Sorry about being erratic with updates. I am completely swamped by college work and will be for the next 3 weeks or so. Until then, this will be the last update. Please at least enjoy this.

…

It was Christmas morning. Izuku stirred and rolled over in his bed, reaching over to check his phone. Its white brightness blinded him for a moment. He had three text messages.

Mom: Good morning Izuku and Merry Christmas! I love you.

All Might: Merry Christmas my boy!

And the last was from an unknown number.

This is Kodai. Thank you.

He swallowed, his heart skipping a beat. He knew she was referring to how he'd carried her to bed last night. Part of him had thought she wouldn't remember, but that was silly.

He quickly texted a merry Christmas back to both his mother and All Might, and then prepared himself to text Yui for the first time.

Izuku: It was no problem at all. Merry Christmas, Kodai.

He saved her as a contact into his phone and then got up.

Having interacted with both Kodai and All Might so early in the morning got him thinking. This feeling he had around her…surely it was a dangerous distraction. He'd never heard of All Might getting into any romantic relationships. I ought to ask him. After last night, this had grown into too big of a problem to ignore.

Kodai deserves better, anyway. He was hoping All Might would tell him to let it go so he could have a solid excuse for doing so.

Nevertheless, there was something else that bothered him. Kodai last night…she'd said she missed her mom. Was her mom dead? Or perhaps they were estranged? It occurred to Izuku that he STILL had no idea why Kodai was so quiet. He had partially just assumed it was in her innate nature, but maybe something had caused it? I know for a FACT that I wasn't always inherently so anxious…part of it is Kacchan's doing.

The hero in Izuku wanted to help her. But, he knew when it came to girls…that was not always the best mentality to have. Kodai was a strong person in her own right. She hadn't mentioned what she'd said in her text, so maybe she didn't remember that part? Was it something she didn't want him to know about? Izuku wanted to respect her privacy as well.

Even still, if she's feeling lonely on Christmas…

As he went down the steps into the common room, it occurred to him that he'd already sort of missed her birthday, even though she'd seemed really happy with what had actually gone down (the whole notebook fiasco). I should get her a Christmas present. He was no longer concerned with what kind of statement that might make. He just wanted to make her happy again, like she'd been about the notebook…

But Izuku had not bought her a Christmas present. He'd bought presents for Ojiro and Ashido, as part of the secret santa that Class A had done, but nothing else. And it was literally Christmas day…far too late to go buy something.

Kodai likes tokusatsu. Can't go out and buy anything Ultraman related now, stores will be closed or cleared out. Can't order it online, won't get here in time. Come on, Izuku, think…what else has she said she likes?

Something buried deep in his memory seemed to surface. He wasn't even sure if it was something she had told him directly. Floating in the collective consciousness? Something he'd overheard?

Yui liked those Russian nesting dolls. Something about the way they changed in size and how that was similar to her Quirk. Where had he heard that from?

It connected. Yaoyorozu. Yaoyorozu makes those all the time. She disguised one as a flashbang while fighting me in an exercise one time and blinded me for like, five hours. Well, that made things simple, didn't it?

He arrived downstairs, where Yaoyorozu herself was getting some breakfast along with Tsu and Tokoyami.

"Sato said he'd be getting back around 11…" Momo looked up from her phone. "Oh, good morning Midoriya."

"Morning," Tokoyami echoed.

Tsu blinked at him. "How'd it go last night?"

Izuku feigned innocence. "How did what go?"

Tsu deadpanned. "You know. You taking Kodai-chan back to her dorm."

"I took her back to her dorm. She's safe, if that's your meaning."

"You know that it isn't."

Izuku leaned over in the fridge and pulled out a jug of orange juice. "It's too early for me to deal with this. Plus it's Christmas." He did not necessarily want to say that he had literally just been thinking about her. Need to find a better time to ask Yaoyorozu about…that.

…

Itsuka Kendo yawned as she re-entered the Class B dorm. Setsuna was at her side almost immediately. "Welcome back, Pres. We're still waiting on a few more people so we can start the gift exchange."

It was early afternoon now, and most of the students who had spent Christmas morning with their families had come back to the UA campus. Scanning the common room, Itsuka could indeed see that she was one of the last to arrive. "Did you have a good holiday, Setsuna?"

The lizard girl shrugged. "My folks are irritating. My little brothers got everything they wanted, the spoiled brats."

