Note: the story was written for a holiday gift exchange hosted on NWA Discord server and originally published on AO3 (December 20th 2020). Beta by Sasanoo.

Basically Izuku loving his dad- I mean All Might.

Enjoy! :)

Holidays were always a rather complicated matter for Izuku. On one hand, he could spend more time with his parents, and there was a more family dominated atmosphere in general— TV aired movies about love, family and friendship, and people showed more kindness. It was a period for buying gifts and it was just… more heartwarming all around.

On the other — Christmas time was something that Izuku also associated with loss, in a way. When he was little, he used to always visit his aunt, father's sister, and spend the time with the large group of uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, as well as his cousins. He used to get piles of presents and play with a bunch of children his age or a little older, while his parents and the rest of the adults talked at the grand table about Extraordinarily Important Adult Matters.

And then his parents divorced. Izuku didn't go to his father's family anymore and spent Christmas only with his mother, although happy memories of the days passed by still lived in his heart. Dad had called a few times at first, but stopped doing that soon enough. Izuku ceased to associate holidays with something special after that.

This period came down to spending time with his mom and exchanging gifts. The former Izuku did that all the time before he moved to live at U.A., and buying presents without occasion wasn't anything unusual either— because gift-giving was the love language of the both of them.

They'd given up on festive food as well. Or at least, they did in the traditional sense. The first Christmas after the divorce was finalized — which wasn't long after— his mom had been so saddened by the change, that she couldn't force herself to bustle in the kitchen and prepare the delicacies for (only) two people. So they'd ordered a pizza, and then ate ice cream, and when it all wasn't enough, they rummaged through the kitchen cupboards to find a box of cupcake mix. In the end, after not finding any, they searched the internet for recipes for microwave cake. At that time, they were filled with a weird indifference to commonly accepted traditions, drunk with some silly feeling of impunity(?) since nobody would punish them for not adhering to customs anyway. Fueled by blusterous, rebellious, maybe even petty euphoria caused by the thought that— that just a year ago, they were spending Christmas very merrily! At large family gatherings, eating a lot of different special dishes! But now? This was even better. Now they weren't bound by any conventions! They could do whatever they wanted!

The next Christmas, a bit over a year after the divorce, not really knowing what to do, they repeated the process. And one year later, they did it again. And again. And thus eating pizza, ice cream, and microwave cake while watching feel-good Christmas movies and exchanging gifts (which they did quite often anyway) became their own little Christmas tradition.

But now he had people he could spend this time with, again. People he could show his appreciation to by buying gifts. Some were harder to find the perfect present for than others though.

His mom was obviously the easiest to find a gift for. There was a big magnetic board hung on the kitchen's wall in their apartment: dotted with colorful post-it notes with the names of things one of them liked and would like to have on it, amongst shopping lists and reminders. Sometimes, there'd be a photo — printed from the internet or cut out of an advertising newsletter — pinned down by a hero-figurine magnet. Izuku knew that he could always buy her something from the board if he wasn't able to find anything unique for her.

His closest friends weren't exactly troublesome either. He had already ordered the gifts for Asu— Tsu, and Todoroki online. A thick, fluffy blanket in frog-themed print perfect for cold wintery days for the former, and a figurine of some girl from the boy's favourite manga for the latter. Apparently Todoroki called the heroine his "waifu", which no one believed when Sero — shocked by the revelation himself — had shared it with the rest of the class. Izuku confirmed it later to be true though.

He hadn't found anything good enough for Uraraka or Iida yet, but he had an idea for what he wanted to present them — a book about physics, which was the current object of interest of his study-loving friend, and something space-related for the girl. Probably a soft sweatshirt with NASA logo on it.

He intended to buy something little for all of his classmates as well, and most of them weren't a challenge. A good part of those presents were already bought online as well.

Only one person was truly problematic to find a gift for, and it was All Might. Izuku didn't have words to describe how much All Might meant to him — both before and after they met.

He's always admired the man. The hero was a source of inspiration for Izuku, and of motivation to act when he was swarmed with doubts. He couldn't count how much time he spent staring at All Might posters and figurines, imagining his idol advising him or delivering fortifying speeches. How many times he lamented his problems out loud, the only audience being his merch because he didn't want to burden his mom with his troubles. Izuku didn't have a dad anymore, but All Might's imaginary company made a good enough substitute for what he'd lost; it filled the void caused by his father's absence, even if just a little. Of course, Izuku had never met the real hero until the eventful day in his third year of middle school, but it didn't mean his idol didn't guide and support him before that. Even if it was never direct, All Might had definitely had a clearer and more solid presence in Izuku's life than his biological father.

