"Fuckin' half-n-half bastard! I'll kill you!"

Kaylee's eyes opened at the sleepy growl. Katsuki was sprawled on his back, arms and legs taking up most of the already small bed, his face scrunched up in an angry scowl. She shivered. He'd managed to ball most of the covers around his wrists like they were his gauntlets.

Yawning, she sat up, glancing at the time on the clock. They still had hours before it was time to get up. She grabbed another blanket from the foot of the bed and wrapped it around her. It had been two nights since she had what she now referred to as "the dream" and ever since then, Katsuki had stayed with her. She thought it would be weird, awkward even, sharing a bed with someone–especially him–but no. It felt comfortable, as though they'd done it for ages.

"Shut up you shitty nerd! Stop telling me what to do!"

She giggled. She leaned against the wall, tucking her knees to her chest, content to watch Katsuki sleep. He was an active dreamer, and while Kaylee knew she moved around a lot in bed–it was nothing compared to him. He might still tease her about punching him in the nose that first night they'd fallen asleep together, but in the past two evenings, she had woken up several times at night to the sweet smoky odor of his quirk. Thankfully, she'd managed to rouse him enough to prevent a fire, and she expected the flame-retardant bedsheets she'd ordered online to come sometime in the next day or so, just in case.

Dark eyes roamed appreciatively over the black tank top with orange and black plaid pajama pants. Muttering incoherently now, he rolled over, somehow disentangling the blanket from his wrists at the same time.

"Victory is mine! Now die!"

As if in celebration, Katsuki pulled a pillow closer to him, punching it to get comfortable again. Kaylee couldn't help but sigh as she took in the bare arm with the well defined muscles. Her fingers itched to caress the exposed area, and since he was very much asleep, she indulged herself. His skin was so soft and warm. Kaylee recalled Mitsuki telling her that her quirk secreted out glycerine, which was an incredible moisturizer and Katsuki had inherited that from her.

It was rare that she was able to just observe him at complete peace like this, and although it probably was a little creepy, Kaylee hoarded up the moment as though it would be her last. Katsuki was always in motion, never stopping, and although Kaylee had long thought him to be gorgeous, seeing him at complete rest like this–God, he was utterly magnificent! The tense lines in his face were eased by slumber, and she noted the criminally long eyelashes, how full his lips were.

Kaylee frowned when she noticed the edge of an old wound on his back. His strong body was riddled with scars, and her heart ached at the pain he must have suffered. He was barely eighteen years old; he shouldn't have so many. Her fingers drifted over the rough, webbed skin on his back, noting how wide the scar was–the texture making her think it might have been an exit wound. Biting her lip, she tried to remember the one time she saw him shirtless, the day he took her swimming. She was too nervous and shy to fully examine him then.

"Mmm…Kaylee."

Kaylee froze at the slight sound, heart pounding. Did she wake him? He twisted his body, and before she knew it, he grabbed her wrist, pulling her back down next to him with a soft whoosh!

Golden eyelashes parted slightly to reveal a flash of crimson orbs. "Come here, dummy!" and Kaylee felt her breath leave her in shock as he wrapped himself around her, using a powerful thigh to cover hers, preventing her from movement. A large hand immediately went around her waist, fingers almost painfully gripping her as he pulled her even closer.

"Katsuki?" she whispered softly, panic rising. Was he awake? It was hard to tell, especially as her only answer was for him to bury his face in her neck. Kaylee tried to calm herself; it was a little uncomfortable, being held so tightly, preventing her from movement. She bit her lip, concentrating on the rhythm of his heartbeat, the wonderful scent that always clung to him, the warm breath that was at the base of her throat, the fingers splayed at her waist. She shivered when she felt the press of lips just below her ear.

"Don't leave me," he gruffly murmured. He suddenly relaxed against her, his fingers going slack, loosening their sharp grip.

Tears stung her eyes as she counted the months she had left.

"I won't," she whispered back, her throat seizing tight. She prayed it wasn't a lie.

The second time Kaylee woke, a pale gray light shone in through the windows. Katsuki was softly snoring, and he was spread-eagled on his front, while she was squished up against the wall. They needed a bigger bed. Kaylee tried to think of all the students she'd met at UA, wondering if any of them had a quirk that could expand the size of the bed–wasn't there a boy in class 3-B that could do it? Maybe she could figure out who it was and ask them without raising any suspicion.

