𝒞𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓂𝒶𝓈 𝒜𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑒 | 𝒜 𝒯𝑜𝒹𝑜𝐵𝒶𝓀𝓊 𝒮𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎 |

| Chapter 24 |

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The florist has become quite familiar with the ash blonde, seeing as he came in almost every two weeks with the same flower arrangement as always. But this time, the florist was a little surprised when he called in for a different flower arrangement. It was one that had flowers of both longing and saying goodbye. Katsuki took a deep breath and walked into the store. Being greeted with the same old, "Good morning, Bakugo."

Shoto was right behind him this time. His hand in Bakugos looked at all the pretty flowers set up within the flower shop. "Morning Aries. Is it ready?" he asked the smiling strawberry blonde. "Yep. I see you've brought someone new. He your boyfriend?" she asked, taking out cash to give back. The blonde smiled slightly and felt a hint of red come onto his cheeks. Before he could respond, the dual haired male awkwardly waved and said, "Hi. Shoto Todoroki. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well. Tell your mother I said hello," she said kindly. Katsuki smiled back and replied, "Of course I will. Can't promise she'll say anything back, though." she softly laughed and said, "it's worth it, though. At least she knows I miss her."

"Yeah...yeah, she does. Have a good rest of your morning, and happy merry Christmas eve, Aries." Bakugo said before walking out into the coldness of the day. The sun began to hide away in the darkness of the mid-morning clouds. Both boys took notice of the significant drop in the temperature but said nothing. "How does she know your mom?" Todoroki asked. "Her mom and mine used to be best friends. Practically raised her, Deku, and I together," he responded. Shoto hummed, acknowledging.

As the two boys began to walk to see Bakugo's mom, snow began to fall. Some of the small crystals of ice landing in the ash blonde's hair and making it look like he had small crystal flowers burrowed into his hair. About ten minutes later and the boys made it. Their noses all red now and their heads are covered in snowflakes.

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Bakugo stood in front of his moms grave and looked at the dual haired male. "Sho, this is my mother. Mom, this is Shoto Todoroki. Also known as my boyfriend." he said, his voice wavering. And just like always, only silence filled his ears. In his hands, he held a bouquet of flowers with different meanings. Some of them meaning longing and the need to be with her, and other's meaning it's time to let go. Time to say goodbye.

"Hi, Mrs. Bakugo," Shoto said softly, his own voice wavering slightly. Although they didn't get any response, they could feel the wind pick up. "Oh, Aries said hello, by the way. Merry Christmas eve, momma. I know it's been a while since I've last visited." the blonde whispered.

Bakugo bent down and said, "I miss you a lot. For the last eight years, I've felt like I can't be happy...more like I don't want to be happy. Because I felt like if I did, then that would mean I moved on. That you wouldn't be here anymore..." he felt tears stream down his face as he said these words. Words that were so true but yet so painful to say out loud.

"I knew that feeling like this was just another phase in moving on...but momma, I don't wanna move on. I know you would be sitting here telling me it's okay...to feel these things and...and to move on. That you'd want me to move on...someone I know spoke words to me a few weeks ago that really stuck with me...." Shoto held in his tears looked at his boyfriend. He set a hand on his shoulder and swiftly wiped away not only his tears but Katsuki's. The ash-blonde stood back up and looked at the flowers in his hands.

"He told me that you love me and you want me to be happy...that it's okay to be happy he told me that someday I'd be able to find the thing that makes me the happiest and I'll find the thing that makes me forget time as it passes by...I've found what I've been looking for. I love you, momma. But it's time for me to say goodbye." he whispered.

Setting the bouquet of flowers into the empty vase, he hooks his arms around Shoto and smiles. He lets a smile form and looks up at the sky. The feeling of content and comfort washed over him. Two very big things he felt around his mother. She was saying goodbye as well. Saying it's okay to let me go. He looked back to his boyfriend and let his head nuzzle into the taller neck. He was on his tiptoes as he hugged his tall boyfriend.

"She's watching over you...she's happy, babe," Shoto whispered. "I know she is. I can tell just by how the clouds cleared up," he whispered back. By now, it was around 12 o'clock. "Hey, let's go to that really good cafe we went to," Shoto suggested. "Yeah. Let's go." Katsuki replied with a smile on his face.

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Once the two got there, they went inside and were greeted by the kind woman. Her smile was brighter than Deku's almost. "Hey, boys. Back so soon?" she asked. "We are. Do you by any chance have any Nerikiri left?" Katsuki asked. He remembered the small pink treat his dad brought his mom when she had a hard time. It was one of her favorite treats. "I do. I also have some green tea if you'd like some as well," she suggested. "We would love some," Todoroki said.

The two went over to a small table for two and sat down. Their hands clasped at the center of the table, and they smiled at each other. "How are you feeling, Kat?" Shoto asked. "I'm feeling...okay. I feel like she's here with me...y'know?" Katsuki asked, unsure of how he wanted the words to come out. "I do," he responded.

"I have a question for you," Katsuki said softly. "Shoot."

"Why do you love me?" Katsuki asked. Shoto smiled and replied with the many answers he could come up with. There was no hesitance in his voice. No, wait for him to think about why he loves the male. That made Katsuki feel all warm. "I love you for you, Katsuki. You know how to be strong, but you also know how to go past your breaking point. But even then, you know how to pick yourself up and dust yourself off. The best part about you is that you're very caring despite your outside exterior. You become this whole different person when you're in the kitchen as well." Todoroki pointed out.

"It's astonishing, really. Literally, every single thing I've eaten that you've made has been pure heaven. It's like you become this professional chef. I love how passionate you are about certain things, like your passion for becoming a hero and your passion for cooking and trying to master things to a point. Watching you do all these amazing things and accomplish all the stuff you want to do makes me proud of you. I don't know if you notice this or not, but I stare at you in awe every time you cook. You seriously need to teach me how to make food. Otherwise, after high school, when we're living together, I'm go-" Todoroki got cut off.

"Woah, wait a damn minute. Y-you, see us to...together in the future?" Katsuki stuttered over his words. His cheeks were flushed over, and he could feel the butterflies in his stomach flutter. "Of course I do. O-Only if you s-see us to-" the feeling of lips being pressed against Shoto's surprised him.

"Good cause I was just about to say the same stuff as you, babe," Katsuki said before sitting back down.

Shoto's cheeks were redder than Eijiro's hair, and his eyes were wide. Needless to say, he was flustered beyond fixing.

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Merry Christmas, everyone! What'd you get? Happy holidays. Thank you for everything. I'm extremely thankful for everyone who's read my books.

Stay safe and be careful out there.