Here it is. This turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would, so I hope you enjoy.
Inko smiled looking at her two favorite boys sleeping on the couch together.
Hisashi had finally come home after his boss finally gave him a break for Christmas. It was the first Christmas they had spent together in 10 years.
Hisashi had bought Izuku Super Smash Bros Brawl Melee Ultimate Mega Super Edition, which the two of them had instantly started playing together after Izuku unwrapped it.
The two of them had been playing it for nearly 8 hours straight before they finally collapsed on top of each other in exhaustion.
Inko found it adorable that even while asleep, Hisashi held Izuku in a protective grip.
She smiled at the scene for a minute, before grabbing a blanket from their closet.
She snuggled up to Hisashi's other side before throwing the blanket over them.
She was somehow unsurprised when Hisashi, even in his sleep, grabbed her and pulled her closer to him.
She closed her eyes to fall asleep, before suddenly stopping and looking around at her surroundings in worry.
Was it safe for her to just fall asleep? What if All for One had found them and sent an agent now when they were least expecting it? What if someone with a gas quirk poisoned them while they slept? What if this was all a quirk-induced illusion and she would die if she fell asleep?
What if-
"Inko, shut up. You're going to wake Izuku if you keep spouting your paranoia out loud."
Inko turned back to the now clearly awake Hisashi.
"Was I thinking out loud again?"
"Yes, and very loudly."
Hisashi sighed and carefully got up from under the blanket.
"Look Inko, if it bothers you so much, you sleep here with Izuku while I keep watch. I need to make a few business calls anyway."
Inko scooted closer to the still sleeping Izuku and wrapped her arm around him. She turned to Hisashi.
"I-I'm sorry for waking you up, I'm just worried."
Hisashi rolled his eyes before kissing her on the forehead.
"It's fine, just make sure to keep Izuku warm for me while I talk to my boss."
Hisashi walked towards the door before paused in the doorframe.
"As long as I'm your husband Inko, I'll be here for you."
He walked out of the room.
Inko held Izuku closer to her and leaned back with closed eyes.
As long as Hisashi was watching out for her, she would be safe.
Hisashi leaned against the wall and sighed.
She was so close this time. So close to letting go of her paranoia for a few moments. So close to just forgetting about everything and cuddling with her family.
Hisashi sighed.
Well, there was always next time.
He got his phone out and dialed his boss.
"Hello, this is Jaldabaoth speaking."
Hisashi rolled his eyes at his boss's stupid codename.
"This is Dragon calling to check on how long I'll be able to stay with my family for the weekend."
He heard walking and the slamming of a door.
"Thanks, Hisashi. I needed an excuse to escape that god awful Christmas party."
Hisashi blinked in surprise.
"Our organization has a Christmas party?"
"Yes, and a god awful one at that. There's no music, no games, not even alcohol. Everyone's just standing around staring at each other awkwardly."
Hisashi picked his fingers in disinterest.
"Sounds awful."
"Oh don't sound too interested now Hisashi, I'm just the one who writes your paychecks." His boss sarcastically let out.
"Can we just get to the point boss?"
His boss sighed.
"You're no fun. Fine, you originally only had tomorrow left, but I'll give you an extra day. Think of it as gratitude for getting me out of this drab party."
"Whatever, boss."
His boss snorted.
"You're welcome you ungrateful asshole."
Hisashi sighed and moved to turn off his phone before pausing when he saw a name on his contacts list.
Enji Todoroki.
Christmas was a time about friends, family, and reconnecting with people. Now was as good of a time as ever.
His thumb hovered over the name before he sighed and turned off the phone.
No, he needed to focus on his family for now. He would try to reconnect with Enji some other time.
As Hisashi walked back into the living room, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was making a mistake.
"Izuku, wake up."
Izuku opened his eyes to the sight of his mom holding a gift out towards him.
"What?"
Inko chuckled at his adorable confusion.
"You got so caught up in playing with Hisashi that you forgot to open my gift."
Izuku blinked in surprise.
He had expected for his parents to only get him one gift.
Taking the gift from Inko, he quickly opened it.
Inside was a large amount of an unfamiliar heroine's merchandise, most notable of which was a large action figure.