And exactly for all this — for all the support provided from the very beginning, for inspiration, for hope, for a chance to make his dreams come true, for the trust and passing him the quirk, for being his mentor, for every one of the incredibly important lessons he was given, for patience, for faith, for—for so many crucial things — Izuku wanted to show his gratitude and thank All Might. He had to try, even if he was doomed to fail from the start. Even if the mission was simply impossible to complete.

That's why Izuku couldn't settle for just any random gift. It had to be unique, thoughtful. From his heart.

It was also the reason why, even though most of the presents were already bought and heading to him in the courier's van, he accompanied his friends to the shopping centre for some last-minute gift hunting. Iida, Uraraka, Todoroki, Tsu and him had to wade through a sea of people (or more like an ocean of people, given how many more there were than usual because of the fast-approaching holidays), who came here with the same goal as them.

They wandered the busy hallways, inspected shop windows, and examined all the shelves. Colorful price tags were informing about discounts and although they indeed made a few lucrative deals, Izuku still wasn't able to find an ideal present for All Might. Nothing was good or worthwhile enough.

He observed, with some dose of bitterness and envy, as Iida chose a collector's edition T-shirt of one of the players from the national volleyball team, as well as an anthology of mystery novels for his brother; as Uraraka debated which bedding to buy as a practical joint gift for both of her parents; as Tsu carefully studied the racks full of toys for her younger siblings; as Todoroki — puzzled, hesitant, and lost — eyed a collective edition of some soap opera on Blu-ray.

He knew both bitterness and envy were rather ugly emotions which he shouldn't feel right now, but he couldn't stop them. Some part of him was frustrated his friends would finish their gift hunting in the span of the next dozen or so minutes, even though he still hadn't found what he came here for.

His gaze fell for a brief moment on a collection of classic comedies on Blu-ray. He took the box in his hands, turned it to see the description on the back, and read carefully the list of movies. All of them were favourites of All Might, some of which he'd shared with Nighteye, while others he'd mentioned in passing at interviews. None of the films were new: all were timeless productions that his idol used to watch before he became a hero, when he still had the time for a private life.

Izuku glanced at the price and for half a second he considered buying it, but then—

Then he remembered the first time his parents told him they were getting a divorce. How hopeful he was that it could be fixed, and how quickly the reality grinded those hopes into dust. He remembered the first night after the divorce trial ended and he lost his dad. When he'd stared at his All Might poster only illuminated by the light of the street lamps shining through the window, until it was four in the morning, trying to reassure himself that although his father left him and his mom, his favourite hero won't ever do that.

He remembered the days when he would sit on his bed bundled like a burrito in his blanket (an All Might blanket, of course), confiding in an All Might figurine with his problems he didn't want to burden anyone else with. He'd complained about Kacchan being mean, as well as his other classmates, and teachers who didn't do anything about it. He pressed the button on the figurine's chest and listened to "It's alright now! Why? Because I am here!", "Hahaha! You will be a great hero!", "The real courage is facing adversities with a smile!", "Don't give up!" and "Together we can achieve everything, my dear sidekick!", until the batteries had to be replaced.

He remembered playing hero with his mom and dad, and it wasn't the same anymore with only one parent. He remembered putting his All Might plushie on the chair, to somehow try to fill the empty space his father had left behind him.

He remembered waking up from nightmares — or more like a nightmare, one and the same, every time — where something would happen to his mom and he'd be left utterly alone; the knowledge he'd just live with his father not diminishing his fears. He'd press his face into an All Might pillow and think about his idol's debut video, on which he was probably responsible for half of all the views.

He remembered all the drawings he did in his childhood, which weren't really that hard, as he only really focused on three main topics — on him with his mom, on him with All Might, and on him with both of them. He remembered the boxes full of albums with the pictures that his mother moved to the basement because she refused to throw them away, despite the fact there wasn't enough space in their apartment to store them all.

He remembered daydreaming about All Might saving him (and he did in the end!), about helping his idol in battles against villains and about the hero appreciating him and making him his sidekick.

Izuku couldn't present All Might with a simple movie collection. What a dumb idea.

