Izuku returned home to Musutafu to visit his mother, leaving Bookmarked in the care of Ai and Daisuke. He didn't tell Katsuki until he was already there; not that he had to tell Katsuki. But they had been texting since he came to see him that morning a couple weeks ago.

Most times, it was nothing at all. But even the nothings sent a flutter through his stomach. The flirting had been a recent development and started with a little push from Katsuki. Or maybe it was Izuku who had started it when he saw a photo on a news website of Katsuki's gear basically torn off him as he battled a monstrous villain in what appeared to be a pile of rubble. He was concerned mainly. But Katsuki looked good .

He sent him a photo and asked if he was okay.

Katsuki responded with a shirtless selfie, in bed. He looked groggy, but Izuku could see him smiling. It was a dark photo, he could hardly see his chest but his mind filled in the blanks. Izuku sent a photo of a Dynamight t-shirt he had bought because firstly , the design was cool, secondly, he wanted to be nearer to Katsuki even if he had asked to be friends.

Why aren't you wearing it, nerd? Katsuki asked.

Izuku slipped it on and it covered his boxers, he looked like he was wearing a dress. He sent the photo, cutting most of his head from the photo and showing more of his body. Katsuki took a few minutes to respond, sending Izuku insane.

I think you're my favourite fan. - K

Izuku stared at the words and blushed, giddy from being admired by him.

Has anyone ever told you your hair when it's curly looks like broccoli? - K

Yea, but it doesn't happen so much anymore - I. Izuku ran his fingers through his curls, they were shorter so had less body to them. He liked his hair so he didn't mind.

I swear, I'm not like, trying to get in your pants or anything by saying this, but I absolutely love broccoli. - K. The attached photo was of some bright green broccoli, his apartment blurry behind it, with something suspicious and white covering it.

What's it covered in? - I. His face warm from Katsuki's very bad attempt at not flirting. It looked like thick come if he was being honest, but he wasn't going to say that when they were trying, and succeeding at being friends. Slight flirting aside, everyone flirted with their friends, right?

Cheese sauce, perve. - K. Izuku could hear Katsuki's laughter like he was next to him. A lightbulb went on in his head, a perfect time to tease him, to dip his toe and just, ripple their friendship pond a bit.

If that's not flirting, I'm scared to know what is. - I . He was daring him to flirt now. As if they weren't already.

There was a dreadful four minutes of dead silence as he waited impatiently, scared he had scared Katsuki away or confused him by being so wishy washy about their boundaries, even if it was a small infraction. Then his screen lit up to say there was an attachment.

He opened it and winking at him, with a piece of cheese covered broccoli in his mouth, was a loose tank top dressed Katsuki, his chest muscles on display as well as his biceps. It was a fucking thirst trap if Izuku had ever seen one. He groaned and let the phone drop to his chest as his cock twitched to attention, interested.

He didn't delete it like he would with every other photo to keep his phone neat.

Now he was in his old bedroom, grinning at his phone as he attached a photo of the little futon he had when they were children that Katsuki would sleep on when he stayed over. His phone rang in his hand and he blinked at Kacchan's name next to a bomb emoji as it lit up his screen. He answered.

"Hey, Kacchan?" Izuku asked, still unsure. He had never called before.

"Are ya back home?" Katsuki's voice sounded mildly excited. "You coulda told me." He sounded playful, Izuku knew not to take it as a jab.

"I needed some time away from the store. Spend Christmas with mom." Izuku said into the receiver. "Sorry I didn't say."

"It's alright nerd, just means I can't come in and see ya this week." Katsuki's voice softened.

"You were going to come see me?" Izuku felt his heart sink. He hadn't seen Katsuki for weeks, the last time being when he had come to apologise. And give him the Christmas present.

"Yea, before I take Ma to Tokyo." Katsuki was smiling, Izuku could hear it. There was a beat of silence. "Hey," Izuku hummed to indicate he was listening. "Did you open your present yet?"

"I…" Izuku groaned. "I was waiting for Christmas." He heard Katsuki laugh softly.

"Up to you, but I think I did pretty good." Izuku imagined him shrugging even if he was laying in bed. Izuku settled into his own, the little futon still open on the floor.

"Are you in bed, Kacchan?" Izuku asked softly. Katsuki hummed. "Then, you should go to sleep."