Getting out the action figure, the first thing he noticed was the costume. It was a dark sleeveless bodysuit with a high collar, yellow gloves, white boots, a gold belt, and a white cape. The heroine was fair-skinned with a mole below her right cheek and straight dark hair. She was unfamiliar to him, but she almost looked like-
"She looks quite a bit like me doesn't she."
Izuku looked up in surprise to his mom's face. She looked somehow both sad and happy at the same time.
Izuku hesitated.
"Who is she mom?"
His mom's smile grew even sadder.
"She was my mother and your grandmother, Nana Shimura. I told you a bit about her before."
Izuku looked down in amazement at the figure.
"Where did you find this?"
"After she died, I couldn't look at that face anymore, but I didn't have the heart to throw her memorabilia away. I put it all in a box and haven't touched it since. I was in the attic the other day and came across it. After looking back through it for a while, I thought that maybe you could get some use out of it. She can watch over you while you sleep like she used to watch over me."
Izuku smiled and hugged his mom.
"I'll treasure it forever mom. Thank you."
Inko squeezed her child with all her might.
"Merry Christmas, Izuku."
Izuku squeezed back.
"Merry Christmas, Mom."
All Might sighed and leaned back on his bed.
He had been invited to the pro-hero Christmas party held every year, but he had decided to pass on it for the fifth year in a row. He wasn't sure if he had the strength in him to hold onto his buff form for an entire part. He had instead decided to have tea with Tsukuachi before heading to bed.
He stared down at the wound his stomach and sighed.
It wasn't that he didn't enjoy going to parties with the other heroes. In fact, he treasured the time he spent with them. It was always fun and lively to see the different generations of heroes interacting. He was just too weak.
All Might had known he was dying for a long time. Not only were his injuries from All for One and multiple other villains catching up to him, but he was aging. He was 50, nearing 51. Most heroes retired by the age of 55, with a few exceptions, but he wasn't even sure if he would last that long.
He needed to make at least a few more years though. He needed to at least see his successor's journey through to the end.
He heard his successor's ringtone go off and groaned as he pulled himself out of bed to grab his phone.
He looked at his text messages to see a picture of his smiling successor throwing him a peace sign in his signature gloves. The caption read "A Merry Christmas to my mentor, All Might."
He smiled down at the picture.
His successor had been a bit unnerving at first, but he was adorable now that he was used to him. He radiated the same happiness and kindness that Nana always did. He was brave, strong, and kind to a fault. He had a bit of a martyr complex, but otherwise, he was the perfect successor in every way.
His smile grew a bit.
His life felt like it had brightened up after he had met Izuku. Before Izuku he had felt more cynical and jaded with everything. He was unhappy with where his remaining lifespan was going and he rarely had the energy to do anything outside of hero work. Now, he was looking forward to every day and he felt more energized. He felt like his life was going somewhere better.
He set down the phone and walked back over to his bed. He laid down and closed his eyes, letting his exhaustion overtake him.
He needed to get up bright and early to meet Izuku for his training.
Ochako sat with her parents opening their admittedly small number of gifts.
The two of them had taken breaks off to spend time with her in Mustafa.
She had insisted that they didn't need to buy her anything for Christmas, but they had ignored her protests and bought her stuff anyway.
It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the things they bought her, she just thought there were better things that they could put their money towards.
She looked down in guilt.
She didn't want them to have to spend money her. It made her feel like a leech sucking money out of her parents. They should focus more on their needs over hers. They were amazing parents, and they deserved much better lifestyles than their current one.
She was startled when she felt a pat on her back. She turned around to see her dad smiling down at her.
"Did you enjoy your Christmas presents dear?"
Ochako nodded her head.
"I did, but you sure that you needed to spend so much money on me. I would've been fine with not-"
Her dad cut her off with a sigh.
"Ochako, you don't seem to get it. We work so much so that we can make you happy. Sure the money is tight, but we would throw away millions a dollars if it made you happy."
Ochako looked away.
"I know daddy. I just don't like you two sacrificing so much money on me. It just doesn't feel right."
Her dad walked around and sat down on the couch next to her.
