Chapter Text
Yesterday, which was the day before Christmas Eve, they all went outside to make snowmen and little snowballs. Ashido gave Asui a hot-pink ski mask and Yaoyorozu gave Asui a thick, shiny puffer jacket, and the two of them, with Uraraka, covered her from head-to-toe in warm, fluffy clothes. Dark Shadow was given absolute free reign and impressed everyone with the sheer force behind his snowball pelts. Even Bakugo was dragged out, against his will, by one energetic Kirishima and one hyper Kaminari.
They went ice-skating, and he found he was pretty good at it. Gliding on ice with skates was just the slightest bit different to him riding his ice whenever he used it, and both Iida and Yaoyorozu were brilliant — twirling and spinning at dizzying speeds like synchronised professionals — but it was a complete disaster for Midoriya. He fell over about five times within the minute they had their skates on. When they held hands, Todoroki had almost spontaneously combusted. He looked so cute, with wide yet determined eyes, clinging onto his hand like a lost kitten. Uraraka was giggling about something to Asui, and Todoroki had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with how completely pink his ears were.
Then Ashido had the bright idea to go sled-riding. They took little wooden planks from wherever, held together precariously by Sero’s tape and Kaminari’s superglue. They held a ‘who-can-go-down-that-hill-the-fastest’ competition, Bakugo somehow propelled by his explosions despite the cold, Kaminari supercharged and cackling like a madman through the snow, Aoyama boosting his sled through brief shots of glittery laser beams and Iida propelling sleds like a turbocharger. Sato became his own sled through a few packets of sugar. Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow was in the back, busy destroying all sledges in sight as Tokoyami just kind of… watched the chaos unfold. Perhaps he revelled in it.
Of course, Todoroki used his ice powers to make a path for his sledge to run through, though he got accused of cheating. He’s not sure why, because Asui had tried to fling her own sleigh onto Todoroki’s ice path with her tongue as well, but… regardless, that was fun. And he won the competition, of course. Ashido called him a show-off and blew him a loud raspberry.
They also went snowball-fighting. Shoji went undefeated, naturally. Iida and Midoriya were also menaces, easily beating the rest of the class in speed. Ojiro’s tail was a power in itself, and Todoroki wasn’t sure anyone could get Hagakure at all, unless they kept their gaze firmly fixed on the snowy ground. Uraraka tried to pull off the same trick she had at the Sports Festival, and Bakugo only gave a satisfied scoff when she managed to launch a mini-avalanche onto an unsuspecting Shinso. Todoroki got snow smacked unceremoniously onto his face, and some clusters stuck in his hair.
Koda and Sato were busy making little snow sculptures and houses for small critters. When Todoroki tried to make a snowman with his quirk, someone called him ‘Elsa’, although he didn’t really get the reference. Someone also slipped snow into his back, which made him accidentally flare up his quirk in surprise, but everyone laughed, so Todoroki assumed that pelting his classmates with round little bundles of snow was just some kind of universally masochistic thing.
He didn’t know. Admittedly, he was just there for the snow. It was beautiful. And his friends, of course.
They all went back inside when Iida’s engines started clogging up and everyone ended up taking a good, long shower, to the point where Hagakure, who was the last one to take one, started loudly complaining about the lack of warm water. Somehow, the Christmas tree was set up by the time dinner was ready, thanks to Shinso and Koda, who were surprisingly good at working together without verbal communication.
Todoroki helped with the ornaments. So did Kaminari. Yaoyorozu was busy making tinsel. The various parts of the hinged tree were confusing to say the least.
Actually, Todoroki has no idea where the tree even came from. It just… appeared.
Aoyama was the sparkling star for about five seconds before Uraraka released him, and he almost brought down the entire tree as he fell.
They all enjoyed a hearty meal made by Bakugo, Sato and Jiro. It was a rather strange trio — Sato and Jiro never interact, usually — but the three somehow made it work, and their food could’ve rivalled Fuyimi’s.