"Do you want to hang up?" Katsuki's voice was warm, it had begun to rumble from heaviness.

"I don't want you to be tired tomorrow." Izuku turned and sighed at the familiarity of his bed, inhaling its familiar but musty scent.

"I won't be, nerd." Katsuki shifted on the other end, the phone making noises against fabric. And they fell asleep with the phones sliding away from their ears, neither aware of who dozed off first, but both trying their hardest to be the last.

It was December the 19th. Ai, Daisuke, and Iida came to Musutafu at Izuku's invitation. Everyone sat around the table, the tiny Christmas feast already eaten; Izuku watched them all laughing in front of him and he was filled with immeasurable warmth. He was happy. He had found a family.

"Izuku, honey." His mother's voice called him from his mind. He blinked at the four pairs of eyes. "Your friends are asking if you opened that present of yours."

"Present?" Izuku looked at the tree with the small pile underneath. "We're saving them for Christmas." His friends erupted and Izuku's eyes opened wide.

"The one Katsuki got you!" Iida gestured with his hand.

"Didn't you say it was an early Christmas present?" Ai's face looked incredulous.

"How do you have so much self control ?" Daisuke dragged a hand across his face.

"Wha-? You want me to open just his present, right now?" Izuku looked at them all in turn. They each made various duh noises and Izuku groaned. "I don't know guys, what if its something stupid and he's not as amazing a person as everyone's building up in their heads." Izuku knew he was amazing, but Katsuki had never been a giving type. He didn't want his friends judging him because Katsuki never had any practice. He knew he would love it either way, though.

Iida was shoving it into his hand and Izuku wondered at what point did he get up and retrieve it.

"Open it." Iida said, firmly, but kindly. "We want to see!"

"You guys suck," Izuku stared at the package. It was small, maybe almost like a cube. It reminded him of a ring box, except it was too tall to be that. And a ring would be…much. It felt like everyone was holding their breath. Izuku peeled at the wrapping, and sure enough, a little black box was inside. He took the top off. He was stunned for a second.

"Well?" Ai had come around, "Tell us! What is i- popcorn ?" Ai's eyes narrowed. "It's such a tiny amount, why would anyone send-"

Their date in the carnival. The popcorn he insisted on getting him. The way he had delighted in knowing Izuku absolutely loved it. Their time in the ferris wheel. Izuku was blushing at the memory of it, being held by him as they flew through the sky in the wake of explosions like fireworks. Katsuki was a firework.

"What's in the popcorn?" Daisuke was somehow crowded behind him too. "I think I see a card, or something-"

Izuku finally saw it too. Poking out of the fluffy white stale popcorn, was a card in the colours of traditional Christmas. He took it out carefully, then put the box on the table. It was a card.

Sound died as he opened it.

Young Midoriya. I am told that you are my biggest fan. Would you like to have dinner? Young Bakugou has told me much about you.
- Yagi Toshinori

"Who's Yagi Toshinori?" Daisuke said, squinting at the card over Izuku's shoulder.

"He got you a date with All Might?" Iida sounded awed. His mother was staring at him affectionately. If he knew his mother well enough, she was simply enjoying how his friends interacted with him and exactly how happy they all made him.

"It's not a date, you dummy." Ai shoved Iida and they laughed.

"He's your idol, right?" Daisuke prodded Izuku's shoulder with one finger. "I see you wearing All Might stuff all the time."

"You didn't even know who he was two seconds ago!" Ai laughed. Daisuke scoffed and shoved her shoulder. They were all returning to their seats now.

"I didn't know who Yagi Toshinori was." Daisuke corrected her. "Everyone's heard of All Might! And we work with Izuku, how would I not know who All Might was when there are some days he wouldn't shut up about the man."

Izuku listened to them bickering, all the while his vision focused on the card, and the popcorn. And just exactly how much thought had gone into it. He remembered their little date, he paid attention. He also was doing as he said when he used his store to stage a minor kissing scandal by giving him his meeting with his greatest idol. And Katsuki talked about him ? To the All Might?

He took his phone out to text him a photo of the opened box, his hand holding the card in the foreground. He hesitated over the send button, then he didn't press it.

"So Izuku, what's the deal with you two." Ai, Daisuke, and Iida were all looking at him. At some point his mother had started gathering the dishes and disappeared. He could hear her in the kitchen.

