christmas mishaps and new beginnings

deck the halls

Shouto wasn't really one for Christmas. He was too used to cold family dinners and awkward interactions to really enjoy the holiday, but spending his break with his classmates made him feel warm. They all agreed to stay for three days after the announcement of break to spend a Christmas of their own together, and Shouto wished it would last forever.

The common room was full of busy students as they all happily decorated and chatted away; of course some like Kaminari and Ashido weren't actually doing anything in particular—except distracting Sero and annoying Jirou—but that was beside the point. There were twenty stockings lining the wall, which looked rather absurd now that he thinks about it, a large tree that they managed to convince Aizawa to allow on the terms that "Bakugou goes nowhere near it" in fear of the explosive blond blowing it up and little bits of tinsel and knick-knacks, courtesy of Shouji, lining the counters, windows, and any other free spot left for decorating. The soft music of Jirou's christmas playlist and the sweet smell of Satou's sugar cookies only perfected the festive mood.

Shouto was genuinely enjoying himself. He allowed himself to embrace this before he'd have to eventually go off to his father's house for the completion of Christmas break. He had one more day to enjoy it and he was going to milk it for as long as he could.

"Todoroki-kun, you have to try this!" Uraraka's upbeat tone had him turning in her direction and he was met with a rather obnoxiously red and white frosted cookie. "It looks just like you!" She grinned and if it weren't for the genuine look in her eye he might've been offended.

Shouto took it with a hum. He allowed a tentative bite and before he could voice his opinion the small dessert was smacked out of his hand and he was being dragged off violently in the direction of the boys' dorms as he looked sadly at the now broken cookie laying on the floor. There was an annoyed huff before he was let go and his attacker met his eye.

"Fuckin' help me you candycane bitch!" Ah, Shouto would recognize those insults anywhere, he didn't need the confirmation of angry, red eyes staring into him with something a little along the lines of desperation creeping into them to figure it out.

"Bakugou, I was enjoying that cookie." At this point he was being petty, but could you really blame him? It was a nice cookie, despite the offensive swirls of red and white. Bakugou groaned in annoyance.

"Who gives a fuck about your fucking lame ass cookie, I have bigger issues here!" Being friends—which the blond didn't admit until halfway through second year—with Bakugou made it easier for Shouto to ignore his empty insults and roll his eyes without fearing for his life before saying,

"You're being dramatic. Kirishima's busy with decorating the tree and if you weren't such a clingy gremlin you wouldn't be so worked up." Shouto doesn't really know how it started but after their remedial classes, they started to stand each other and after they realized they were both hopelessly in love with their best friends, it only drew them closer. They started coming to each other regularly for advice or just to rant; they worked well together when they weren't arguing.

Shouto would go as far to say that Bakugou was probably his closest friend. Second only to Midoriya (the actual sun) himself.

"How the fuck am I being dramatic? That Shitty Haired bastard hasn't said anything to me all day!" Bakugou growled and waved his hands around in a weird frustrated version of Iida's branded movements. Shouto could've laughed, and he would've if it weren't for that warning look in Bakugou's eyes, telling him he could try it but it'd lead to his ass being blasted into next week. Shouto would very much like to keep his ass in tact, he was wearing his pair of good jeans after all.

"He's just busy. Why don't you go talk to him for once? He needs a break anyway, he's been going since 9am." At first Bakugou scoffed at even the suggestion of initiating a conversation, but then his features softened at the latter part of the statement. Shouto knew just how deep his feelings ran for the red-head, and he hoped Bakugou would get his shit together soon and just confess.