Everyone soaked in the festive cheer that seemed to be going around like some sort of contagious disease — and Todoroki will admit, he doesn’t really get it, but his friends look happy, so he is, too.
His classmates finally started filing back to their dorm rooms after watching an American comedy film called ‘Elf’ at five past ten. Bakugo had retired for the night five minutes before the movie ended, looking extremely grouchy and grumbling about “fuckers never going to bed on time” and “be glad it’s Christmas, damn insomniacs”, but the others stayed to watch the credits roll.
Speaking of movies, there was something that’s been bothering Todoroki immensely. Something about the way Santa’s sleigh worked, something about the idea of Santa giving out millions and billions of presents in a small sack. Something about the way Yaoyorozu’s quirk worked, about how it could potentially generate an infinite amount of objects and items, and something about the way Iida used his quirk earlier today during the sled race.
Well, what does he know? He was never given presents from Santa. Maybe he just wasn’t a good kid. Maybe he’s destined to stay on the Naughty List forever.
Even so, his suspicions remained. That night, he took out a pen and the last page of his English notebook and finally spilled all his thoughts out. The more he wrote, the more his theories solidified themselves.
“Midoriya.”
The boy in question jolts from where he is currently perched on top of the fridge, giving Uraraka directions for adjusting the red and green banner from afar. Christmas is a day away.
“A little to the left— oh, Todoroki! What’s up?”
Midoriya peers down from his position, head tilted slightly and mussed green bangs in his eyes, and Todoroki can’t help but silently compare him to a little kitten.
Cute. Like a cat.
“Is it straight now, Deku?” Uraraka calls as she Blu-tacks the last corner of the banner, “Oh, hi ‘Roki!”
“Uraraka,” the red-and-white-haired boy acknowledges briefly, before turning back to stare up at Midoriya. “Do you have a moment?”
“Uh, sure!”, he says. “It’s good, Uraraka!”
Midoriya leaps from his spot and lands gracefully with a little green zap! of his ‘Full Cowling’. “So,” he prompts, looking rather confused, “Did you need me for anything?”
“Midoriya, listen,” Todoroki says, lowering his voice as they move to a more secluded area, and the green-haired boy leans closer to accommodate to Todoroki’s change in tone, suddenly looking very serious. “I think I’ve made a discovery.”
“Okay, yeah,” Midoriya says quietly, as they slide into two abandoned seats at the edge of the clustered room. “Okay. What is it, Todoroki?”
Todoroki surveys the room for a few seconds, stewing in the silence. His eyes land on Yaoyorozu, who is currently pulling confetti poppers and strings of tinsel out from her arms.
“I don’t want this to get in the way of any friendships,” Todoroki admits. Midoriya shifts from beside him, but he doesn’t take his eyes off Yaoyorozu.
“Whatever you’re thinking about,” Midoriya says softly, “You can talk to me about it.”
Todoroki takes a deep breath. Midoriya’s right. He’d understand.
“Think about it,” he says, “What is Yaoyorozu’s quirk?”
“Creation,” Midoriya replies hesitantly, and continues after a few seconds when Todoroki nods, “She produces items from her exposed skin by changing the molecular structure of her fat cells.”
Todoroki nods. “What is Santa known to give to two point four billion little children?”
Midoriya stays silent.
“Two point four billion presents,” Todoroki answers for him, just in case he’s still connecting the dots together, “And what is his typically assumed body figure?”
“Todoroki,” Midoriya says uneasily, “Yaoyorozu’s not San— I mean, what are you trying to tell me?”
“I think Yaoyorozu is secretly… Santa’s granddaughter.”
The green-haired boy stares at him. Todoroki is lost within his emerald irises.
“Midoriya, can you help me move the tables?”
“…”
“Midoriya?”
“Ah, yeah, one second!” Midoriya calls back to Sero before giving Todoroki a hard look. “We’ll… talk more about this later, okay?”