"Honey, as long as you're happy, nothing is wrong for us. Now come on, your mom made some sheet cake and we want you to have some."
Her dad got up and walked into the kitchen.
Ochako breathed in and put on a look of determination.
It was only a few more months until U.A. She knew it would be difficult, but no matter what she would become a hero and give her parents the easy life they deserved.
Tenya sat with his brother, Koichi, and Kazuho in the living room.
Tenya leaned against his brother and looked over at the sleeping couple across from him.
His brother had invited Koichi and Kazuho over for dinner when he learned that they were just planning to spend Christmas doing nothing at their apartment. The two of them had insisted that they were fine, but Tensei refused to listen to them. The couple had finally relented and agreed to come and stay with them for Christmas.
Tenya wasn't sure what to think of the two.
On one hand, they were his brothers close friends. Both of them seemed friendly and trustworthy, even if Kazuho was a bit arrogant. Both of them had been polite and they seemed like normal people.
On the other hand, they both were extremely suspicious. Tenya wasn't sure what it was, but something felt off about them. Maybe it was the way they used their quirks so nonchalantly. Maybe it was the way that Koichi mentioned taking down villains with Tensei offhandedly, despite the fact that he wasn't a hero. Maybe it was the glaring similarities the two possessed to the vigilantes, Crawler and Popstep.
Whatever it was, he felt uncomfortable with them around.
He felt a nudge from his brother and turned his head up to look at his smiling face.
"I noticed that you keep glancing over at Koichi and Kazuho over there."
Tenya hesitated.
"I don't know Tensei, there's just something off about the two of them. They seem like nice people, but I just can't help but shake the feeling that I know who they are."
His brother smirked.
"And who might they be, little brother."
"They look very similar to the vigilantes Popstep and Crawler. Their quirks are also very similar, if not the same, as theirs."
Tensei chuckled.
"How perceptive of you Tenya. I can confirm that they are indeed Crawler and Popstep."
Tenya looked up astonished.
"Then how have you not reported them to the authorities? They are illegal vigilantes, and it's your job as a hero to report them."
Tensei shook his head while chuckling.
"Tenya, use this as a learning experience. A hero doesn't need to follow every single law, as long as they aren't caught breaking any. Vigilantes are the best case of this. Many heroes don't care about or just flat out ignore vigilantes in the field. Usually, only the police are real sticklers for it. Hell, I know many heroes who went to Popstep's concerts."
Tenya looked up in confusion.
"But aren't vigilantes a danger to themselves and others?"
"Some are, and those are the ones that heroes actively go after. People like Stendhal are actively pursued due to how large of a threat they are. They murder and maim without caring about who gets hurt and who gets caught in the crossfire. People Koichi and Kazuho on the other hand, actively help people with things both large and small. They get people out of the way in villain attacks and distract stronger villains until heroes can help them. They actively help others and really haven't done anything morally wrong."
Tensei winked at Tenya.
"So do me a solid and don't report them to the police. I think mom and dad figured it out, but they just don't care."
Tenya stared over at the two sleeping vigilantes.
"I promise you, Tensei."
Shoto sat alone at the Christmas dinner table, eating some cold Soba noodles.
He looked around at his surroundings and took in just how alone he was.
First, he looked over at Natsuo's chair.
Natsuo had left that morning to go to a college Christmas party with his friends. He had been eager to leave and had flipped Endeavor off as he walked out the door.
Shoto knew they weren't close, but he had hoped that maybe he might've stayed so they could get closer.
He sighed and looked over to the next empty chair, where Fuyumi usually sat.
She had left to a teacher Christmas party. She would be staying the night at a friend's house and wouldn't be coming back until tomorrow afternoon. She had left in a hurry, not even saying goodbye to him before leaving.
She was by far the person he was closest to in the family. They didn't spend a lot of time together, but they had some degree of familiarity. He had hoped that maybe she would want to stay with him at least.
Feeling even gloomier, his eyes moved to his father's seat.
Endeavor had been pissed at the notion that a hero should take even a single day off. He had left earlier that morning to go on his patrols, barely doing anything beyond eating breakfast before leaving.
