A Kacchan Christmas

The Heights Alliance dormitory building for class 1-A, meant to offer a way to protect the young heroes-in-training from the dangers of villains by letting them live close to the safety of their school, was decidedly more upbeat than its role would suggest. The reason for this was simple: the Holiday Season was upon them, with a Christmas tree in the lobby and seasonal lights decorating generously both the inside and the outside. There was also a rogue strand of mistletoe here and there though everyone tried to avoid that; it was mostly a joke and was put there by Kaminari, probably while short-circuited from using his power. Mineta would have done it except he thought hanging it was too unreliable and attempted to simply walk up to various girls; it yielded no results.

"This party was really a great idea, Uraraka. Everyone's here and it looks like they're all having fun!" The entirety of class 1-A was in attendance at the small Christmas Party, held a few days before Christmas since most of them were planning to return home for the holidays in a day or two. Izuku was currently talking to the organizer of the event, Ochaco Uraraka. Honestly he hadn't even thought about doing such a thing since he was so focused on training and maybe spent a little too much time worrying about the League of Villains. It was nice to relax.

"Aww, thanks Izuku. Honestly though, you should thank Momo more than me. She's the one who wanted to pay for everything and basically gave me a blank check. Plus there's Aoyama who helped make sure all the decorations looked good and, well, you and Ida who helped me set up the tree. All-in-all, I'd say this was a great group effort," she said with a smile on her face.

"You don't give yourself enough credit; none of this would have happened with you, Uraraka."

"T-thanks Izuku."

A shout reached his ears from the other side of the room. "Get your arm off me, or DIE!" Given the person who said it, the other students carried on as if nothing had happened at all because really it was the most normal thing in the world to hear Bakugo yelling at Kirishima. Apparently Kirishima had been trying to put his arm around Bakugo's shoulder, probably while talking in a nostalgic way about how far their friendship had come or something. Izuku couldn't help but laugh; even if Kacchan thought of Kirishima as a friend, the blond was not the type of person to want it expressed in a touchy way.

Uraraka sighed. "Well, it looks like almost everyone is having a good time at least."

"What do you mean Uraraka?" Although her statement did confuse him a bit, she really was worrying too much about if everyone else was enjoying themselves and not enjoying herself enough.

"Just look at him Izuku! He's sitting there, scowling, mixing the glass of water in his hand like he wants to break it. Plus, he got a glass of water! At a Christmas Party! We have soda, tea, lemonade, and hot chocolate ya know. And he didn't even get a slice of cake! The Yaoyorozu family chefs themselves made it!"

"Hehe, yeah, it might look like he's miserable, but you should really ask yourself: did you even think he'd come?" Her eyes widened slightly and he knew it was because she thought that he wouldn't. "It's obvious he appreciates us a bit more since the whole kidnapped by the League of Villains thing. He'll never admit he's thankful, he'll call those of us who tried to save him idiots, but he does appreciate these things. You just can't expect him to be too willing to show it."

"I guess you might be right. It might not seem like much to me but he's not always trying to push Kirishima away. Even then, I'm still surprised he's here. Seems like he'd see it as a pointless waste of his time."

"Well maybe normally but Kacchan actually loves Christmas."

"… Bakugo loves Christmas?"

Their conversation was interrupted by a smiling Ida, though he still had that slight air of authority as always. "Ah, Uraraka! I must admit that this party is looking even better than I had expected. You have truly done a great job.

"I appreciate it Ida. However, like I was telling Izuku, I don't really deserve all the credit. You see..."

"Stop being so modest, Uraraka. Ribbit." Tsuyu interrupted the other girl, joining the forming small group. "No way this party is put together without you. Ribbit. Take some pride in what you've done, you deserve it." Uraraka smiled at the praise and Izuku couldn't help but smile alongside her. Honestly, she was such a nice person that seemed to think a lot about everyone else but it was only right that she finally take a bit of credit for herself. Of course it wasn't too much of a surprise that Tsuyu would support her like that; Tsuyu always did seem to have a strange way with encouragement.

