kacchan.”