Shoto would be lying if he said that he wasn't glad that he wasn't glad that Endeavor was gone. His father was an angry man who didn't care much for those around him. Any presence though, even one he hated, would've been better than the soul-crushing loneliness he felt.
Feeling worn-out, he turned his head to the last empty seat, one that had been empty for about two years now.
Touya had died a few years ago in a training accident with Endeavor. Apparently, the two of them had an argument that resulted in Touya bursting out in the hottest flames that any Todoroki had ever produced. Endeavor barely survived and Touya was burned to ash by the heat of his own flames. They had never found a body to bury.
Shoto had never known what to make of Touya. He was the only other Todoroki that his father trained, and by the sounds, he heard it was even more merciless than his. He had only ever interacted with Touya a few times, but every time he did he was subjected to a hateful gaze and killing intent. He had no idea what he had done to warrant his hatred, but he had hoped to fix it before his death. Now he would never have the chance.
Shoto put his head down on the table and cried.
He was tired, unloved, and completely alone.
Endeavor ran through the snow from building to building.
He had been patrolling all day, running from one end of the city to the other, waiting for a crime to happen.
It seemed that even the villains had taken a day off for Christmas.
He stopped on the next building and punched the roof in frustration.
He needed something to do. He was so tired and bored of running around waiting for something to happen.
He pulled out his phone to call his agency to see if anyone there could tell him about any nearby crimes.
He scrolled through his contacts list before freezing when his eyes caught one name.
Hisashi Midoriya.
He sat down and stared at the sky in reminiscence.
He could remember the annoying fuck like it was yesterday.
He had always followed him around, repeatedly calling him senpai and giving him random hugs no matter how many time he knocked his lights out. He was loud, outgoing, friendly, and annoying. He had been the complete and utter opposite of him.
Despite that, Hisashi had grown on him like moss. He got used to the cheeky bastard and started actively hanging out with him. He was the first real friend Endeavor had ever really had.
But then, like most good things in his life, he had fucked it up.
He was about to surrender Enji! What the hell were you thinking?!"
"He was a criminal, it doesn't matter what I do as long as he's taken care of."
"He was just a kid!"
He gripped his hand until they bled at the memory.
He still vividly remembered what Hisashi told him as he walked away angrily.
A beaten up and slightly blood covered Hisashi turned to him and snarled with an angry look that seemed wrong on his normally friendly face.
"If you ever realize how much of a sick, twisted person you've become, call me. Even if I think you're an irredeemable jackass, I'll still help you. I need to believe there's something good left in you."
Endeavor shook himself out of the memory.
He looked down at his hand and realized that he had destroyed the cell phone he had been using. He angrily burned the thing to a crisp.
What did Hisashi know about him?! What did Hisashi know about how long he suffered and toiled to be number one, only to realize that he would never be able to reach his goal due to some smiling idiot? What did Hisashi know about all he had done to make sure that at least his progeny would be number one? What did Hisashi know about how much he needed to prove that he wasn't useless, that he wasn't just the first loser?
Endeavor angrily stood up and started running in the direction of his agency building. He needed to get his replacement phone. Afterwards, he really needed a drink.
A scarred young man lit blue flames on his arms as he walked towards the abandoned building he called home.
He was sick and tired of being alone. He was sick and tired of scavenging for food and stealing money from corpses. He was tired of the looks that people gave him as he walked down the street.
Something in the store window next to him suddenly caught his eye.
"Closed for Christmas." He mumbled to himself.
It was Christmas, the time of year where people got together to connect with family and friends, yet here he was.
He probably looked like an odd site to anyone who looked out their windows.
A young man with scars all over his body walking alone through the snow.
He snorted.
It almost sounded like the opening to a book he once read in his family's library. If there was one thing he missed, it was that.
He continued walking.
But he couldn't go back there.
Back to Natsuo distrustful gaze and wary looks. Back to Fuyumi's strained smiles and half-hearted attempts to interact with him. Back to Shoto's eyes, that looked more and more like their fathers every day. Back to his father's temper tantrums and constant complaints about how he wasn't as good as Shoto.
No matter what he did to try and gain something akin to approval from his shithead of a father, he always belittled him and compared him to his little miniature version.
