Archive of Our Own ^beta

Finally, everything had calmed the fuck down.  

The Christmas decorations were up, the Christmas tree was NOT on fire, and Kaminari was suitably distracted by the Christmas crackers everyone had opened together. Currently he was chasing Jirou around with the mini water gun he'd found in his cracker, who was wearing a small paper crown she'd gotten in hers. Nobody knew where Todoroki had disappeared to, or where half the Christmas cookies Satou had baked had gone, but more or less everyone was enjoying themselves. Where originally a giant pile of gifts had sat from the 1-A secret Santa, there was now only a handful left as the night progressed and people opened their gifts. Everyone was milling around, drinking hot chocolate, and generally enjoying the night.  

All except for one.  

"Tsuyu!" Uraraka mock whispered to her friend, who was currently in a discussion with Tokoyami "Tsuyu, I need your help"  

Uraraka's friend politely excused herself before following Uraraka to a quieter location "What's the matter?"  

"Tsuyu, you know how we all drew random lots for the secret Santa right?"  

"yes"  

"And you know how we had a relatively low price limit, right?"  

"uh huh"  

"Well you see" she whispered, bringing Tsuyu even closer "Nobody explained to me that we were supposed to be buying actual legitimate gifts"  

Tsuyu tilted her head in confusion "I'm not sure I understand"  

"I bought Deku a joke gift!" she spat out, face spasming in distress "I thought everyone was going to be buying each other jokes but you got Tokoyami such a nice scarf, and Kirishima got that CD he's always wanted, and even Bakugou got some grip tape for working out, but I got Deku something ridiculous!"  

"Well what if you switched out the gift?"  

Uraraka paused mid panic to stare at her friend "What?"  

Tsuyu shrugged "You've got that old All Might action figure, right? Just wrap that up and switch out for the gift you've put under the tree"  

For a moment Uraraka didn't move, before enveloping Tsuyu in a hug "You genius! Thank you!"  

Before her friend could respond she ran off to her room to grab the old thing she'd gotten from a thrift store years ago, hoping against hope Deku didn't already have it.  

'Even if he does' she thought to herself 'he'll still appreciate it more than that stupid joke I got him'  

--- 

She ran down the hall, her old all might figure hastily wrapped in some newspaper with a few Christmas bows taped to it (courtesy of Momo) she was nervous but well, excited.  

Her original gift had been a half joke, half gift she thought he could have fun with, but when everyone else started opening up well thought out and heartfelt gifts- well she knew hers would be much less well received. But she reminded herself that everything was going to be okay now, and fixed thanks to her best friend's quick thinking.  

As inconspicuously as she could she ran into the living room, hiding the new gift behind her back as she made her way over to the Christmas tree.  

Kaminari was now in a headlock, courtesy of Jirou who'd managed to snag his water gun, and was dumping the contents into his hair. Kirishima was in arm wrestling contest with Bakugou, the two of them locked into a standstill that had apparently lasted long enough for everyone to place bets, get bored, and then lose interest although both participants were no closer to giving up than they'd originally been.  

With everyone distracted with their various activities she managed to make it to the Christmas tree without being spotted. She grinned, digging through the pile of present remaining under the tree, looking for the all might wrapping paper she'd specifically bought for his gift. Upon not finding it she dug through the pile again, to see if she'd missed it, only to come up empty handed once more. Without giving up she dug through the pile again, and again, and again only to come to a sudden startling realization.  

The gift wasn't there anymore.  

"No no no no no" she whispered under her breath, desperate not to draw attention to herself while beginning to drown in panic as her heart picked up pace, that stupid joke gift was going to ruin any chance she had all because her own stupidity-  

"Tsuyu!" she whipped around to where her friend sat with Tokoyami, the two of them wrapped up in the Christmas scarf she gotten him "Did you see-?"  

She nodded "It was his turn to open his gift, but I told him to open it in private since you said it was embarrassing-?"  

"Tsuyu" her eyes widened, her already erratic heartbeat increasing stupidly "Did you say it was from me?"  

Her froggy friend blinked for a moment in thought "No, but I did tell him you said it was embarrassing. Is that a problem?"  

"I need to find him!" She nearly shouted, drawing the attention of those around her, including Kirishima allowing Bakugou to slam his hand down and through the table "He'll know it was from me!"  

While Iida scolded Bakugou for breaking the table, and Kirishima whined about his broken hand Uraraka sprinted from the room to find Deku.  

She first ran straight from the common room to where she knew his dorm room to be, because of course that's where he'd go right? Tsuyu told him to open the gift in private, so where better than his own room?  

Huffing as she arrived in front of the door she politely knocked, waiting for him to answer the door and rapidly thinking of excuses.  

' Oh  hey  Deku , have you opened your gift yet? No? oh great  cuz  I overheard one of the teachers say there was a mix up with class 1-B, and this is your actual gift!'   

she shook her head, with the All Might wrapping paper it was too obviously for him.  

'Hey  Deku , I overheard  Bakugou  mention something about "getting you" with his gift, and well decided it was safer to just give you this instead!'   