She squirmed around, trying to get more comfortable without disturbing Katsuki, when she happened to detect movement from outside on the balcony.

A surprised squeal of delight escaped her lips as she threw off the covers, ignoring the sleepy protest from the figure next to her as she slid the door open to the balcony. She never felt the frigid air on her face and bare feet.

It was snowing!

The world was a soft white, with small patches of brown from the trees and ground interspersed throughout. The sky was covered with mottled dark gray clouds in the early pre-dawn light. The crisp sound of snow falling was almost deafening as it landed. Icicles hung off the balcony above her and on the railing. She never got to see much of it from that cabin in Colorado, and certainly never allowed to just watch it fall. Kaylee reached out to gather up the scant trace that piled up on the wooden railing, not noticing how her hand was trembling. She squished it into a small ball, laughing when she threw it out into the world, watching it land with a splat on the pavement below.

Suddenly, a warm blanket was thrown over her, strong arms wrapping it tightly around her quivering body. She instinctively jerked, yelping.

"You idiot! It's fucking freezing out here! What are you doing?" Katsuki's deep voice snarled in her ear as he yanked her back to his front.

"It's snowing! Don't you see it? It's so beautiful!" Another yelp echoed in the stillness as Katsuki lifted her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and carried her inside.

"How long were you standing out there? You fool! You're absolutely frozen!" Katsuki manically threw another blanket over her, furiously rubbing her arms.

"I swear, you've got no fucking sense!" Kaylee shook as he kept bundling more and more blankets on her.

"I'm fine, will you stop shaking me–" Kaylee began.

"You're the one that's shaking–fucking standing out there in a goddamned snow storm for fuck knows how long!" Her eyes widened as his words sunk in. Then it hit her. Holy shit, she was absolutely freezing! Kaylee could barely hear the rest of Katsuki's fussing over the sound of her teeth chattering. She didn't think she was out there that long.

"Fucking barefoot–" he was saying as he jerked a pair of fuzzy warm socks over her feet and started rubbing them.. A tingly feeling followed by warmth suddenly suffused her, and Kaylee almost felt drowsy from the relief.

He shoved a mug of tea in the microwave, nearly breaking the buttons with the force as he pressed start. "This is no fucking way to make tea, and if you ever tell anyone I did this, I'll deny it to my grave!"

A few minutes later and a steaming mug was pressed to her lips, the strong bitter liquid warming her insides. She tried to smile gratefully, but Katsuki was still glowering at her.

He cupped her cheek, and Kaylee leaned into the warmth of his palm. "S–S–Sorry," she said, her voice breaking. "I was s–so excited to s–see the s–snow! I wasn't allowed outside at all when it s–snowed in Colorado and I–"

"I know, damn it!" he snapped, holding the cup to her lips again. "That's another thing I just don't get about you, Kaylee. I don't get how you aren't fucking furious all the time at those bastards! They took so damned much from you, your family, your childhood–goddamn it!" He pulled her to him tightly and pressed his face to hers. Her cheeks felt wet. "I don't understand how you can smile and laugh like you do, not with all that you've been through! You should be somewhere in Manhattan, doing whatever the fuck American high school girls do, instead of freezing your ass off here in Japan trying to get a look at fucking snow! Everytime I think about them and what they did to you, I can barely keep myself from digging up their rancid corpses and just beat the ever-loving shit out of them again!"

He was squeezing her so hard, she could barely get her breath. Kaylee wanted to wrap her arms around him in comfort, but as they were plastered to her sides under about four or five blankets, she nuzzled into his neck instead, making soothing sounds.

"Sorry," he said, pulling back to look at her. His eyes were wet. "I didn't mean to dump all of that on you."

"No, you're right. I do get mad sometimes, but apparently I'm still processing everything that happened. Also, there are times where I have this thought–I don't know how to explain it," she paused while he forced her to drink again. "If I hadn't been kidnapped, if I hadn't gone through all of that–" she waited until she had his full attention, her eyes staring straight into his. "-if I hadn't gone through all of that, then I would have never met you."

Katsuki closed his eyes, pressing his lips to her cheek, her lips. Again, Kaylee felt tears on her face, but wasn't sure if it was from him or her.

"You're something else, you know that?" His voice was hoarse.

She smiled. "You've said that before." Squirming, she tried to free her arms. "I'm much warmer now, can you help me? It's no fun being under all these blankets by myself." He nodded and began unwrapping her.