Over in the kitchen area, Kaibara and Kuroiro were accusing each other of eating an entire bag of chips while Shishida tried to break them up. Honenuki and Tsunotori were sitting in front of the TV. Monoma was lurking over by the fake tree. It was a busy scene.

Yui and Reiko were sitting on the couch nearby, so Itsuka walked over to them. Reiko nodded at her. "Merry Christmas."

"Right back atcha. You have a good holiday?"

Reiko blinked mysteriously. "Spellbinding," she replied.

Itsuka made a face at that, and then looked at Yui. "What did you do, Yui? The boys didn't give you a hard time while you were here by yourself, did they?"

Yui shook her head. "I spent the evening watching a movie with Class A."

Setsuna whistled. "All of them?"

Another head shake. "Only six."

"Was one of them Midoriya?" Setsuna grinned.

The dark-haired girl flushed an abrupt red. It was easily the most emotion Itsuka had ever seen from her. Setsuna cackled.

"Goodness," Itsuka commented. "I knew…" She looked around briefly to see if anyone was in earshot. No one really was besides Reiko, who already knew all about this. Nevertheless, Itsuka leaned in and lowered her voice. "I knew you and him had something going on, but that face…Yui, tell us the truth. Did something happen?"

Reiko was grinning, indicating that Yui had already told her whatever it was. "C'mon…" Setsuna begged. "Tell us!"

Yui bit her lip.

"She cuddled with him," Reiko blurted, eyes glinting mischievously. "Then he bridal carried her back to her room."

Setsuna laughed really loudly, and this time when Yui blushed, Itsuka blushed with her. "That's…" she hissed. "Yui!"

Yui was glaring daggers at Reiko, but then turned to look at Itsuka with a panicked expression. "It wasn't like that," she claimed. "He dropped me off because I was sleepy. He left after that."

"Damn girl!" Setsuna cried out. "You didn't tell him to stay? He totally would have!"

"I…I don't fully know…what I said to him…" She was still blushing. "I did get his phone number though."

"Hehe, you go-getter, you. You got him something for Christmas, right?" Setsuna asked.

Itsuka scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous…"

But Yui actually nodded. "I've been…working on something for him since he gave me the notebook."

"Oh my god, Yui," Itsuka put her hand to her face. "I didn't realize it was this bad."

"What's got your massive hands up your ass, Class Pres?" Setsuna complained. "Yui's getting her man!"

"Yeah, but she shouldn't expect anything in return…"

"That seems harsh," Reiko commented. "Do you think little of Midoriya for some reason, Kendo?"

"Uhh…" Suddenly, all three girls were looking at her with interest. "No, not really…"

Setsuna's eyes narrowed. "You're hiding something."

"No, it's not…" Itsuka held up her hands and sighed. "It's not even really anything to hide. I'm just looking out for Yui, that's all. Don't take this the wrong way, but this is the most I've ever seen you openly care about anything and I don't want you to get hurt."

Yui tilted her head. "Why…would I get hurt?"

"Well, if you are going off these assumptions based on Midoriya's behavior…well, when I went to go help Class A pick up their Christmas tree, I saw him with Toru Hagakure."

"The invisible chick?" Setsuna blurted, confused.

"Yeah. I guess they were kinda flirting? I'm not sure? That's what it seemed like to me from the outside, but Midoriya may not even be aware. That's the thing with him."

Yui's face twitched. "Hagakure…" she half-whispered.

"Again, I'm not saying it was this scandalous thing that I oversaw," Itsuka reiterated. "Just…that's kind of his way, you know? Acting anxious around girls, complimenting them a lot without really realizing what he's doing…"

"No," said Reiko.

Both Setsuna and Itsuka looked at her. "Hm?"

"No, I agree with you to an extent, but it's different with Yui. It's not his normal form of…nervous. You two haven't seen him around her as much. I think it's different."

"There you have it," Setsuna said. "Nothing to worry about, Pres. Don't be such a stick in the mud."

"Look, you asked! You asked if I was hiding something, so I explained what I was thinking about. I saw Midoriya with Hagakure there, that's all."

"I'm gonna go upstairs for a bit," Yui said frankly, and stood up and walked away.

Reiko sighed. Setsuna punched Itsuka lightly in the arm. "Look what you did."

Itsuka glared daggers at her. "It's you who's always coaxing the conversation into these sorts of topics."

"And I let out information she didn't want more widely known," Reiko said with a sigh, standing up too. "We're all at fault. We should just let Yui handle this on her own."

"I did get a bit loud, I suppose…" Setsuna murmured, then looked around the busy room, at the boys doing various activities. "Doesn't seem like anyone was paying attention, though."