He puffed with frustration and put the box back on the shelf with more force than necessary, then left the shop to join his friends. They moved to another store and split up, Izuku and Todoroki entering some gadget shop while Iida, Uraraka and Tsu went to the neighbouring… Izuku honestly wasn't sure what they sold there.

"Why are you so pissed?" his friend asked him, when they were strolling among the shelves.

Izuku sighed, resigned.

"It's just… I have a problem with one of the gifts."

Todoroki raised his eyebrow, signalling for Izuku to continue.

"You know… During the Sports Festival, you asked me if All Might is my dad. He's not, but… he's still really important to me. It's kinda hard to explain. My parents divorced. My father left when I was six or seven… I always admired All Might so after this I think I started even harder to seek inspiration from him. And motivation. Maybe some sort of support as well, kind of? I wanted to thank him for all of this. Sorry, it's stupid."

"No, it's not."

Izuku glanced at his friend.

"You know how my old man used to be," Todoroki continued, "and what happened with my mom. I was isolated from my siblings. But I wanted to become a hero like All Might." The unspoken 'and definitely not like Endeavor' hung heavy in the air, "I used to think about him quite often as well. And now he's your mentor because of your similar quirks, isn't he? It's not surprising you want to thank him."

Izuku relaxed a bit; some of the tension left his shoulders, he straightened his back and exhaled deeply.

"But I don't know how," Izuku confessed. "It has to be big."

Todoroki paused for a moment. "My guess is buy something expensive, then? Iida told me he wants to buy Uraraka a telescope. I'm sure she'll be happy. You could certainly find something fitting for All Might."

"It's not exactly what I meant. It's not supposed to be expensive, it should be… meaningful."

A shadow of a sad smile appeared on Todoroki's face.

"I'm not the best person to go to for advice then. I don't really have experience buying gifts."

"No! Thanks anyway," Izuku quickly responded, "I needed to ramble."

"Of course."

They left the alleway and headed to the exit when Todoroki spoke again:

"Asui told me the best method of finding gifts is to choose something that the person you're trying to make happy wants or needs, or something that symbolizes what you want them to know."

"It's a broad spectrum to choose from," Izuku nodded, considering it. "I asked All Might what he would like to get, but he said he doesn't want anything. I pressed him and he explained he doesn't know what he wants. I'm not sure what could be useful for him either. All the things I can think of are small. I saw he's running out of space in his notebook, but I can't just give him a journal. As of what I want him to know, well… The things that explicitly say 'thank you' are usually cards, it's definitely not enou—" Izuku stopped his mumbling mid-word once his eyes met the shopping window they were passing by.

Something he wanted All Might to know…

He got drowned by an avalanche of memories once again — not tangible, but still constant presence of his idol, confiding in him with his problems and listening to prerecorded and looped assurances that everything would be alright, the encouragement he derived from watching the hero's debut video, the tones of pictures he'd drawn…

The enlightenment hit him like a bag of bricks.

He jogged into the store, found the right shelf, and snatched his target.

It's a gift for All Might. You will have to give it to him, some helpful part of his brain reminded him and heat has hit Izuku's cheeks.

Could he really do it? It was embarrassing. And the new present would be even simpler than all the other ones that he considered and rejected before! But…

But it carried this element of 'from-the-heartness' that Izuku strived to include.

Trying hard to not to think about all the potential scenarios in which he'd humiliated himself with (even if he knew All Might wouldn't be mean no matter what), he went to the cash register. Ten minutes later, with his haul safely hidden in an elegant gift bag, he moved to the food court with his friends. They wanted to snack on something before they went back to the dorms.

"Did you find what you were looking for, Deku?" Uraraka asked, munching on her little bag of fries.

"I think so? I'm still not sure but I don't think I can find anything better. I thought long and hard about it and I probably started overthinking it at one point…"

"Overthinking is a bit of your speciality, ribbit. "

Izuku snorted.

"It kinda is, isn't it?"

"And it's often very useful!"

"Thanks, Iida."

When they got back to the dorms, their classmates were working hard on making the place pretty and radiating Christmas' atmosphere, all of them bustling to decorate the common room and in general preparing for the party. Izuku could smell the tempting scents of the meals cooked by Kacchan and Satou from the kitchen. He noticed Yaoyorozu, Aoyama and Jirou decorating the Christmas tree, while Sero, Kirishima, and Kaminari bedecked the walls, railings and furniture with shiny trinkets and chains. A moment later Kouda, Ojiro and Shinsou appeared with boxes full of more tinsel. Shouji and Tokoyami, with the assistance of Dark Shadow, were busy moving the couches to make more space for everyone to celebrate.

