BNHA | A Bite-Sized Problem

† Chapter 20: Jingle bell

“We need a tree,” Hitoshi pointed out, standing in the middle of the living room with his arms crossed.

“We have a fake one in the attic,” Aizawa said, not looking up from his book.

“Fake?!” Souto exclaimed, scandalized. “No way! We need a real one!”

“Real ones are messy,” Aizawa countered, still reading.

Souto, however, had already grabbed his coat. “We’re getting a real tree!”

“You can’t even reach the top of the tree, idiot,” Hitoshi muttered.

“I’ll climb it!” Souto retorted, glaring at his older brother.

Hizashi burst into the room, jingling a pair of festive bells. “Did someone say real tree? Let’s do it! Family Christmas adventure!”

Aizawa groaned. “I didn’t agree to this.”

But ten minutes later, they were all crammed into Hizashi’s van, heading to the nearest tree lot. Souto had his head out the window, yelling, “TREEEEE!” like a wild animal.

The tree lot wasn't bustling with families but the holiday cheer was there, which Souto immediately disrupted by running into a pile of snow-covered saplings and toppling half of them over.

“THIS ONE!” he yelled, pointing at a tree twice his size.

“That’s way too big,” Aizawa said, rubbing his temples.

“No, it’s perfect!” Souto insisted, attempting to drag it toward the car.

Hitoshi leaned against a smaller tree, smirking. “You can’t even move it, shrimp.”

“WATCH ME!” Souto yelled, only to fall backward into the snow when the tree didn’t budge.

Hizashi laughed so hard he nearly dropped his phone while taking a picture. “This is the best family outing ever!”

Eventually, they settled on a reasonable-sized tree (picked by Aizawa after everyone else argued for twenty minutes) and strapped it to the car roof. Souto insisted on poking his head out the window again, yelling, “WE GOT A TREEEEE!” all the way home.

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Back at home, the chaos truly began.

“I call putting on the star!” Souto shouted, scrambling to grab the shiny ornament.

“You can’t even reach,” Hitoshi said, holding it above his head.

“Give it!” Souto yelled, jumping and swiping at it.

“Boys,” Aizawa said from the couch, barely looking up. “If you break it, I’m canceling Christmas.”

That shut them up—briefly.

Souto eventually climbed onto a wobbly chair to try to put the star on the tree, only to fall off and land in the pile of tinsel. “I’m okay!” he declared, wrapped in shiny gold strands like a festive mummy.

Hizashi laughed, snapping more pictures. “This is going in the album.”

Meanwhile, Hitoshi silently placed the star on top of the tree while Souto was distracted.

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“I want cookies!” Souto demanded, banging his fists on the counter.

“Great idea!” Hizashi said, already donning an apron. “Let’s bake!”

What followed was less of a baking session and more of a flour war. Souto managed to get flour in his hair, on his face, and somehow on the ceiling.

“Stop throwing flour!” Aizawa barked, covered in white powder himself after Souto had gleefully thrown a handful at him.

“But it’s snowing inside!” Souto said, laughing maniacally.

Hitoshi stood to the side, eating chocolate chips straight out of the bag. “This is why we don’t let him do anything.”

The cookies, surprisingly, turned out edible—mostly because Aizawa took over halfway through while the boys argued over cookie cutter shapes.

By the end of the day, the house was a disaster zone. Tinsel hung from random places, the tree was slightly lopsided from Souto trying to climb it, and the kitchen looked like a flour bomb had gone off.

But somehow, amidst the chaos, it felt… cozy.

Hitoshi sat on the couch, scrolling through his phone while Souto sat beside him, munching on a slightly burnt cookie. Hizashi was playing Christmas music way too loud, and Aizawa was attempting to nap despite the noise.

“This was the best day ever!” Souto declared, crumbs falling out of his mouth.

Hitoshi rolled his eyes but smirked. “You’re such a weirdo.”

“And you’re boring,” Souto shot back, grinning.

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Continue... and Merry Christmas! (🎄)