Izuku gets a wakeup call. Aiko comes to terms with herself. Class 1-A celebrates Christmas with a feast and a special guest.

The Work Studies Arc starts next week.

"I AM HERE!"

"I AM HERE!"

"I AM HERE!"

Izuku groaned and let out a low growl as the sound of All Might's boisterous voice, not so much filled his ears, but assaulted them. With his eyes still refusing to open because of how tired he was, he rolled forward, slapping at Mina's nightstand where his phone sat until he finally found his target. Once All Might's voice was silenced, he sighed and slumped back into bed and was about to fall back asleep when he noticed several things. One, the bed was a lot cozier than usual and the heat felt soothing compared to the cool air of the room. Two, the warmth was caused by two bodies pressed against him, which he was about to chalk them up to being Mina and Tooru and was about to snuggle back into Tooru in front of him. That led to discovery three, which was that it wasn't Tooru because she didn't have long hair. This person did. This person had long, indigo hair that was still a tiny bit damp from a shower… which he was now mindlessly running his fingers through.

When did he start doing that?

He mentally scolded himself and was about to move back when he realized he couldn't. He felt a back firmly to his own and could feel the other person's body line mirroring his to the point they were quite literally cheek to cheek. Discovering that he was nude made him flush because he didn't remember taking his pajamas off when they got into Mina's bed. Maybe he'd gotten so used to sleeping commando that it was something he did in his sleep? And knowing it was Mina's bed, while also remembering the events of last night, made his body begin to burn because he was beginning to realize who he was snuggled into. As his mind raced, another problem came to light because as he'd tried to move backwards, a part of him moved forward. That motion caused a chain reaction that saw Aiko instinctively pushing herself backwards, hissing as Izuku was ground against her and quite thoroughly woke her up.

"I-I um… S-Sorry, I didn't mean to," Izuku whispered screamed, trying to make sure the leopardess was the only one he'd accidentally awoken. "Sorry."

Aiko blushed like mad, making it known to Izuku as she rolled her upper body so she could see him with her hand clasped tightly over her mouth. Her motions, which she hadn't thought through, made her eyes flutter and made her have to tighten her grip over her mouth even more. Her chest rose and fell until she regained composure and took a deep breath before making firm eye contact with Izuku and, without a word, reached up and took his left hand into hers and pulled him back towards her. She shivered as his toned, muscular chest laid itself against her spine and his arm wrapped around her as she brought it up so that she cradled their hands together against her chest. Having her this close, he heard her breath shudder and heard her swallow a lump that sounded painful. Her breathing remained shaky until she leaned her head down, kissed the back of his knuckles and breathed in deep which seemed to calm her almost instantly.

"T-There's no need to be sorry," Aiko whispered, trying to assure both of them of her words. "I just um… I fell asleep facing you, just so you know. I wasn't expecting to…"

"To be honest," Izuku said with a soft chuckle, cutting Aiko short. "This is usually how me and the girls end up. I um… Mina says I'm the perfect big spoon. I guess?"

"I would agree with her," the bluenette giggled softly in response.

Her giggling stopped as she looked down at hers and Izuku's hands clasped together and then over her shoulder where she followed the line of his body to where the comforter ended up hiding the rest of them. What it hid was him pressed into her where she would agree a thousand times over that… he just fit right. And that was the issue. She wanted it. Wanted him. And that want was quickly building into a hot, burning need that could only be put out one way. One way that ended with her screaming his name loud enough the gods themselves would hear it, and her probably leaving scratches down his back. She knew she would if the amount of times she'd seen the scratches left by Suri, Tooru, and Mina were anything to go by.

The problem was that she knew that if she didn't do something, and fast, she'd make good on those growing desires. Gods, the idea of him…

"I'm going to get a drink from the kitchen," Aiko declared, swallowing the lump in her throat and scooting herself gently out of Izuku's arms and out of bed. As soon as she stood up and saw Izuku's dark blush, she realized she was giving him a full, perfect view of her and quickly bent down to grab one of Mina's pajama shirts to throw on. There was a part of her that really enjoyed the fact that, if Izuku's eyes and body language were anything to go by; he really liked what he saw of her. There was a bit of pride knowing that she too could have that effect on him just as thoroughly as his current girlfriends. Again; that was part of the problem. "I won't be too long, I promise. Want me to get you anything?"

"N-No," Izuku cleared his throat and shook his head. "No, I'm okay."

"Okay," Aiko nodded and headed for the door, pausing as she heard Izuku lightly call for her before she left.

"See you soon, A-Aiko."

She gave him a warm smile and quickly exited the room with the last thing she saw before the door closed was Izuku's warm, caring smile and his large emerald eyes that said they were worried for her. She groaned as she walked down the hallway towards the stairs, whining a little bit as she pressed her hands against her head in strain.