She groaned, Deku probably knew Bakugou had gotten Kirishima, he hadn't been all that subtle about it what with the loud angry yelling that'd been a near constant for the past week.  

'Hey  Deku , I overheard SOMETHING about that gift and well, I think you'd like this one better'  

She nodded to herself in agreement, it was perfect! Subtle enough not to tip off what was really wrong, and vague enough not to implicate herself.  

"Uraraka, what are you doing?"  

Just down the hall stood Iida, his own flimsy paper crown atop his head and making his way towards her.  

"Um well I needed to give Deku something, I heard there was something wrong with his gift...?" She trailed off, not quite meeting his eyes.  

"Ah!" He clapped his hands together, his eyes catching that familiar responsible class president shine "How proper of you! However, I do not believe Midoriya came this way, as I had come down here earlier and have not seen him in quite some time. Perhaps he went to the kitchens?"  

Uraraka swore she could feel her blood pressure rising with every second she didn't have that stupid gift out of Deku's hands-! 

She shouted back a quick "Thank you Iida!" As she sprinted past him down the hall to the kitchens.  

She reminded herself that, once again, this was okay, he just decided to go somewhere a little further than usual for a bit of extra privacy. That was it. Totally normal.  

Only he wasn't there either.  

"Agh!" She nearly pulled her hair out, running past Satou who continued to bake cookies for the ongoing Christmas party. At this point she was running out of ideas, places to check, and time.  

Ultimately, she decided it didn't matter where he was hiding, she would find and get that gift out of his hands!  

Eventually she just decided to start opening doors at random, exposing empty bathrooms, study rooms, and storage closets, until- 

"Uh"  

She'd opened the door to the cleaning cupboard before rapidly closing it after confirming it was empty, until her mind caught up to her and she realized it wasn't empty at all.  

There sitting on an upside down mop bucket sat a boy she almost recognized wearing a gaudy Christmas sweater, hoarding the missing Christmas cookies.  

He looked rather shocked to see Uraraka in the doorway, his bagged eyes wide in surprise with a cookie halfway to his mouth. Both of them stared at each other for a moment before it clicked "You're that gen ed kid who fought Deku in the sports festival!"  

He blinked at her, before bringing his other hand up, index finger on his mouth "Shh"  

She slammed the door closed, deciding right then and there she did not have time to deal with the cookie thief hiding in the 1-A dorms how the hell did he even get in here? 

Within the closet Shinsou shrugged, and continued eating his stolen goods.  

Not learning her lesson from the first time around she continued running up and down halls at random, opening and closing doors desperately searching for Deku. She could hear Christmas music gently drifting from the common room, light laughter here and there as her classmates continued opening gifts and enjoying the holiday air, but she only had eyes and ears for one boy.  

Which wasn't that different from usual  

She shook her head furiously, chasing away a blush that creeped onto her cheeks when she thought of how incessantly he'd been occupying her thoughts lately, which was totally normal since he always seemed to be injuring himself! And pushing himself harder than everyone else whether it was in battle simulations or classroom studies he was just so dedicated to becoming the best.  

Everyone in class 1-A is she reminded herself everyone in this school is.  

But Izuku, well, he was something special in her eyes.  

Which was the last thing she managed to think before ripping open another closet door exposing-  

"ohmygod" she barely managed to whisper out, as her homeroom and English teacher both turned to face her from their... compromising position.  

Aizawa-sensei was up against the wall, his cheeks flushed and hair mussed from Present Mic, who was grinning at her in unabashed amusement. They were both fully clothed, but their lips were definitely sworn and she swore she saw a hickey or too peeking out from under Aizawa-sensei's scarf.  

"Close that door right now" her homeroom teacher ground out between grit teeth "Or I promise you will fail every exam for the rest of your academic career"  

No need to tell her twice, she slammed the door shut and sprinted down the hall unable to fight the embarrassed blush taking over her face.  

From within the closet Present Mic muttered "Now that was cruel, it's not like she was about to start watching"  

"Shut up" He dragged Present back to his face, eager to resume where they'd left off.  

O hmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohymgodohmygod ...!  

More warily this time she continued checking, and rechecking the rooms desperate to find Deku because he definitely hadn't opened the gift yet, right? He'd definitely thrown it out when Tsuyu had warned him it was embarrassing and now she just needed to give him the replacement gift.  

(Denial was a girl's best friend)  

Coming upon a study room she hadn't checked she gently knocked, but before she could call out a voice inside answered "enter"  

It wasn't Deku's voice, but still she warily opened the door, revealing Todoroki sitting alone at one of the desks.  

"Todoroki!" He'd been missing since nearly the beginning of the party, which wasn't totally uncommon for the lonesome boy, but it was still relieving to find him "The party's in full swing, and people have been wondering where you went. Speaking of, have you seen Deku anywhere because ha-ha there was a mix up..." She trailed off, staring at him "What are you doing?"  

In his left hand he held an Endeavor action figure, a decently common one she'd seen around the mall a few times, but it was slowly melting away as he heated his hand. Little drips of plastic were falling off his hand onto the carpet below (Iida would have a fit) from the distortion the figure suffered from she guessed he'd been at it awhile.  