"Why can't you losers stay the hell away from me!" Bakugo's voice came from the other side of the room again. Izuku couldn't really tell what exactly had happened to Kacchan this time but apparently it must have actually gotten to him. The ash blond's intense red eyes were dropped down into a glare and a vicious scowl was on his face; Kacchan never wore that expression unless he meant business. It did not really come as a surprise to him to see that Kaminari had snuck over there and must have done something though now the guy seemed to be backing away.

"As Class Representative," Ida began, "I do not know the extent I should be concerned about them. I must admit that I am worried we may get a repeat of the earlier incident and it would be a shame if a student of Bakugo's caliber should be expelled." Izuku knew that Ida was talking about his and Kacchan's earlier fight, shortly after moving into the dormitories after Kacchan failed his provisional hero license exam. Honestly though, as far as things Kacchan related went, things had been reasonably calm since then. Sometimes the guy just needed to let loose to work things out.

"Ribbit. Izuku, what do you think? Is it anything to worry about? Ribbit?"

"What? Oh, no, not at all. Kirishima and Kaminari have the good sense to tell whenever Kacchan's actually angry and he's not all that interested in fighting them. He's just very direct in letting them know when they annoy him." There was really no reason to worry about Kacchan; at the end of the day, the guy was absolutely dedicated to his efforts to become the Number One Hero and would really only let extreme cases get in his way. Izuku did not like to think of himself as one but considering he had mysteriously gotten his quirk from the strongest hero ever maybe it was fair of the other to be a bit peeved. After all, All-Might had always been their favorite hero.

Uraraka spoke up. "You know, it's always amazed me that you get to call him," she leaned in, pulling the group closer as if to whisper, "Kacchan," she pulled away after saying the word. "I mean, if any of us tried to call him that, I don't even want to know what he'd do."

Izuku didn't really understand what all the fuss was about. "It's normal for friends to have nicknames though, right? I mean, I don't see why all of you are making a big deal out of it."

"Well, ribbit, you're not exactly the closest of friends. Ribbit."

"Yeah," Uraraka continued immediately, "in fact, considering how he seems to hate all sorts of interaction with you, it really doesn't make any sense. Hasn't he said numerous times he would crush or destroy you?"

Izuku pondered her words for a second. "We have our own ways of working things out but, at the end of the day, I know I'll always be able to rely on him. Maybe soon he'll accept that he can rely on me too." Ever since their last fight, things had definitely been better between the two of them. Even though Izuku hadn't won the fight, he knew that he'd won some level of respect in Bakugo's eyes. Of course the blond had figured out the secret behind his powers and that was probably a large reason for the tension easing as well. Kacchan hated things being hid from him. The blond was always so open with his personality because, in Izuku's mind, the guy believed that deceit was villainous.

Ida spoke up. "I suppose it is unfair to talk about this on a day of celebration. It was a nice idea to have presents under the tree but I worry there will be unfair numbers that may dampen the spirits of some." He had a grin on his face as he adjusted his glasses. "After all, it would be unfair if I were to have the most simply because I am the class's representative."

If there was anything to be said about a class of heroes-in-training, it was that they were a highly competitive bunch. As such, Ida's words were somehow heard throughout the classroom and people reacted instantaneously, with claims from various others that they would be the recipient of the most gifts. Kirishima and Kaminari were the most vocal in coming up with reasons that it would be them while Izuku also noticed Momo smiling smugly as if she thought she had it in the bag. Kacchan wasn't saying a thing but it wasn't really surprising; sure, the guy was the most ultra-competitive guy Izuku had ever known, but this competition relied on others and therefore he wouldn't care. That's just the way Kacchan was. Izuku didn't really care either because it only really mattered that everyone enjoyed themselves.

"This is pointless. There's only one way to settle this," Todoroki said, eyeing the presents. All the others joined him, a hunger in their eyes that made Izuku feel a little bit out of place. Honestly, weren't they all just here to enjoy the party? He knew that he could be a competitive person, or maybe that was only when his future title of Number One Hero was on the line, but there was no need to get so competitive over something like this. That didn't seem to stop the others from deciding that this particular event was important but Izuku got the feeling that it was all in good fun and that nobody would actually get their feelings hurt over the results.