Itsuka saw a flash of blonde out of the corner of her eye, and whirled to meet it, but then it was gone.

"Huh, that's weird," Reiko commented. "I could have sworn Monoma was standing by the Christmas tree a minute ago."

…

It was now afternoon, and Class A was doing their gift exchange. They did the same thing they'd done last year, where everyone was assigned two others to give presents to. That way everyone received at least two gifts.

Mina Ashido was sitting on the couch as the room filled with chaos. Bakugo could be heard shouting about whatever Mineta had just given him. Sero was feverishly tearing wrapping paper off of something nearby. Next to Mina, Toru was sitting, awaiting her first gift.

Midoriya walked up to them, and Toru seemed to sit up really straight all of a sudden, but then he handed a wrapped box to Mina.

"Oooh!" Mina cooed, taking it from him happily. "I'm one of your people? Thanks, Midori!"

"I hope you like it," Midoriya told her honestly, smiling back. Mina was comfortable in the knowledge that he did not have a crush on her. He acted way too put-together around her. It was sort of a bummer, but hey, couldn't win 'em all.

As she unwrapped, Midoriya briefly turned to acknowledge Toru. "M-merry Christmas, Hagakure. Oh, you didn't g-get anything yet?"

Toru sighed. "No, unfortunately."

"Well, I'm sure your two people will g-get to you soon! There's no way Iida m-missed anyone on the randomizer, so…"

He stutters when talking to Toru a little bit. Mina wondered what that meant, but she interrupted herself by opening the box.

"Oooh!" She lifted the shirt up. It was for one of her old favorite movies, Blade Runner. It depicted a cyberpunk scene. "This is amazing, Midori!" She hugged it to herself. "A girl could fall in love, y'know."

"Hehe, don't say that…" Midoriya chuckled nervously.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mina noticed a subtle change in Toru's body language. Something was going on, but she was too distracted to get to the bottom of it.

Midoriya moved off and was suddenly replaced by Yaoyorozu. "Hey there, ladies," she said in a somewhat exhausted voice.

"Yaomomo! You look tired, queen. Must be tough carrying this party on your shoulders." Mina scooted over on the couch and patted it. "Wanna sit down?"

"No, I am just here to give Hagakure her present." Momo handed the invisible girl a present bag.

"Oh…" Toru said, somewhat distantly. "Thank you, Yaoyorozu."

Momo raised an eyebrow at her demeanor. "Everything alright, Hagakure?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She threw the cover paper out of the bag, somewhat aggressively, and then pulled out a pair of those new customizable sneakers that Mina had seen in commercials. "Oh! Are these the ones you can paint on and stuff?"

"Yes," Momo nodded excitedly. "And you can remove the paint and redo it with any design you want! The material is actually quite interesting, it…" She stopped herself, deadpanning. "Never mind, I know you don't care."

"It's fine! Thanks a lot!" Toru chirped.

"Hey, before you go," Mina said, grabbing Momo's arm. "I think I need your help with something."

Yaoyorozu raised her eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"Midoriya and Kodai."

Mina half-expected Momo to wilt in exasperation, but instead, a strange twinkle entered her eye. "You know, you really should have been here last night, Ashido-san."

"Huh?! WHat? What happened? Oh my god, tell me." Mina leaned all the way forward.

"Kodai came over here to watch a movie with us. She sat in the loveseat with Midoriya and they cuddled for like, two hours straight. Then he took her back to her room."

Mina almost screamed in surprise. She was totally unaware of Toru starting to shake uncontrollably next to her. "Are you serious?!" she hissed. "That's…"

"They didn't do anything, if that's what you're wondering," Momo reassured.

Mina pouted. "Damn."

"But, if you were planning on…giving them another push…" Momo smirked. "Last night Tsu was the one who made him escort her back. I think she and Uraraka are working to set them up as well."

"Well, I'll be. We're a Jirou short of having the whole gang trying to get Midoriya laid."

Momo shook her head. "Don't be silly, Ashido-san. I don't think that is what either of them are looking for."

"Nevertheless…I want to do something. Today. Yaomomo, I know you said you don't make fake plants, but…"

She raised her eyebrows. "I believe I know exactly what you're about to say. And…I think this time, I'll make an exception."

"Woot woot!" Mina pumped her fist in the air. "Oh, this is gonna be great. Toru, you in on this?"

She turned to look at her best friend as Yaoyorozu walked off. Toru was…sitting very still.