Minutes later, they were both back in bed, leaning up against the wall facing the window, cuddled under the All Might blanket. The snow was still falling down, large flakes that glittered in the early morning light. Kaylee sighed in contentment. Katsuki's head was on her shoulder, the soft spikes of his hair brushing against her face. Their arms were wrapped tight around each other. Kaylee dozed off, never feeling the tender kiss pressed just below her ear or heard the whispered words that followed.

….

Bakugou didn't know his face could hurt from smiling so much–he'd heard others complain about it, but it wasn't something that had ever happened to him before. Kaylee seemed to do that to him, especially since he started sleeping with her. At first, it was sort of an accident, he just wanted to hold her until she'd fallen asleep, and he had every intention of leaving soon afterwards. Before he knew it, it was morning and he was waking up with his usual morning wood and a glowing Kaylee in his arms. Raging erection aside, he discovered he liked sleeping with her, even if they weren't really doing anything beyond kissing at this stage. Fuck, he wanted to do more, but he had no idea how to ask her if she'd been sexually abused and he'd be damned if he was going to add to her trauma without talking to her first. He just had to stop being a fucking coward about it.

Kaylee was fluttering about with excitement as she waited for him at the bottom of the stairs. He blinked, pausing on the stairs as he took in her clothing. She had on mismatched snow pants, coat, hat and gloves–all in vivid colors of purple, orange, yellow and a lurid pink. On anyone else, the get-up would have looked completely and utterly ridiculous. On Kaylee, it just somehow made sense. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at his beige scarf she'd claimed, the silly thing bouncing around her neck with her movements. Thankfully, he had the foresight to pack his winter clothing when he was home over the summer break. Stupid though it was, because he never fucking cared about anyone's opinion of what he wore, he hoped Kaylee would appreciate how he carefully selected his gear to match the scarf she'd had made for him. Shit, but he'd nearly lost it when he'd realized she'd given him his first bit of hero merchandise, and was quite proud when the extras admired the fine knitting and detailed work and asked where it came from. He'd even found a knitted hat to match that had orange flames on the side and a pom-pom that looked like an explosion on the crown.

"Oh my God, you take forever! Come on!" She grabbed his gloved hand in hers. He frowned, slightly disappointed that she'd not said a word about how he looked. She hauled him through the kitchen and he noted the empty common area. No one was up at this hour.

"Wait, don't you want break–" he stopped when he saw her glare, then grinned when she shoved a breakfast bar in his hand, leading him to the entryway where they both donned snow boots.

The icy blast of air did nothing to budge his smile as Kaylee bounced around outside, trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue, giggling with sheer delight. The only visible skin was her face, and that was glowing as bright as he'd ever seen her. Snow blanketed the ground, a good ten centimeters so far, and he could tell it would be hours before it stopped.

"I'm going to make so many snowmen–one for everyone in the class, and then I'm going to have a snowball fight! What about snowboarding? I saw clips of that on the internet and it looks so fun! Do we have skis? I'd like to try that too!" Kaylee bent down and picked up a handful, tossing it up in the air and watching it fall. She was like a bird, darting around, chattering happily with each step she took. "Can we go sledding? Do we have sleds at UA? Is this enough snow to go sledding in?"

"It should be enough," he told her, raising his voice so he could be heard over the crunching sound of their boots. She was still fluttering in circles around him like a vivid, multicolored butterfly. He was starting to get dizzy trying to keep up with her. "Come on, quit dancing about and we can get a good few trips down the hill–what the hell!?"

Kaylee abruptly stopped dead still and fell face first, landing in the snow with a loud crunch, arms and legs moving wildly up and down.

"Mmm msldled wdldls mslmfls," came the muffled reply.

"What?"

Kaylee raised her head to beam up at him. "I said, I'm making a snow angel!"

Bakugou let out a bark of laughter. "Dummy, you're supposed to fall on your back, not face first!" He demonstrated the proper way to make a snow angel.

Bakugou had no idea how long it took them to make their way to the storage shed where the outdoor sports equipment was kept, but the light was much brighter. The ground was littered about with snow angels because Kaylee was incapable of walking more than a few meters without plopping down in the snow, oftentimes jerking him down with her.

"This is so much fun!" Kaylee squealed as she saw one of the deer that lived on the ground dart into the woods, tufts of snow kicking up behind him. He selected the sled he wanted and pulled her towards the highest hill on the main campus.