Dammit. Why'd he have to show he cared and was worried about her. That was part of the problem and fed the internal dilemma she was dealing with.

"Why?" she sighed in distress. "I mean I could've still just been friends with him. I mean, there's other guys here I could want, right? Sero's cute and goofy. Ojirou's pretty easy on the eyes. I get along with Tokoyami pretty well. There's a lot of guys in the business course I could go for or there's the obvious choice and be with someone from the pard. Why, Aiko? Why, out of everyone possible, are you falling for Izuku?"

"What about Izuku?"

Aiko stopped, blinked, looked up and froze in terror as she realized where she was and who was now standing in front of her. The fact that she still had a little bit of blood on her, didn't help to calm the leopard girl down any. The blood just stirred her beast and she had to bite her lip hard to quell the flicker of power that rose through her. And if anything, the yelp that left her mouth when she came face to face with Suri didn't help her case at all because it all but gave the girl away to Suri standing in front of her now.

"My que-! Suri! Oh um, n-nothing! It's nothing really."

Suri stared for a moment and then narrowed her eyes, slowly picking the already shattered facade apart piece by piece. After another moment, she took in a deep breath, closed her eyes and then let it out slowly as she put what she was doing on hold and turned to give her full attention to Aiko.

"Okay, babe," Suri sighed with exasperation. "What's up? You're not usually this skittish."

"I'm just stuck in my head," Aiko finally said after a long moment. She steeled herself, shedding off her nervousness and panic as she put on a good face for her best friend and de facto leader and tried playing it casual. She went to the fridge and rummaged around for a few seconds before coming away with an iced coffee from Suri's personal stockpile. "Got a lot on my mind."

"Wanna talk about it?" Suri offered, her lips curling into a soft smile as she watched her friend for a moment before turning back to the massive pan she was working with.

"N-Not really. I… I just gotta figure out what to do," Aiko swallowed and then turned so that they had their backs to each other.

Not a smart move.

Even worse to think it was a good time to take a drink when Suri's smile grew to a wide grin.

"You simply look at him over your shoulder and say take me, Izuku."

Aiko erupted, spitting her drink across the countertop and sputtering as she fell into a coughing fit. She choked, doubled over against the counter before she turned back to Suri with a rumbling growl and snarled angrily at the girl.

"S-Suri! What the fuck?!"

Suri snickered and bellowed as she doubled over against the opposite counter for opposite reasons. She knew Aiko was angry but that just made it all the more hilarious to her as she made sure to carefully set the knife down as she almost sunk to the floor in laughter.

"This isn't funny!"

"The fuck it isn't."

"Suri, I'm serious… I-"

"Love him?"

Aiko froze, anger draining from her face and her skin paling as she slowly met Suri's eyes. That's when she broke, tears beginning to roll softly down her cheeks as she collapsed to the floor. She couldn't meet Suri's eyes. Instead she stared down at the floor and her hands as her mind picked this as the perfect time to remember the ghost of Izuku's touch. Perfect timing.

"Do I?" Aiko questioned, more herself than anyone.

"Probably," Suri shrugged, giving Aiko the same caring smile as the one she'd gotten a few minutes ago upstairs.

"I know we, us, our kind, whatever, I know we're traditionally non-monogamous. And I know I am… sort of. I've just recently come to terms of being comfortable with all of us girls being more than just friends. Like," Aiko chuckled softly, blinking as she looked up to the ceiling, bringing an arm up to dry her eyes as she mulled through her thoughts. "I'm deeply in love with Tooru. I've had a connection with her for months now. You. I… Yeah, I will gladly admit that I am in love with you, Suri. You've been nothing but amazing to me and the night you gave me the title of Muninn that was…"

"Amazing," Suri chuckled, nodding as she too ran that night back inside her head. And, damn was it a good memory that had a nice dinner, a beach sunset, and a night of lovemaking on top of Suri's stone throne. "It's cute how you still get shy and bashful after that."

"It's what you do to me, okay," Aiko replied defensively, snickering as she shook her head and sighed again. "Mina, Mai and Ryuko, I can say that I love them too. They… make it really hard not to love them. And Yumei, I'm pretty sure I love her more than just a friend too with how kind, sincere, and gorgeous she is."

"So, what's your hang up with Izuku then?" Suri asked, giving Aiko a quizzical look.

"I… Ugh! It's so dumb," Aiko groaned and shook her head. It took another moment before she was able to look Suri in the eyes and collect herself enough to speak clearly. "With you and the girls, it's like… It's like a sisterhood. It feels natural to be with you, and Tooru, and Mina, and Mai, and Yumei, and Ryuko because of the connection we have. You're my sisters."