"Shoto doesn't even need to use his flames to be better than you."
"Shoto is already nearly done with the first stage of his training, while you are only close to completing the second stage with a ten year advantage."
"Shoto…."
"Shoto…."
"Shoto…."
He slammed his fist into a nearby wall as hard as he could.
It wasn't fair! He fought everyday for some form of approval from his shithead of a father. He trained hard and long to be even half the fighter he was. He learned how to make blue flames with minimal consequences.
But it was always overshadowed by the miniature Endeavor.
He hated Shoto for his constant crying and weak work ethic. He hated Shoto for how easily he seemed to surpass him at every turn. He hated Shoto for how he refused to use their father's quirk out of a grudge; a quirk that many people would kill for.
Most of all though, he hated Shoto for how much he was becoming like Endeavor. Every day he looked at Shoto's face and saw more of their father. He should have done the world a favor and ended the little bastard before he grew up to become just like Endeavor. A wife-beating, abusive, fake hero just like all the others.
The man walked towards his home, blasting a flame into one of the windows of the building next to him out of spite.
Kai waited with Joi and Hari for his eggnog and cookies.
He normally refrained from such…. impure activities as social interaction, but he was tired and his two acquantancies had convinced him to try it at least once.
He sighed.
He should've turned the two of them into blood splatter on the wall, but they seemed so eager to enjoy this with him that he didn't have the heart.
Suddenly he saw the door in front of him fly off its hinges and land at his feet.
That was problematic. He had just fixed that door two weeks ago.
"Overhole!" An annoyingly familiar voice shouted.
Joi and Hari got up to fight, but he just waved for the two of them two sit down, Reluctantly, they agreed.
Through that door frame walked a muscular man with long light-colored hair in a plague doctor's mask. He would recognize this man anywhere. One of his strongest and most unruly subordinates, Rappa.
"It's Christmas Overhole, you know what that means!"
He sighed in annoyance.
Did he really have to go through this same crappy routine every Christmas?
Suddenly, a barrier formed in front of Rappa, stopping his advance.
"You shall go no farther Rappa, Lord Overhaul is clearly busy right now. Please stop referring to him as Overhole by the way, it is very insulting."
Tengai! Maybe he could stop this shitshow before it begins.
Rappa punched against Tengai's barrier to no avail.
"Face it Rappa, not even your strength can pierce my barrier. You should give up so we can avoid violence."
Rappa chuckled.
"Your barrier is quite impressive, Tengai. I give up."
There was no way Tengai could be stupid enough to believe that.
"Thank you Rappa for the compliment. I'm glad that we could reach an agreement peacefully."
The barrier disappeared to reveal Tengai smiling behind Rappa.
Within 1 second flat Rappa had punched him clear through the wall.
"Now that he's taken care of, it's time for our annual Christmas fight. I hope you're ready to die this time."
Hari started aiming his quirk next to him before Kai waved him off and stood up with an annoyed sigh.
"Whatever, let's get this over with."
The two men faced each other with locked gazes.
Neither of them wanted to make the first move.
After a minute of nothing happening, Kai almost didn't react in time to the sudden attack Rappa made.
Almost.
Like every other attempt Rappa had made, it ended with him being blown to bits and reassembled.
Rappa was on the ground breathing hard from the pain he had just felt.
"I trust that this fulfills our agreement for this year."
Rappa calmed his breathing and nodded his head before standing up.
"You win Overhole. Next year though, you'll have no chance."
"Whatever."
Rappa looked over at Jai and Hari, who were currently eating and drinking the eggnog and cookies they had ordered earlier,
"Oh, are you guys eating eggnog and cookies?"
Kai looked back at him apprehensively.
"Yes, and why should you care."
"Can I join?"
"..."
"..."
"...You know what, I don't care."
Rappa devoured the eggnog and cookies in front of him with glee, ignoring the apprehensive looks from Hari and Jai next to him.
He didn't give a shit what they thought of him, he was only in this fucking organization to beat Overhole. Otherwise, he would've fought everyone here to see if any of them gave him a halfway decent fight.
Overhole cleared his throat next to him.
He looked up in annoyance at having to stop devouring treats.