Todoroki nods solemnly. Midoriya is a busy bee, after all — that’s how the saying goes, right? The two of them stand up, and Midoriya goes to help Sero move the tables, not without flashing an uneasy glance back at him. Todoroki suspects he might need some time to digest that.
Something smells warm and comforting, like Fuyumi’s cooking, and really, really yummy. He wanders into the kitchen.
“Get the fuck out, Icy-hot!”
Okay. If Bakugo thinks he shouldn’t be somewhere, he supposes he doesn’t need to be there. Todoroki exits the kitchen.
“Momo,” he hears Iida say, “Is the tinsel almost ready?”
Todoroki sneaks a glance at the pair. After watching the insightful movie that was ‘Elf’ last night, he’s come to suspect more than a few things about those two.
Yaoyorozu pulls out the last section with a flourish. “Yes! Here it is.”
Iida gives her an appreciative smile, and the two of them kind of… stay like that for a while, staring at each other. Todoroki isn’t sure what exactly they’re trying to communicate via telepathy, but it does strengthen his theory.
“Hey, Momo,” Kaminari yells from halfway across the room, “Can you make me another bauble? I broke mine.”
Yaoyorozu and Iida jolt apart. “I— um, I—”
Iida jolts to action. “Don’t just go asking for things, Kaminari! Momo is not Santa Claus!”
“Awh!”
That does it. Iida may have meant that comment as a joke, but Todoroki knows better than that.
“I mean,” Todoroki hears Sero say, “She kinda is…”
“Not manly, bro!”
Todoroki goes back into the kitchen and snatches a still-warm gingerbread man, much to Jiro and Sato’s surprise and Bakugo’s complete fury, before marching up to Yaoyorozu. “How’s your grandpa?” he asks as he gives her the gingerbread.
Yaoyorozu gives him a look as she accepts the biscuit. Uraraka had told him before that different looks meant different things, but he’s not too sure what Yaoyorozu’s one means right now — it’s a mix of emotions. “Thanks,” she says, glancing at the gingerbread man before looking up at him, “But I’m sorry? What did you ask?”
Ah. Maybe she was just confused. Todoroki repeats his question again, double-checking to make sure no one is in their current vicinity. It may be a sensitive topic for Yaoyorozu.
“My… my grandfathers passed away three years ago,” the vice president says slowly, “Both of them. Todoroki, what… what brought this on?”
Todoroki thinks for a second before the realisation hits him. Neither of Yaoyorozu’s grandpas are alive, so who else will deliver Christmas presents this year?
Oh no. Two point four billion Christmas presents.
“Yaoyorozu,” he says in a serious tone, “I’m sorry for your loss.” Then, he stares at her dead in the eyes. “I’m sure he was a great man. Both of them.”
“Uh— well, yes, they were…”
Todoroki nods. “Please conserve your energy for tomorrow night’s activities,” he says. Then as an afterthought, he adds, “And Iida, too.”
“T—T—Todoroki!” Yaoyorozu squeaks, completely red in the face and eyes comically wide and panicked, “Oh my gosh— you can’t just… how did you—?”
Todoroki straightens up. Yaoyorozu’s right. This is a private matter. He can’t randomly intrude into their business like that. He gives her a slight incline of his head in lieu of a farewell, before making his way to the dining table, where a big chunk of the class is trying to wrestle Kaminari’s superglue away from its owner, who is currently trying to glue the tables together permanently.
At dinner, Midoriya slides into the seat next to him. Even though the heater’s on full-blast, the action still makes Todoroki feel warm all over.
Midoriya greets Ojiro cheerily, who’s seated next to him, before turning to Todoroki. “Okay,” he says quietly, leaning in, “Tell me.”
Todoroki wants to smile for some reason. This feels secretive. This feels thrilling and new and he likes it.