"Now, the snow isn't as deep here as up near the dorms, so we may not get the speed that you're hoping for–"

"Can't you use your quirk?"

Bakugou frowned at her. "My hero costume is stored in the classroom vault and I can't generate enough heat in this fucking cold to break a sweat," he told her, waving his gloved fingers to demonstrate. "I'm almost completely quirkless in this."

Her face fell. "Oh. Oh, well, we'll have fun anyway." She hopped on the sled and tucked her knees to her chest, grabbing the ropes. "What do I do?" She looked up at him expectantly, still smiling at him like he hung the fucking sun.

Goddamn it. He jerked off his gloves and began rubbing his palms together to see if he could generate enough heat to do something. He felt a trickle of sweat start to form and hopped in behind her. The sled was small, so he sat her between his legs, his knees helping to hold her in place. "Well, don't say I didn't warn ya–"

The rest of his sentence was lost as he popped off a way more powerful blast from his palms than expected, the sound drowned out by Kaylee's delighted screams. Bakugou could feel the sled temporarily launch into the air as it cannonballed down the hill and he squeezed Kaylee with his knees, making sure she was as secure as possible. His eyes widened as the copse of trees came into view. FUCK!

Recovering quickly before they barrelled into a tree, Bakugou managed to turn at the last minute, another blast from one of his hands diverting the sled.

"THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!" Kaylee roared, her laughter stirring up birds and all manner of animals. Bakugou quickly turned the sled again before they hit a squirrel.

Finally, they skidded to a stop at the base of a fence. Kaylee slid off, still laughing as she stumbled and fell into a conveniently placed snow drift. Heart thundering in his ears, stomach churning, Bakugou could not remember a time in his life where he had lost control of his quirk like that. He should have never been able to generate that type of power in this weather! He stared at his hands in confusion, watching the beads of sweat form and pool together in his palms.

"You tricked me!" Kaylee was rolling around in the snow, laughing delightedly. "You had me thinking you couldn't use your quirk, but that was amazing! We were going so fast!"

"Yeah, I got you." He played it off like no big deal. He pulled her up, beaming with pride when she kissed him quickly and grabbed the sled.

"Can we go again? We've got time, right?"

Kaylee's gleeful cries echoed throughout the forest as Bakugou steered them through the trees for a sixth time that morning. Despite his initial scare, he quickly came to terms with the fact that his explosions were just as powerful as they would be during the hottest summer days. He even mastered doing some really cool moves on the sled, such as reversing direction at the last minute with a well timed pop from one hand while he used his other hand as a rudder in the snow. As the last turn was coming up and they were again headed towards the snow drift at the base of the hill, Bakugou wanted to see if he could try one last move. Tightening his legs around Kaylee, he let off a series of well-timed but powerful eruptions from each palm and suddenly they were flying high into the air.

They landed in a tangle of arms and legs in the snow. Bakugou's chest and throat hurt from laughter. Leaping from the pile of snow, he reached in to help Kaylee up.

"BAKUGOU! KAYLEE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

An irate Iida, followed by a small group of their classmates was headed their way. Kaylee heaved a huge sigh.

"Classes start in fifteen minutes, neither of you are even close to being appropriately dressed–" Iida motioned to his own school uniform–"you're using your quirk outside of the approved grounds, misappropriating school property–" he angrily pointed to the upturned sled.

"Fuck off, Four-eyes, we're headed back!"

"Sorry Bakugou," Icy-Hot said, trotting up to stand beside Iida. "We all heard the screaming and explosions and thought the worst for a few moments. Once we realized what was going on–"

"You really were flying through those woods, Kacchan!" Deku eagerly interjected. His green eyes were bright with excitement as he and Cheeks trotted up to stand next to Iida. "And the way you were darting around each tree–and your explosions! You really managed to master your quirk in this weather!"

"Tch." Bakugou shrugged, although secretly pleased with the praise. "I told you, I've been training way harder than you this year!"

"That is neither here nor there, Bakugou!" Iida managed to find his words again. "I'm going to have to report this infraction to the facul–omph!"

Iida's head snapped back with the force of the blow, his glasses flying off. Bakugou turned to see who threw the snowball, a stunned squeak of surprise escaping his lips.

Lips curled in a serene smile with a pile of snowballs nearly at the height of her knees, stood Kaylee. Feeling everyone's surprised gazes on her, her smile grew even brighter.

"Ka–Kaylee?" Iida sputtered, shaking his head to clear it of the snow.