What caught Izuku's attention as well was Ashido standing in the corner. She was stealing glances at the others as if she was on the lookout, and behind her there was a superficially hidden pile of clothes. Clothes which undoubtedly belonged to Hagakure. The girl was nowhere to be seen, although this in itself wasn't surprising given both her quirk and the location of her attire. Izuku was fairly sure though, that she was the one responsible for the shaking of one of the cupboards and the levitating mistletoe right above it, that stopped moving once it touched the ceiling.

"Welcome back! Any successes shopping?" Kirishima greeted them, shooting a blinding smile their way.

"Yep, it was great!" Uraraka replied. "Do you guys need any help?"

"Yeah, we could use it, to be honest…"

"I will join you in a moment! I have to… take care of something quickly," Izuku told them.

"Sure thing. The work isn't going anywhere," Kaminari teased in turn.

Izuku ran to his room to leave the rest of his shopping trophies there. He made sure there isn't a price tag on his present for All Might, then put it back into the gift bag. Full of nerves, he leaped down the stairs and to the dorm entrance doors.

The last thing he heard before he left was:

"Hey, Yaomomo! What if you made Santa costumes for all of us?"

Cold wind whipped at his cheeks, but he was warm with excitement as endorphins circulated in his veins at the thought that this Christmas, for the first time in ten years or so, he would be spending the holidays with a big group of people he cared about, and who cared about him in return as well.

When Izuku knocked on the doors of the teachers' dorm, All Might was the one to greet him.

"Young Midoriya! Did something happen, my boy?"

"N-no!" he flustered, "everything's alright. I just wanted to talk to you."

All Might raised his eyebrow, but with a short "Of course!" he let Izuku in and together they went to the man's room.

"What did you want to talk about? It isn't about One For All, is it?"

"It isn't," Izuku squeaked. His suddenly tight throat didn't let him utter anything more.

He noticed right at this moment how slick with his sweat the strings of the gift bag were (they weren't like that before, were they?) and that the rumble he'd been hearing ever since entering the building wasn't the job of Present Mic nor any other inhabitant. Just his own heart rattling in his chest.

What if this was a mistake? Why the hell did he even buy this thing to begin with? Oh God, he was going to make an idiot out of himself, he knew it.

"So… What's the matter?" All Might asked again with a patient smile.

Izuku couldn't even look at his mentor. He bore his eyes into the bookcase filled with albums full of kids' drawings that All Might got from his little fans through all his career duration.

Izuku wondered if somewhere among all the pictures there was one made by him.

"Well… It's Christmas." Great start, Izuku. Just cut to the chase. "So I got you something."

No turning back now.

"I already told you you didn't have to, my boy! I'm still very grateful and I would be lying if I said I didn't have anything for you myself."

The ever-present understanding glimmer in All Might's eyes and the warm smile was what pushed Izuku to make the final step.

He extended his hands forward, holding the bag, but he still wasn't able to look at his idol. At his mentor. At the one that for him was like a…

The weight left Izuku's palms once All Might took the present. The next few seconds were filled with rustling of paper, and then Izuku heard a gasp.

For him, he was like a…

The silence didn't last even a minute, but for Izuku it felt like an eternity. Once he dared to glance upwards, he saw tears glistening in the man's eyes.

"A-all Might?"

He was like a…

"'Number One Dad' ?" All Might read the inscription on the mug out loud and his voice was disbelieving and weirdly choked. He was holding the cup in his hands tightly but with so much care and caution, as if he was afraid that the slightest of movements could shatter it into pieces.

Izuku wasn't sure if he should explain himself or not, and if yes, then how exactly to get down to it.

'You're in my life physically for a bit over a year and a half now, but you were there for me for a lot longer '?

'You were always an inspiration for me '?

'It's thanks to you that I'm here now and I don't even mean One For All '?

'For me you're like a father that I've never had '?

Izuku didn't even have the chance to think about this, because All Might's voice, still subdued, rang in the air once again:

"Come here, my boy." And the man pulled Izuku into his bony arms with a smile.

Izuku hugged back, shy at first, but when All Might patted his head, he clasped his mentor as hard as he could, minding the other's injuries.

One day he will tell All Might in detail how much he means to Izuku, but the gift was probably a good start.

But for now, in his idol's embrace, with the prospect of the class Christmas party and a visit home during the weekend, Izuku never felt happier.