"I'll divide the presents!" Uraraka said. "Everyone else, claim a seat and wait."

And so, everyone grabbed a seat and waited while the anti-gravity student went about dividing up their presents. Very quickly it became apparent that their were front-runners and that several people had their hopes of winning the competition dashed. Their spirits did quickly pick up, though, since it was hard to be sad when their were presents sitting directly in front of them. As far as he could tell, everybody had at least three gifts at the least. It surprised Izuku that he was among the leaders in number received; right alongside Ida and Todoroki. Ida was the Class Representative and did a good job keeping up with everyone while Todoroki was a good guy that everyone in the class at least respected for his strength and smarts. Of course Kacchan would be right up there too if he wasn't so, well, abrasive.

But then there was him, Izuku Midoriya, the formerly quirkless kid who almost killed himself in every fight he had thus far. He didn't feel like he was particularly close with any of his classmates even if he respected all of them. Heck, he had only gotten gifts for Ida, Todoroki, Uraraka, Tsuyu, Kirishima, Kaminari, Ashido, Fumikage, and Sero! Well, and the one he had gotten for Kacchan of course. Surprisingly the explosive blond was easy to shop for; the hard part was hoping that he didn't destroy the present before opening it. That would just be terrible.

After the seasonal gifts were all distributed, some in wrapped boxes and other in small bags, Uraraka spoke above all the clamor. "Now, before announcing who got the most, I say we should open them first. And we should do it in some kind of order just so we can see what everyone got. It's how we do it at my home and I think it builds up the suspense!" Following that, there was a discussion on how they should determine the order and eventually it was settled on alphabetically going by last name.

"Alright Aoyama, you first." The eccentric blond wasted no time in grabbing his present from Momo.

"Pour moi? Mon cherie, you really shouldn't have." He finished with a chuckle before ripping open the paper, pulling out some kind of sparkling bracelet. "Oh mademoiselle, it is beautiful! Tres tres belle! I shall wear it always!"

Next was Mina Ashido, whom decided to open the gift from Ida. It had already been noticed that Ida had gotten a present for everyone so it was pretty much her attempt to figure it out for everyone else. She smiled brightly as she pulled out the notebook and pens, with a note saying 'Please continue your studies! It is an honor to be your representative!' Izuku figured that every present from Ida would probably be a variation on that. After that it was Tsuyu Asui, who was opening Jiro's gift first. It was actually a pond-themed mat which she said could be used for meditation or simply decoration, a bit of a strange gift from Jiro since he would have assumed it to be something music related but Tsuyu definitely seemed to appreciate it. Everyone held their breath knowing who was next and knowing that it would not be simple.

Bakugo looked at his presents; he had gotten four of them. One each from Momo and Ida, who had gotten one for everyone, one from Kirishima, and one from Izuku. Izuku couldn't have been more surprised when the blond picked out his gift to open first because he figured it would be Kirishima; after all, Kacchan and Kirishima were actually openly friendly while the two of them were in a rivalry that would probably never be settled and would be destined to heat and cool forever. He liked Kacchan but there was no way the two of them could ever truly stop competing when their goals were solely to become the Number One Hero.

Kacchan scowled looking at the present, hesitating to even begin opening it. After a few more seconds the guy relented and peeled off the wrapping, revealing a box. Upon opening the box, the blond pulled out a large poster of the one thing they had ever shared in common: All-Might. As an addition to the present, Izuku had went to the little trouble of having All-Might sign it though the hero had said that Izuku was not allowed to look at the signature afterwards. He couldn't help but feel nervous as he watched Kacchan's eyes looking across the entire thing, before landing in the bottom right. After a few seconds of obviously reading something, he rolled his eyes before rolling the poster back up and putting it back in the box. A second later, he grabbed the box and started walking away.