"My first snowball!" she cheered, still grinning from ear to ear. Bakugou let out a howl of laughter.

Iida's jaw worked silently for a moment, then finally, "I'm going to have to report the both of you for multiple violations of the UA School Code, and you're both going to be late for class!"

"ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS!" Principal Nezu's mousy voice came through on the loudspeakers that were dotted throughout the campus. "ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS! DUE TO THE INCLEMENT WEATHER AND FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF, ALL CLASSES ARE HEREBY CANCELED FOR THE DAY!"

A cheer rose up throughout the area. Bakugou blinked, realizing for the first time that they'd drawn more students to their area.

"PLEASE TAKE THIS TIME TO PLAY AND ENJOY YOURSELVES, AND FROM WHAT I CAN VIEW FROM MY OFFICE WINDOW, IT LOOKS LIKE MANY OF YOU HAVE ALREADY STARTED. KEEP WARM AND HAVE FUN!" A deep chuckle followed.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Four-Eyes?" Kaylee pointed towards the dorms. "Go get changed! I want to have a snowball fight!"

Iida brushed the remaining bits of snow from his tie, picked up his glasses, and grinned. "You're on!"

As the remainder of the group dashed back to the dorms to change, Bakugou noticed Todoroki staring at him, a smug smile curving his lips.

"The fuck are you looking at?" Bakugou snarled, grabbing the sled.

The Icy-Hot bastard nodded to the sled. "Just find it interesting that there are about twenty sleds in the equipment shed and you managed to grab the smallest one, that's all."

Bakugou's eyes narrowed. "I got the sled I needed," he told him, nudging him aside as he marched past him. Nosy, smug bastard.

"Sure you did."

It didn't take long for the entire school to take advantage of the unexpected break and the campus grounds was littered with students. Bakugou had to reassure Kaylee several times that there was enough snow for everyone to enjoy and the small fire pits used as warming stations were no cause for concern–they wouldn't melt the snow. It was still falling steadily, fat, puffy flakes that he was unable to resist brushing from Kaylee's pink, glowing cheeks.

"What?" he asked when he caught her staring at him with a dreamy, dazed look in her eyes.

She flushed sweetly. "You–uh–you look really nice. I meant to tell you earlier, but–" She bit her lip shyly. "The way the snowflakes fall on you–"

"About fuckin' time you noticed." He dipped his head, wanting to give her a kiss and to hell with whomever might see.

"Kaylee! Kaylee!" Eri barreled past Bakugou, throwing herself at Kaylee who squealed as they tumbled back into the snow. Bakugou glared at the interruption but couldn't stay mad for long. It was hard to get angry when Eri had on a snow hat with kitty ears. She was dressed from head to toe in bright red and pink Hello Kitty snow gear.

"I've been looking for you everywhere! Deku said you and Bakugou were still sledding–he offered to take me later, but I want to go now! He and Uraraka were building a Snow Might with some of Class 3-B."

"Eri, I told you to wait for me," Aizawa scolded as he joined them. Bakugou did a double take as he noticed Principal Nezu perched on the teacher's shoulder, the thin scarf wrapped securely around him. He had a steaming mug of tea and seemed as content and cozy as Bakugou had ever seen him.

"Kaylee, how nice to see you again," the mouse said, smiling down at Kaylee and Eri.

"Hi Principal Nezu! Thank you, sir," Kaylee replied. Bakugou could tell she was starting to get nervous; her bright glow flickered for a moment, then dimmed. He looked around to see if anyone else noticed it, but no one reacted.

"I haven't seen you since your arrival. I'm delighted to see how well you are looking!"

"Thank you very much, sir!" Kaylee's raspy voice had a small tremor, but she gave him a tentative smile.

Aizawa was giving Bakugou a look. "Those were some impressive moves out there. Looks like you're now able to use your quirk in this weather, Bakugou. WIthout any support gear."

He shrugged. "Yeah." He glanced away, not wanting to meet his teacher's eyes–who always knew too much. Nezu was talking to Kaylee and Eri, so he turned to the conversation.

"The school owes you and Bakugou here a great debt! I watched you both this morning from my office window and the both of you were having so much fun, it reminded me that it's rare indeed that we make time to play, even in these troubled times."

"Thank you, Kaylee!" Eri shouted happily and hugged her again.