“Yaoyorozu’s grandpa is deceased,” he confesses, looking at his bowl to appear unsuspecting, and he hears Midoriya gasp softly. He allows a moment for that to sink in, before saying, “You know what that means.”
Midoriya gulps audibly next to him. Luckily, Ojiro is in deep conversation with Hagakure, so their own conversation doesn’t really need to be quiet or whispered.
“She’s… Todoroki, I don’t know if…”
“It’s okay, Midoriya. I asked her about Iida today, and she directly confirmed my suspicions.”
“She did?” The green-haired boy looks puzzled. “Wait, um, what does Iida have to do with this?”
Todoroki places a pork cutlet onto Midoriya’s rice, before taking one for himself. Midoriya blushes and stutters next to him, cooking up a storm of disjointed words, but Todoroki isn’t really sure what the cause is. He was just trying to give Midoriya the pork because it’s so far away from him, and also because Todoroki also knows how much Midoriya likes pork cutlets.
“Iida’s quirk,” he says, “What is it?”
Midoriya snaps back to attention, one second a stuttering mess and the next someone ready to recite the contents of his notebooks. The contrast is a little bit jarring, but Todoroki thinks it’s also kind of endearing how big of a fixation Midoriya has about quirks, especially when it comes to his classmates’ ones.
“Iida’s quirk is Engine,” he says, “He has car-like engines located in his calves which greatly boost his speed and power.”
Todoroki nods. “What powers Santa’s sleigh?”
“Reindeer,” Midoriya murmurs, “In ‘Elf’, it was the reindeer and the built-in engines… oh— my gosh, Todoroki, are you thinking what I am?”
Todoroki nods. “Iida’s quirk…”
“Can power Santa’s sleigh,” Midoriya finishes, before dissolving into a jumble of mutterings under his breath. Todoroki would try and interpret his words through leaning closer to hear him better, but he tried doing that once and Midoriya had screamed something about ‘personal space’ and ‘warnings next time’, and he doesn’t look like he wants to be disturbed right now, so Todoroki just soaks in his voice as he nibbles on his pork cutlet.
That night, after dinner, the class stayed up yet again to watch another Christmas movie. This one was called ‘The Grinch’. Todoroki was just starting to reevaluate how important this yearly celebration was, so much so that it warranted several movie nights in a row. And ones which Bakugo actually stayed for.
It’s Christmas Eve, right? So why were they watching so many Christmas movies?
Anyhow, Midoriya had looked kind of exhausted, probably after all that theorising he did at dinner. He’d leaned closer into Todoroki’s side during the movie and ended up falling asleep on his shoulder, swamped by blankets. Suffice to say, Todoroki’s heart beat probably averaged a pace considered not relatively normal throughout the entire evening.
He already knows he’s going to bed tonight with that same fuzzy feeling Midoriya always seems to be able to invoke from within him.
As the class stirs up flurries of movements and discussions, some getting up and stretching and others heading to the bathrooms, Todoroki spots two figures making their way to the elevators.
Their silhouettes can barely be made out against the darkness, but he can recognise Yaoyorozu’s spiky ponytail and Iida’s toned calves as the elevator bell dings! and lights up on their floor.
They’re talking about something Todoroki can’t hear. He watches the pair shuffle into the lift and notes the close proximity in which they stand together. As the doors close, he sees the ponytailed girl nod, and they lean their shoulders closer together, and Todoroki swears he sees their hands link together just as the doors close.
Ah, he thinks, because that’s something he’s wanted to do with Midoriya for a while now. He feels something ugly boil up into his chest, and he feels bad for letting it simmer there without a valid reason.
That night, as Todoroki stays up and watches the clouds shift across the dark sky, he thinks about this Christmas holiday, and Santa’s sleigh, and the two point four billion presents she must be delivering endlessly across the world with a sentient turbocharged engine. He wonders how Yaoyorozu and Iida are doing up there.
Maybe he’s been good this year. Maybe he’ll get his gift this time.