"Your sexy sisters that you make out with, run around naked with, and fuck."

"Don't make it weird!"

"You're too cute not to tease and you know it."

"Okay. Fine. You win... Anyway, yeah, sexy time sisters, whatever," Aiko smiled, rolling her eyes and shaking her head much to Suri's delight. "But, that's part of the problem."

Aiko waited for Suri to say something, pausing shortly but realized she wasn't going to. No. She had the same expression as Izuku earlier; a soft smile, caring eyes, and just listening to Aiko. Attentive as ever and ready to give assistance.

Gods, both of them were just!

"That. That right there, when he does that, he just… I melt."

"Girl, same," Suri agreed quietly.

"And that's why I'm struggling. Because he's yours, Suri," Aiko finally admitted, arriving at the destination of all her worries after what seemed like a long, exhausting trek. "He's your Hyo-Gu and Alpha. Your king. He's Tooru's. He's Mina's. And… I don't want to interfere so I feel like if I'm falling for him and want him then-"

"Aiko," Suri said firmly, stopping the girl in her tracks and getting a concerned look in return. Suri raised an eyebrow and dipped her head, giving her an incredulous look. "What kind of books do you read the most? And trust me, I know, I've seen your bookshelves."

"I… R-Romance novels."

"What kind?"

"I don't-"

"Answer the question."

"Fine. Most of them are cheap, raunchy leterotica that's filled to the brim with smut. No worse than what Momo has in her room, mind you," Aiko answered defensively, folding her arms tightly across her breasts.

"Harem," Suri groaned, smiling weakly and shaking her head at the girl. "You read harem romance novels. Like come on, one of your favorite series is the Kit Davenport saga. That's not much different than us, just swap genders."

Aiko opened her mouth to say something, closed it, and repeated that a few more times before her eyes slowly went wider. She then cupped her head in a mix of horror and astonishment. Why the hell was she right about that of all things?

"And it worked out for them, now didn't it?" Suri smirked.

"You know, my queen," Aiko huffed. "You don't have to be right all the time."

"Oh I'm not right all the time," Suri shrugged and grinned with pride. "I fuck up a lot so I just gotta be right more times than I'm not and it balances itself out."

"So you," Aiko started quietly, looking at the floor for a long moment before moving her eyes up to slowly meet Suri's. "You don't have a problem with it? Me being in love with Izuku?"

"Nope."

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Positive?"

"Only fools are positive, but yeah, I am," Suri grinned, moving to crawl from her spot against the counter to the opposite island counter where Aiko sat. She closed the gap, bringing one hand to cup Aiko's chin and laid a gentle kiss on the leopard girl's lips before leaning in to whisper hotly against her ear. "Besides, I woulda said something a while ago if I did. You're wearing his shirt after all."

"I-I'm what?!"

Sure enough, when Aiko looked down the kanji reading 'shirt' was staring back up at her. She panicked, realizing the implications of what it meant, especially if the stories from Suri, Tooru, and Mina were true. They all had identical stories of ending up in Izuku's shirts after their first times. Aiko's eyes went wider and she looked back up to Suri, frantically waving her hands.

"Oh gods! No! We haven't! I didn't! I mean I would- Wait! I mean- I woke up in his arms and were naked but i dont think we-"

Suri snickered, grinning wide as a flustered Aiko began rambling. The nervous wreck the leopard girl had become was adorable, similar to how Izuku used to be and still was to a point. To keep her from going on and possibly bursting into flames with how scorching hot her blush had begun burning, Suri closed the gap. One moment Aiko saw Suri a foot or two away, the next her eyes were veiled with dark copper skin before finally fluttering closed. Her words were halted and her lips were smothered as Suri kissed her hard, taking her lips hostage for a long breathless moment. Suri and Aiko breathed each other in once they simultaneously decided they should breathe, Aiko sighing softly while Suri let out a delighted purr. When Suri pulled back, she did so with a wide self-satisfied grin as she watched her friend's eyes lazily open back up.

"Good way to shut the brain off for a sec, huh? Suri giggled pridefully as she leaned back to rest on her haunches.

"Mmm- Mhmm…"

"Good. Now that you're not pulling an Izuku on me anymore: I know. I know that nothing happened just now and nothing's gone down. Yet. But, babe, I promise you, I ain't gonna be mad."

"You know, you seem awfully sure of this between Izuku and I," Aiko said cautiously, narrowing her eyes at Suri.

Suri simply shrugged and lifted herself off the floor, casually ignoring Aiko's statement. She began humming Christmas tunes as she finished what she had been doing when the leopard girl came in. She chopped the last few pieces of carrots, potatoes, and peppers she had on her cutting board before adding them to her big pan. Aiko became more and more suspicious, not because Suri popped open a can of Coke to add to the mix, but because Suri was blatantly being sneaky.