"Oi, what about me?" Bakugou made a face at Eri. She stuck out her tongue, giggling madly. He mock-tackled her, picking her up by her feet and throwing her up in the air. "Come on, Squirt! We're going sledding!" Eri shrieked as he threw her on his shoulders.

"You're going to need a bigger sled," Aizawa called out as they walked past him. Bakugou rolled his eyes as the three of them made their way to the top of the hill, Eri and Kaylee happily chatting away.

Hours later, Bakugou had to drag a protesting Kaylee back in to grab a bite to eat as she was still concerned that the snow would magically disappear in her absence. Of course, the Squirt hadn't left Kaylee's side for most of the morning. Kaylee insisted on cooking lunch, and Bakugou was happy to sit and watch her as she flitted around the kitchen with Eri eagerly watching her every move. She made omurice, and Bakugou was suddenly reminded of the first time he'd made it for her–the evening he first started training her. They'd both come so far since then.

Once Bakugou had gotten Kaylee and Eri to eat slowly and properly and not guzzle everything down like animals, the rest of the day passed much like the morning. A huge no-quirk snowball fight took place, with Shoji and his multiple arms acting like a howitzer. Even the faculty got in on the action, including All Might, who was quickly taken down by a well-aimed snowball from Eri. Deku seemed to think that All Might was pretending, but Bakugou wasn't so sure–he noticed All Might rubbing his chest when no one was looking.

Bakugou gazed over the campus, trying to think of a time where the entire school was out and about and…happy. Maybe it was because of all the shit that had gone down over the previous years, and all the uncertainty still out there beyond the walls of UA, but just for today, everyone was happy. Even Tsuyu, who hated this cold weather just as much as he did, was enjoying herself, although bundled up tightly. His eyes wandered over to Kaylee, who was in the process of building as many snowmen as she could, with Tsuyu and Eri, along with several other students. He grinned when he noticed the snowman that Eri had built with angry eyebrows, red berries for eyes, and two sticks for arms that were capped with large pinecones. A slew of icicles stuck out from the head to resemble his hair.

"Looks just like you," Todoroki strode up next to him.

Bakugou nodded to a snowman with red berry stains on half of the head and face. "Yeah, well they managed to get your facial expressions down to the last detail."

"All finished!" Kaylee shouted in glee. She trotted up to him, beaming. "Did you see what Eri made? Todoroki, did you see yours?"

Icy-Hot smiled at Kaylee. "Yes, very well done."

Bakugou had a sudden idea. "Hey, Icy-Hot! Do you remember our provisional license training where we had to teach those brats a lesson?"

Halfie frowned. "Yeah, why?"

Bakugou smacked the back of his head. "Because I thought now would be a great time to reminisce about our 1st year, dumbass!" He heaved a sigh. "Think you can make that ice slide thing again?"

"We had those projectiles from the kids when I made that, and I don't think I've yet mastered making complex ice structures on my own." He gave a heavy sigh, looking at Kaylee and then Eri, who had now joined them. "But let me try."

They found a clearing nearby where there were no students. "Don't get your hopes up too much," Icy-Hot told Kaylee and Eri. He raised a hand and the ground shuddered with the force of the ice that gushed forth.

"Oh wow." Kaylee stepped back in awe. Bakugou would die before he admitted it, but Todoroki's quirk was impressive. Fuck if the bastard was just trying to be modest because the structure that now stood in front of them was a goddamned work of art. To his credit however, he appeared to be just as awestruck as the rest of them were.

"Oh wow!"

"That's amazing!"

"Todoroki made an ice slide!"

A crowd had gathered.

"Dude, what the hell!? This is fucking awesome!" Kaminari bounded over to them, startling Todoroki who was staring at his right hand as though he'd never seen it before.

The ice formation was perfectly smooth and crystal clear, the late afternoon sunlight casting rainbows on the ground around them. Bakugou thought it rivaled any roller coaster he'd ever seen, with huge spirals, turns and massive hills that ran nearly to the front steps of the main school building.

"Good job," Bakugou patted him on the back.

"Yeah, thanks. Guess I must have picked up more from the old bastard than I thought," Todoroki smirked. Bakugou noticed he still looked somewhat puzzled.

Bakugou felt a tug on his coat. "Can we go?" Eri asked, pointing to the top of the slide.

Kaylee looked over at him and he could see the rainbows reflected in her dark eyes. "I don't think I've ever seen you all use your quirks like this," she said breathlessly. "I mean, other than that first training session, but I was so scared and nervous I didn't get to pay much attention to them and I never got to see them up close! You're all just so incredible!"