Kirishima looked puzzled, as did everyone, but he was the only one who spoke up. "Hey Bakugo, where are you going?"

"I'll be back later." Nobody felt like trying to stop him so they just continued with the ceremony.

Eventually, every present had been opened. Izuku didn't know which gift he liked best because it felt like every gift from all of his friends had some kind of personal meaning that added to the sentimental value of the item. Even the school supplies from Ida felt like that because it had been his support that helped Ida gain the title in the first place, not that he'd ever hold it over the guy or something. No, Ida definitely deserved the position more than anyone. Bakugo's three remaining presents sat unopened, with the ash blond having not returned. Honestly this entire event did nothing but reinforce how important UA and all his classmates were to him; he knew he'd do anything for them, whether they asked or not. There was no way he could have ever stopped attending, even if his mom protested.

The others all seemed happy with their gifts as well and it was clear that the room was in extremely high spirits, both from receiving thoughtful things from those they had come to know and from the cake. Izuku had to admit, the cake was indeed delicious.

"So, now that all of the presents have been opened, I will announce the results. Izuku and Todoroki were tied in first place while Ida came in second with just one fewer present. I suppose that will officially end the party but, well, it's in our dorm lobby so of course we're all free to stay as long as we like. Thanks for..."

"Hold the hell up." Bakugo came scowling into the room, a small box held in his hand and a lethal look in his eyes that made everyone know instinctively to avoid trying to start anything. Izuku felt nervous because his childhood friend turned bully turned rival was staring straight at him with that look but he knew there was nothing he should really be worried about. Kacchan walked right up to him, standing over him and not saying anything for a few seconds. "Take this, damn shitty Deku." Izuku couldn't help but feel shocked as he took the box but he only stood there a second before he opened it. His eyes grew wide in surprise.

The object inside was valuable, for several reasons First of all, it was a very hard to obtain All-Might action figure. Secondly, it was one of the few collectibles he did not have. A few years back, about seven or eight or something like that, there had been plans for an All-Might movie whose key feature was starring All-Might himself. However, plans for the film didn't quite work out; the official reason was a licensing disagreement but Izuku had a strong feeling it had to do with the hero's severe injuries. They did release a few pieces of merchandise in preparation though and this was one example. The label simply said 'All-Might, Symbol of Peace' and the hero stood there, in the box, smile on his face to remind the world that he is here.

Izuku couldn't have been more surprised. He had never told his mother that he wanted it because they had only released a few before being taken out of production, mostly as promotional and none openly in stores, and they were rather expensive. The only time he could even remember indicating he had wanted it had been when he found out the movie was canceled and they were talking about it in class. Had Kacchan actually remembered that little tidbit of information? It wouldn't be too surprising given the other's intellect but the guy did have a penchant for not caring much about others. Still, Izuku couldn't help but think that this gift showed that, during all those painful years where it felt like the two of them would never get along again, Bakugo cared at least a little bit.

"Thank you Kacchan!" he said, going in for a hug to thank him.

"Touch me and you die!" the other responded, with enough seriousness in his voice to make Izuku back off embarrassed. The rest of the class just laughed, ignoring the tone and probably finding the whole situation comedic. Izuku wished they would stop though; it was probably incredibly difficult for Kacchan to decide to undermine his tough, lone wolf reputation by giving the gift and this kind of reaction would not make it easier in the future. Oh well, it was gonna be tough to really get under Bakugo's skin.

"O-oh, right, my bad haha."

"Merry Christmas, Kacchan."

"Yeah yeah, whatever shitty Deku." He supposed it would be unfair of him to expect anything different. At the end of the day, Kacchan was Kacchan. Despite all the trouble that came of it, Izuku wouldn't want his friend any other way.

A/N: A short little Christmas one-shot for the WA challenge. I wish a very Merry Christmas to all my readers and hope you'll enjoy this little story of mine. I had wanted to get it uploaded before Christmas Day but re-writes got in the way.

Thank you for reading! Once again, Merry Christmas.