Overhole pointed at the hole in the wall Tengai had gone through.
Oh, yeah. He had forgotten about that.
He got up to grab his partner and take him to the medic, before pausing. He just remembered something else he had to do.
Grabbing a few cookies and a glass of eggnog, he walked over to the kitchen.
Opening a cabinet door, he found a nice thermos for the eggnog and a container for the cookies. After placing the treats in their respective containers, he walked out the door towards where Tengai was located.
When he found his partner, he felt a small amount of surprise at just how badly he had injured him.
Chuckling at his unconscious partner's pain, he lifted him onto his left shoulder like a bag of rice and carried towards the med bay.
Thinking back on his fight, he was disappointed in himself for failing to beat Overhole. He had been so close! A literal few more milliseconds and he would've been dead!
Sighing as he walked into the med bay, he threw Tengai onto one of the beds and walked off towards his destination.
After looking around for a while, he finally found the room number he was looking for and opened the door.
Inside was a dreary dark room with a dirty mat and blanket in it. On top of the dirty mat and blanket was a small, scared silver-haired girl, that didn't look like she could be much older than 6.
He walked over to the scared child and kneeled down in front of her.
He took off his mask with his left hand and put the container and thermos down in front of him.
Her eyes shined in recognition.
"Big brother Rappa! You came back!"
He made a gesture for her to be quiet and checked the door behind him to make sure no one was there.
"I did, and I brought you some treats. Now hurry and eat them, we don't have much time."
The young girl quickly devoured the treats he had offered her, before handing the container and thermos back to him.
He smiled down sadly at her.
"Eri, big brother Rappa has to leave now. I promise I'll be back to see you as soon as I can."
Eri looked down in sadness.
"Oh…."
His heart ached to see her like that, but he had to leave.
After quickly looking her over to make sure there was no evidence of the treats he gave her, Rappa quickly left the room and shut the door behind him. He turned to leave, before freezing when he saw a random Yakuza grunt staring at him.
He started tensing up for a fight before the grunt turned his eyes and motioned for him to pass on.
"Just go, I won't tell anyone."
Rappa gave him a nod of appreciation, before quickly dashing back to his quarters.
He sighed as he fell face-first on his bed.
That had been too close.
Stain looked down at the drunk hero leaving the party.
How disgusting. A hero should be a paragon of virtue. They should never do something like drinking in full view of the public. Stain thought to himself.
Slinking down from his spot on the rooftop, he followed the hero as he walked into a nearby alley.
False heroes like this one used holidays as an excuse to take a day off. To have fun.
Heroes shouldn't have fun. Heroes should only focus on saving civilians and defeating villains. To do anything else was an insult to the very idea of being a hero.
He threw a knife forward, landing a blow in the fake hero's back. He quickly ran over and stomped on the man's back.
Those who claimed to be true heroes, but who were nothing more than fakers, were the plague upon hero society. They deserved to be purged!
He looked down at the fallen fake hero, who was begging for his life with every ounce of his being.
How pathetic. He lacked conviction in the face of death, forgoing all morals to beg for his life.
Stain ended his miserable existence with a single sword slash through the neck.
With the blood spilled from this fake hero, and the many who would come afterward, he would wipe the world clean. Once that was complete, only the truly virtuous heroes would remain.
He leapt up from the corpse to the nearby fire escape, before using it to leap to the top of the building.
The night was young, his blade was hungry, and there still existed fake heroes to kill.
He watched over the entrance for the next fake hero to walk out.
Kurogiri watched his young charge play with his new game console.
He had been playing the thing for almost 6 hours now. He really should get him to stop, but his charge looked so happy. So content. So unlike when he first came here.
"Shigaraki, come on. It's time to wake up."
He watched the young boy get up slowly, avoiding eye contact the entire time.
The boy walked with him into the kitchen and sat down at the bar.
"What would you like to eat, young master?"
The boy looked away.
"W-whatever you want Kurogiri."
He looked over at the young boy and let out a sigh, before walking over to him and wrapping his arms around him.
The boy froze up and surprise, struggling a small amount against his firm grip.