He plopped Eri on his shoulders and grabbed Kaylee's hand. "Come on! We're going first!" He held her to him tightly, making sure Eri was also secure and blasted off to the top of the slide, his ears ringing with delighted shrieks.

It was well past dark before they finally called it a day. Eri had been deposited back with Aizawa, who scolded them for the girl's wind-chapped cheeks. As they shedded their winter gear in the entrance way of Alliance Heights, Bakugou suddenly found himself pressed against the wall, Kaylee's arms hugging him tightly.

"Wha–"

Warm lips pressed against his, and Bakugou's eyes rolled back in his head when he felt Kaylee's tongue part his lips. He loved her height; he didn't have to get a cramp in his neck from kissing her the way some of his friends complained about, and holy fuck, the way she pressed herself up against him, her small breasts flat against his chest, her fingers threading through his hair.

She pulled back quickly, her lips and cheeks red. Her dark eyes bored into his, and he noted the glint of tears in hers. "I just wanted to tell you that today was the best day of my entire life." She pulled him to her for another kiss, whispering something that he could barely hear over the roaring heartbeat in his ears.

I love you.

….

Later that evening, Bakugou lay in bed, Kaylee's slender form snuggled against his, deep asleep. She'd been so exhausted she'd nearly fell asleep while brushing her teeth, and he had to redo the buttons on her pajama top. With a slight brush of lips against his, she was snoring before her head hit his shoulder.

He smiled to himself. Although his body was just as tired, his mind kept going over the events of the day, replaying them like a film strip. Kaylee's pale yellow glow softly bathed the room. Bakugou tucked his head to watch her. He gently pressed a hand to her cheek, watching the light slightly flicker, then steady itself like a candle. He looked at his palm, watching the beads of sweat form just as they always did.

His eyes widened. Carefully, wiping his hand on his pajama bottoms as he rose, he left the bed and walked out to the balcony, not even bothering with shoes or a coat over the thin tank he wore. He grabbed a handful of snow, formed it into his palms, and threw it. He stared at his palms. Sweat rose and gathered in the centers, then formed into small fireworks at his command.

A strange thought popped into his head and before he knew it, Bakugou had dashed downstairs and into the common room, throwing the glass doors open wide without any thought. Snow crunched under his bare feet. He shoved his hands into a nearby snow pile, and pulled them back out when the cold got too much to bear.

"You really managed to master your quirk in this weather!" Deku's voice suddenly echoed in his head.

"Looks like you're now able to use your quirk in this weather, Bakugou. WIthout any support gear." Aizawa's off-hand comment followed. No. No matter how much he'd spent the past years training, Bakugou hadn't been able to use his quirk in cold weather, not without his winter suit with the extra heat generating gear that Hatsume designed for him. He couldn't get his body temperature high enough to counteract the icy air on his own.

"I don't think I've ever seen you all use your quirks like this." Kaylee had only seen two training sessions, and one of those she'd been trapped in a building. He never had reason to use his quirk around her much, especially during their own training–he was too busy teaching her fighting styles and self defense.

Suddenly, the evening he took Kaylee to Ground Omega came to mind. It was the first time he'd ever used his quirk around her, and he recalled that he'd blasted them off to the cliff top with much more power than he intended. Earlier today, he'd managed to scare even himself with the power of his explosions. He looked over to the huge ice sculpture that Todoroki made, the massive structure shimmering in the moonlight.

Todoroki couldn't hide his own stunned expression once he'd seen his ice creation. Bakugou would bet his life the halfie hadn't even known he could make something like that.

And in that moment, Bakugou knew what Kaylee's quirk was.

...

A/N: Big confession time: the snow scene in this chapter was actually the first scene that I had in mind when I started getting fic ideas in my head way back in August/September of last year. I loved the winter episodes in season 5, especially Bakugou's scarf and thought the entire school could use a fun day in the snow. Kaylee has long been an original character of mine, and I somehow wanted someone to play off Bakugou's protective side. I originally had planned this as a one-shot snow day story, but knew that wouldn't really work as no one would know anything about Kaylee's backstory and how she and Bakugou got together. Basically what I'm telling you is that I am in the process of writing what's probably going to be 200k fic just so I could write this scene and have it make sense to someone besides myself. And if you're still reading all of this, I hope you're still enjoying this as much as I am. Thank you for reading!