just bros being bros

sato rikido

"Everybody, gather round!" Ashido calls out.

"W-what?" Sato asks, tumbling off the couch where he'd fallen asleep.

"We're doing Secret Santa! Here, everybody pull a name, and if you pull your own name then just pop it back in the hat and draw again," she says, waving around one of her neon green hats. Inside is a clump of notecards, and one by one she goes around the room, having people pick.

"And don't, be obvious about who you got," she hisses as Todoroki pulls out his name and immediately turns to face Midoriya. "No trades, either," she continues, bonking Mineta upside the head when he whines about not getting a girl.

When she makes her way around to Sato, there's only two cards left and he pulls it out and frowns as he reads his name. Bakugou.

"Okay, everybody should have a name! You all have a week to get something together. It doesn't have to be expensive!" she says and Yaoyoruzu looks somewhat embarrassed.

As everybody returns to what they're doing, Sato can hear conversations here and there of people asking each other who they got and gathering information. He sits down and wonders what he could possibly get for Bakugou of all people without getting his face blown off.

"Hey, Kirishima," he calls out, waving him over. "So, uh, I was wondering..."

"Yeah? I can't tell you who I got, if that's what you were going to ask. It simply wouldn't be manly of me to give away my secrets."

"Ah, no, it's not that. I was just wondering, since you're so close with Bakugou... Do you know what he might like as a present?" Sato asks.

"Oh yeah, that's me, close to Bakugou!" Kirishima nods. "Well... Let's see he likes All Might, winning, spicy food, me, snakes, explosions, the color red, being the best–"

"Ah, you know what? I think that's a lot of good info, thanks," Sato says, cutting off Kirishima's rambling. It's a bit of an information overload, but he thinks he might use this opportunity to expand his baking skills and develop a spicy dessert.

"Oh, okay!" Kirishima high fives him, before pausing. "Oh wait, but if this is for the Secret Santa thing – NOT that I'm asking who you have or fishing for information in any way whatsoever – but don't get him the new limited edition All Might funko pop or hot honey or a travel poker set or –"

"Uh, don't worry, I don't think that's in the vein of what I'm getting him?" Sato cuts in.

"Okay, that's good! Because that's what I was planning on getting for him for Christmas. Anyways, good luck man!"

The next week passes in a blur of training and baking as Sato works on perfecting the best "Nuclear Explosion Cupcakes" as he mixes various flavors, spices, and peppers together. By the time the gift exchange rolls around, he's pretty proud of what he's done.

Ashido announces unexpectedly that they're also going to be rating everybody's gifts just like they did with the room tours at the beginning of the semester, and Sato hums cheerily, thankful that he made extra cupcakes.

They go around one by one, presenting presents to one another. Yaoyoruzu gifts an entire iPad Pro to Ururaka who looks like she's afraid of breaking the gift if she so much as breathes on it, and Mineta hands off what distinctly looks like a porn magazine to Kirishima who promptly dumps it in the trash. In turn, Bakugou hands Mineta a six pack of grape juice as Mineta seethes and turns to wail in a corner.

Then, it's finally Sato's turn and he says, "One moment," before heading to the fridge to pull out his gift. "Here Bakugou, this is for you but I made some extra so the whole class could share."

Bakugou hesitates as he opens the box, and then leans in his nose to give a curious sniff. Everybody watches as he pulls out the vibrantly red cupcake and takes a bite out of it before nodding in satisfaction. Sato lets out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding, and smiles happily.

"Here," Bakugou says, shoving another cupcake into Kirishima's face. "Try one."

"Thanks, man!" Kirishima answers, before pausing as he holds it up. "Hey, the red frosting kinda looks like my hair!"

"Yeah, I know. I like it," Bakugou answers, shrugging. He sets the box with the rest in the middle of the table with a shrug, and everybody else takes that as the cue to dig in.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Ashido cheers as Jirou nods in agreement next to her.

Needless to say, Sato wins the votes for best gift with his baking once again.