"Young mas-, no, Tomura I need you to calm down. I'm really trying to help you. I know this is new and scary for you, but all I want to do is turn you into the person you want to be."
The boy shook in his grip, refusing to respond.
Kurogiri hesitantly let go of the child.
"How about let's start off with presents? I'm sure you're excited to see yours."
The boy remained quiet and walked over to their tree.
Kurogiri looked under the tree and picked up his gift for Shigaraki.
He turned to the boy and kneeled on the ground in front of him.
"Here you go. I hope you like it."
The boy hesitantly reached his glove-covered hands and took the present from Kurogiri.
He looked down at in curiosity, before tearing the wrapper off to reveal a simple brown box.
The boy opened the box to reveal a pair of black gloves with designs of Sensei and himself on it. Like all of Shigaraki's training gloves, they lack a pointer finger and a ring finger.
The boy looked down in wonder at the pair of gloves.
"H-how did you get this?"
Kurogiri felt happiness radiate through him.
"I got them custom made from someone Sensei knows. Do you like them?"
The boy hesitated.
"I-I love them. Thank you."
Kurogiri hugged the boy again.
This time he didn't struggle.
Kurogiri happily sighed at the memory.
It had been nice to gain some level of trust from the boy.
He looked over at Shigaraki, who was still playing his game.
He should probably stop him now.
Shigaraki smiled as he played his new game.
Life had never been better over the past couple weeks.
First, he had made a new friend in Izuku Midoriya. The two of them had been hesitant of each other at first, but it had disappeared for the most part after their first few meetings.
Then, Kurogiri had started letting him do more of the work during Sensei's missions, even allowing him to do some things on his own without much convincing. It felt nice to know that Kurogiri trusted him to take more care of himself during missions.
Finally, Sensei had been more active and talkative than normal. Allowing him to visit much more frequently than normal. Sometimes, he even got to spend time with him up to once a week!
He was happier than he had been in a very long time.
"Young master, you need to stop playing for now. You've been playing for nearly 6 hours."
Shigaraki stopped and looked at the clock in surprise.
It had felt far shorter than 6 hours. Time really did fly when you were having fun
"Ok Kurogiri, I'll get off now."
Shigaraki turned off his console and looked towards the clock again.
There was something he was forgetting…
Shit! He had forgotten to make those cookies he wanted to give to Sensei.
He rushed into the kitchen and looked around for the batter he had made earlier, only to discover the cookies had already been and packaged into containers.
"I noticed that you had forgotten to put them in the oven and baked them for you." Kurogiri commented from behind him.
He turned around and gave Kurogiri a hug.
"Thank Kurogiri, you're a real lifesaver."
Kurogiri was visibly surprised at the hug but wrapped his arms around Shigaraki anyway.
He would never say no to a hug from his charge.
All for One looked down at the photo in his palm.
He knew the image by heart because he had looked at it every Christmas for nearly 200 years.
It was a picture of him and his brother opening gifts on Christmas day.
His brother looked so happy, so full of life, and so sure that the world was a good place.
It was the complete opposite of how he looked at the end of his life.
He sighed and set the photo down.
He would be lying if he didn't say he missed those days.
He missed the feeling of comforting his brother and holding him close. He missed the feeling of wiping his brother's tears off his face as he cried. He missed the feeling of tranquility as he and his brother laid on the couch together after playing a game.
He missed it more than he could possibly express into words.
But those days were gone. His brother had died almost two hundred years ago from his own hands, leaving him all alone in the world.
Sometimes he wondered how different things would've been if he listened to the final words his brother spoke to him. The words pleading with him to stop going down the path of villainy, before it was too late.
But it was far too late now. He had killed so many people and ordered the deaths of many more. He had destroyed entire nations in his single-minded lust for power. He was barely more than a corpse at this point, waiting for the embrace of death to overcome him.
He needed to stay a little bit longer though. He needed to make sure that Shigaraki could be the leader he needed to be first. A leader who could change the world for the better.
He looked down at the container of cookies his successor had made for him.
Hesitantly, he opened it and ate the top one.
It was surprisingly good.
He raised the cookie in the air, similar to how a man would raise a toast.
"Merry Christmas little brother."