"Kaminari thought he was being funny" his face was dead serious, not an inch of emotion in his eyes "I did not appreciate the joke"  

"Uraraka!" Kirishima's voice echoed down the hall, finding her in the empty study room "There you are girl, Tsuyu said you were looking for Midoriya, and Hagakure said she spotted him out on the balcony" He shrugged "Thought you'd want to know"  

"Aaaa! Thank you Kirishima, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She paused to give him a hug, before sprinting past him full speed to the balconies.  

Kirishima quirked an eyebrow at Todoroki "You okay bro?"  

He increased the heat in his left hand, not breaking eye contact "Perfect."  

"K" He decided this was not his problem, and someone else could tell off mister childhood trauma for dripping melted plastic onto the carpet.  

Uraraka ran down the hall, past the doors where she knew her teachers still had not emerged, past the door where Shinsou was sneaking back in with more stolen baked goods, and past the kitchen where Satou was scratching his head at the cookies missing off his cooling rack.  

"Gen Ed kid in cleaning closet #4, been stealing cookies all night" Uraraka rushed out while running past "Get him to join the festivities!"  

Speeding past the confused Satou she fell into the common room, dodging around well wishers and dancers to the balcony on the other side of the room.  

"Ah! Uraraka!" Tsuyu called out from her spot on the couch, still cuddling with tokoyami.  

"I heard!" She shouted back, rushing out the double glass doors.  

It was a small balcony, large enough for a few people to mill around comfortably but not much else. Right there was only one person on the balcony.  

"Ah! Deku!" She cried out in relief "Thank goodness I found you" She came up behind him, just as he turned around- 

You see, when she'd seen it at the mall she'd had the brilliant idea that maybe he'd open it, get a few laughs from the other guys and someone would insist he put it on. She could then come up behind him, pretending to be unaware of the gift and catch him by surprise for a Christmas gift of her own. She'd almost instantly dismissed the idea in embarrassment, but it hadn't stopped her from purchasing the damn thing for Deku.  

And now, as she'd come up behind him she hadn't considered that maybe in the time she'd spent running around looking for him he'd have opened the gift by now, and maybe he'd actually put it on unprompted, and holy hell maybe she'd been a little too close when he turned around?  

Because all of those things had happened and now she was staring him in the eyes, underneath the stupid mistletoe had she'd bought for him all those weeks ago.  

"Ah! Uraraka" Deku clearly hadn’t noticed the situation they were in quite yet, because he blathered on unbothered "This mistletoe hat is really cute! It's really comfortable, and convenient that the mistletoe isn't too far from me because you'd have to be awfully close to fall under it, which shouldn't happen accidentally..." He trailed off, eyes widening.  

She should have moved, before he noticed how close she was (close enough to fall under the mistletoe attached to the stick on his hat, that stupid, stupid joke gift) then all these awkward stares and hesitant breaths could have been avoided. Honestly, she should move now, apologize (give him the new gift? Run away?)  

Just as she moved to step back he took her wrist in his hand "Um, wait! I, uh" he stammered, not quite able to meet her eyes "I mean it’s a Christmas tradition to kiss under the mistletoe, right? And I mean, we're both under it so, we could. But of course, we don't have to, if it would make you uncomfortable or anything! Oh god I definitely made you uncomfortable I'm so sorry-"  

She cut him off by gently leaning in (and going up on her toes) to join their lips together.  

For more than a few seconds the world around them slowed down, and the only thing either of them felt was their joined lips, every other sense to the world muffled. She'd been fantasizing about this moment ever since she'd bought the damn hat, but actually being here and actually kissing Izuku was perhaps the most wonderful feeling in the world, one she'd have never hoped to imagine.  

Izuku didn't seem eager to leave, bringing his arms up around her neck and leaning in further, while she snuck her arms around his waist.  

However, no good things last forever, and reluctantly the two of them parted, staring at each other under hooded eyes.  

"I've wanted to do that for a long time" she admitted under her breath.  

"Me too" he whispered back, still standing within their embrace.  

She huffed a small laugh "We're a pair of idiots"  

"Yeah" he agreed "Should we head back inside"  

She turned her head to peer in through the glass doors, which no one from inside could see through thanks to the glare of the inside lights, where the rest of their class was gathered.  

Todoroki had rejoined the group, and even looked somewhat comfortable amongst the chaos that was 1-A. Satou seemed to have successfully retrieved Shinsou from his hiding closet, and was now, somehow triumphantly, defending his stolen cookies from Shouji who refused to be deterred and kept coming from different angles with his multiple appendages. Tsuyu and Tokoyami had moved from their spot on the couch to a spot on the floor, but were still cuddling together within the scarf.  

"Yeah" she relented "but not yet"  

Within the cover of darkness, snow began to fall around the two heroes-in-training. There were still villains to defeat, and civilians to protect, and too many secrets within the walls of UA, but for those blissful few hours of the 1-A party all was well.