"Erm," the invisible girl squeaked. "I think I'm going to go back to my room…for a while. Whoever else got me a present, just tell them to leave it outside my door."

Mina's face fell as Toru got up and left. Wha…? That was seriously weird.

One of the things Mina loved about Toru was how expressive she was. It never felt like she was invisible. But now for the first time…it felt like she was using her Quirk as a mask. To hide. Hide from Mina.

And doesn't that just suck…

…

A little while later, Izuku was sitting next to Uraraka and Iida. He was getting somewhat anxious and he didn't even know why. At least Ashido and Ojiro seemed to like their presents…

"Iida," Uraraka prodded, with a sideglance at Izuku. "Don't you think we should link up with Class B? Their party will be over soon, too."

"Perhaps." Iida stroked his chin. "I would not want to interrupt them when we're done, however…perhaps Yaoyorozu could touch base with Kendo?"

"I could indeed," said Momo, walking up to them. "Were you talking about getting together with the other class?"

"Yes," Uraraka nodded eagerly. Then, both girls looked at Izuku again. He squirmed under their gazes. What's this all about?

Iida continued on, oblivious. "Let Kendo know that we're wrapping up here and we all could come together and…hang out."

"I will do that," Momo told him, and turned to leave.

"Wait, Yaoyorozu," Izuku blurted suddenly. "Could I ask you for a favor?"

She blinked. "Alright."

He led her away from his other friends, to a quieter corner of her room. "It's, erm…" Izuku bit his lip. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't ask this of you, it's really dumb…"

"No, no, please go on," Momo said, grabbing his wrist. "Is this about Kodai?"

He wilted. "You catch onto things too quickly."

"You want to get her something for Christmas but haven't bought anything. You want me to make her something."

"What the heck? You're terrifying, Yaoyorozu."

She grinned at him. "You're just more predictable than you wish you were, I think. That's what it means to be a pining young man."

"And how would you know about that," Izuku grumbled. "Your romance novels?"

"That's!" She pouted. "Jirou has really blown that trait of mine out of proportion when talking to others. Do you want my help or not?"

His eyes twinkled. "You'll do it? I know you never like to create anything for people in situations like this…"

"Yes, but this is different. I know exactly what it's for, and support it entirely. Plus, you're you, Midoriya."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you know…you're not Kaminari or Mineta or…"

Izuku deadpanned at her. "Wow, that's really not fair at all."

"Life isn't fair." Momo huffed and blew one of her bangs off her face. "Anyway, what would you like me to make?"

"Those Russian nesting dolls you always make…I know she likes those…"

Momo raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Midoriya, you should have a better plan than that. I almost don't want to even help you if it's that simple."

"Well, I don't want to overburden you with anything…"

"Yes, but nesting dolls?! I know she likes them, but it feels like you're just picking something you know I can make really easily and washing your hands of it!"

"No! Ideally I would have gotten her something tokusatsu related but I can't exactly have you make a DVD of a TV series, I'm pretty sure that's impossible even for you…"

"Midoriya," Momo said, in a somewhat lower, more serious voice. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes, of course."

"How did you feel when carrying Kodai back to her room? Or even before, when you were cuddling?"

"Umm, really anxious?"

"Yes, but beyond that."

"Uh…" Izuku swallowed. The feelings of the previous night had been fading over the course of the day in potency, but not going away completely. "It feels…like a lot. Like, painful, almost? Yeah, really painful. Hard to even think about it without feeling sick. But also…it's sweet, at the same time. So sweet it's dangerous. Like those two feelings push and pull and mix with each other until I feel like I'm gonna throw up, to be honest."

Momo sniffled.

Izuku looked up in alarm. "Yaoyorozu, are you crying?! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…!"

"You're in love, Midoriya," Yaoyorozu told him, smiling and wiping her eye.

"I! Wha…? What makes you say that?!"

"My cheesy romance novels," she told him, crossing her arms and grinning.

Izuku huffed.

"I know what to make for Kodai, Midoriya. You said she liked tokusatsu? I happen to know a little bit about the genre myself…"

…

Yui was surrounded by chatting, laughing people, but she was only looking for one.

She held his notebook tight to her chest, her heart beating like crazy beneath it. Turned her head left. Right. There were some of the people she'd been with last night; Kirishima and Ojiro and Tokoyami. More of her own classmates over by the sofa.

The light was low, with only the Christmas lights set up around the room bathing the room in a multicolored sullen glow. Outside it was dark; the sun had set.