"Kacchan and I?" Izuku blushed, locked his phone and put it away. "We're friends."

"But, I saw you two-" Ai narrowed her eyes as she thought back to months ago.

"It was a one time thing." Izuku shook his head. "Then his career ranking almost tanked because of me-"

"Wait a second." Iida held a hand up. Izuku opened his mouth like a mute fish but shut it again when Iida's hand went higher up. "When we went on that one blind date that Ai so kindly set up for us, you couldn't shut up about him. And I mean couldn't . You'd smell something like maple or smoke from the restaurant and your eyes just got a little…unfocused."

"Iida!" Izuku lurched across the table to shut him up but Iida swatted him away easily.

"You're being an idiot. You should go out with him. You guys should date. Heaven knows he deserves some good in his life after everything he's been through." Iida shook his head in disbelief.

"Wait, you guys like Kacchan?" Izuku looked between them all. "Weren't you all scared of him or thought he was an asshole or something?"

"He is an asshole, but he makes you happy. And he's less of an asshole when he's looking at your mopey ass." Ai smiled.

"So what? I just go find him now and-" Izuku closed his eyes to think, but they flew open when Ai and Daisuke clapped excitedly. They grabbed each other's hands and bounced, grins splitting their faces in two.

"Grand gesture!" Ai and Daisuke giggled. Izuku shook his head furiously.

"No!" Izuku stood and was about to go into the kitchen when he bumped into his mother who had been watching the entire thing.

"Izuku, dear." She looked at him sometimes like he was her hero and his heart would swell so big in his chest, he couldn't breathe. She touched his face and smiled. "You should go get him."

"But the dishes, and the clean up-" Izuku deflected.

"It's nice to have something to do." She smiled brightly. "And the best present you can give me this Christmas is your happiness." She hugged him and he inhaled the comforting scent of her, the familiarity of the spring soap they used to wash their clothes mixed with the smells of food from her time in the kitchen, the strawberry and vanilla aromas that he could taste by just thinking about it.

"I love you, son." She looked up at him with her arms around his torso and then looked around him to his friends. "Now would you all kindly go get my boy the love of his life?"

"Mom!" Izuku groaned and there was nowhere for him to hide his blush but in her hair. He looked at them, all grinning idiots, and shrugged. "Tomorrow?"

Iida shook his head and tapped his watch. "It's about five pm, if we leave now, we can catch the press conference that's scheduled to happen at seven." He sounded way too excited. Izuku went cold and flushed all over.

"Today?" His voice sounded small. His mother pushed him gently as everyone got to their feet. It was a blur, them all thanking her with hugs and kisses for having them over and feeding them. He grabbed his things and they were off.

They played the radio so loud, it drowned out the sound of the wind. He yelled the lyrics of their favourite songs as his nerves melted into excitement. He didn't want to be friends. He couldn't be anymore. He wanted Katsuki. He loved him.

There were still a handful of people trickling into the building and, wild as they were, they all galloped past them and literally skated across the carpet to a halt at the reception desk. It was five minutes after seven. They could hear the crowd murmuring, someone trying to get their attention. They quieted as Iida gestured to Izuku and to the hall. She was nodding, her eyes flickering with recognition when she properly looked at Izuku. She nodded and Izuku was being yanked along.

They had enough sense to sidle through a crack in the door instead of barge in. There was a crowd at the back, Izuku blended in with them as best he could. He saw Katsuki walk onto the stage, a small smile on his face. He looked calm. He looked like a hero.

"Thank you all for coming. I know it must be a bit difficult, being here leading up to Christmas. Everyone would like to be home with their families." The crowd murmured, some chuckled softly. Katsuki smiled and scratched his neck, the other hand in his pocket. "I want to thank everyone who has stood by my side, my mentor All Might, for pushing me and being one of the reasons I have come so far."

Izuku felt his heart sinking, he didn't like how resigned Katsuki sounded. But it also didn't sound like he was giving up , it just sounded like he was walking away. The crowd was silent, attentive. "With my, hah, to put politely, rocky road to the top," the crowd laughed appreciatively, "I wanted to tell everyone as plainly, openly and as truthfully as I can, that I am taking a break from Hero Work."

The crowd erupted, reporters' hands flew up, some people stood up, the flashing cameras blinded Izuku for a second. But all Izuku could hear was the ringing in his ears.