There he was. It was like the waters had parted to spot him. He was over in the kitchen area, with hardly anyone nearby…and he was looking around in a sort of lost way, too.

Yui felt a smile grow on her face without her permission, and walked up behind him. She tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Were you perhaps looking for me?"

"Gah!" He jumped. "K-K-Kodai! Good to s-see you…"

She bit her lip. He was stuttering again. With a confidence she didn't much feel on the inside, she held his notebook out to him. "It is good to see you too, Midoriya," she breathed. "Merry Christmas."

He took the book back from her and managed a shaky, playful smile. "I'm pretty s-sure it's not fair play on Christmas to give someone a gift that already b-belonged to them."

She raised an eyebrow. "Then why don't you look inside?"

His eyes widened. He, intrinsically, opened the notebook right to her page. How many times has he done that for it to become second nature? Heat rushed to her cheeks.

There was a tiny piece of green cloth sitting on the page. He lifted it up gingerly, turning it over in his fingers. "Erm, Kodai? I'm sorry, but I don't understa-"

She pressed her fingers together, and grew the gift back to its original size. It became a green scarf. "That was just to make it able to hide inside the book," she said. Her heart was racing something fierce now as she watched him. He was gaping at the scarf in surprise. "I knit it myself. Do…do you like it?" She wished she hadn't sounded so vulnerable there.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head, smiling. "I love it, Kodai. It's wonderful. You're so talented."

Her heart skipped several beats. He was so cute in that moment. She rocked back and forth on her toes, unable to calm herself down. "I…I'm not that great…"

"Nonsense." He put the scarf on and gazed at her expectantly. "How does it look?"

She stared for a moment, then laughed a little in her breathy, musical kind of way. "A bit funny, since you are only wearing a t-shirt."

Izuku pouted. "Right, I get it." He unwound the scarf, but shared in her giggling for a moment. "Kodai, I…"

"It's okay," she interrupted. "You didn't have to get me anything. It was only just my birthday, after all…"

"But I did actually get you something." He reached into the pocket of his baggy sweatpants, and pulled out…

Yui's eyes widened. It was a nesting doll, but no ordinary nesting doll. It was…painted to look like Ultraman. A custom Ultraman nesting doll. Where on Earth had he found this? It was the combination of two of her favorite things, and her heart was stirring…

"Sorry I didn't wrap it or anything…" Midoriya muttered, handing it to her.

Gingerly, Yui opened the doll to see the smaller one inside. It was another Ultraman, but of a different design, one of the earlier ones. She opened that one and found another from even earlier. And it went like that all the way down.

"This…this is so cool…" she breathed. Tears were swimming in her eyes as she closed the dolls back. "It's the best thing I've ever gotten. Thank you, Midoriya."

"Oh no, Kodai, I'm sorry I didn't meantomakeyoucryI'msorry…"

"It's because I'm happy, silly," she interrupted him. She looked up and met his eyes. For the first time in a long time, she was openly smiling and not feeling self-conscious about it. Her mask had fully dropped before him. Because no one else is watching. He feels like the one I can be myself around.

Suddenly, she noticed something above Midoriya's head, and her eyes widened in shock. Her smile faded just a tad.

There was mistletoe hanging above him.

Panic flooded Yui's brain. Mistletoe? Surely fake, and put there by someone as a joke…but now that the thought had hijacked her, she knew she did want to kiss him. She wanted to do that a lot.

Her eyes threatened to dart down to his lips. This would be a good moment to do it, no? A happy moment between them, somewhat intimate, no one else around…but it was a hard thing, taking that step forward and just doing it. She'd never kissed anyone before. TV made it look really easy, but now she was terrified. What if he reacted poorly? It could set them back on a ton of social progress they'd both made. And that would just suck.

No, the moment had passed. It was too late. She'd spent too long thinking about it.

"Shall we go enjoy the party?" Midoriya was asking her.

"Yes, alright." Yui returned to her neutral face. He seemed to understand that it was for the others. He is beginning to get me, I think. She suspected she might have said something about her family last night to him. But he hadn't asked about it, and he hadn't seemed to notice the mistletoe, either.

So she followed him back to the others. One of her arms cradled the doll, but…she reached down with the other hand, and slipped it in his. Surely he'd be okay with this. We cuddled last night, and even close friends hold hands sometimes. She'd used to do it with Saya, after all…

Midoriya stiffened for a moment, but didn't look at her, and relaxed fairly quickly. His hand did not leave hers, as they rejoined the party.