"Suri?" Aiko quietly pressed.

"Yes, kitten?" Suri replied with a teasing tone.

Aiko tried hard to ignore the blush and heat in her core that flared up just then. Now was not the time to discover that that had a strong effect on her.

"What is going on?" Aiko asked with caution, her heart thumping as sirens began to blare inside her head.

"Okay okay, but you're gonna ruin the surprise," she snickered in response as she opened the oven and slid the pan inside it.

"Surprise?"

"Mhmm. I was gonna blindfold you and Izuku and put you and Mai in nothin' but ribbons and a big bow so he could unwrap you two for Christmas tonight," Suri declared proudly as she set the timer for her big venison roast. Just in time for her to turn around and find two shocked faces staring at her.

"What?" Both Aiko and Izuku questioned in unison.

The echoing of the sound of Izuku's voice startled Aiko.

It was bad enough her claws came out and she lowered herself against the countertop, ready to attack. Ready to attack until she turned to find a shirtless Izuku standing a meter away, a sight that immediately disarmed her and left her staring silently. Both of them were. Aiko's eyes slowly traced over his toned form, drinking in and memorizing every line, while the ghost of his touch remembered what his arm felt like around her. Not to mention the flash of memories of the dozen or so times they'd kissed. Those same memories ran through Izuku's head as his eyes traced over her. Of course this particular shirt had ended up on all of his girlfriends and, while it didn't fit as snug as it did on Suri and Mina, he enjoyed how it draped loosely over Tooru and Aiko. Though seeing Aiko there with her long indigo hair down, draping to the small of her back was vastly different than seeing it on Tooru with her shorter hair.

Suri simply sighed and chuckled as she watched the two of them. Her eyes rolled seeing how bashful they were in front of each other. Like they totally hadn't woken up not too long ago stark naked holding one another. And now, of course, Suri had to figure out a new plan of what to do for Izuku and the girls for Christmas.

Today was going to be a long day.

Actually.

Time flew by faster than Suri had expected.

Granted, once she'd gotten dinner started that morning, she dragged Izuku and Aiko back to bed with Tooru, Mina, and Mai. She was more than happy to finally get some sleep as the little spoon to Izuku's big spoon and Aiko tucked into her front. When she awoke some time after noon, she was in bed alone which wasn't surprising to her. No, what was a surprise was the fact that, when she finally checked her phone, there were a slew of missed messages in their group chat. Missed messages that said Izuku was currently on a date with both Aiko and Mai. A date that went well. Well enough that they'd ended up in Mai's room with Suri's Christmas plan getting stolen by the mute girl who was documenting everything. Suri was far from upset, adding her own encouragement to the group chat and joining the cheer squad of Mina, Tooru, Yumei, Ryuko, and Pazuzu. Cheering that went on as pics kept coming in, climaxing - full pun intended - with a final selfie of a very spent and exhausted but happy Izuku between Aiko and Mai asleep on his chest. He then went MIA as he took a well deserved nap.

Yumei, not long after, informed them that, as much as she wanted to come celebrate Christmas with them, was heading south. Her and her parents were currently on a plane to Okinawa to see her grandparents for Christmas. They were bummed that the snake girl couldn't join in the festivities but assured her that they would totally be kidnapping her for next Christmas.

Yumei was not opposed to that plan.

When the evening rolled around, Momo presented everyone with festive costumes she'd produced herself. How she had time to do that between making sweets and helping cook with Suri was anyone's guess. Especially with the fact that everyone's Santa hat was specifically designed with her classmates in mind. Like how, instead of the typical puff ball on the end, Jirou's was a musical note. Or how Ochako's was a planet, Mina's was a small ball of slime resembling her acid, Kaminari's was a lighting bolt, and for Suri, well hers was a claw.

Suri happily found it fitting.

Momo had just taken out the last of the snacks and desserts with the help of Shoji and Koda as Suri finished off her roast. She could hear everyone talking about the next round of work studies and she let out a dreary sigh. It reminded her that she had yet to come up with a plan for herself. Tsu and Ochako were going back to Ryukyu, Kirishima was going back to FatGum, and Mina, Tooru, and Aoyama were set with Raijin. But Suri was up in the air.

Did she go back to the list from after the Sports Festival? The Outsiders were in limbo because of everything that came to light about Masato and the heroes that felt a similar way as he did. It wasn't sure if everyone could be trusted after the nightmare that was the operation to take down Gemini. She'd heard it was the same situation as Nighteye's Agency where, like Centipeder and Bubble Girl, Alester and Jomo were buried under piles of paperwork and backlogs. So what was Suri gonna do? Better yet…

"Guys, this is supposed to be a vacation! Why are we talking about school stuff?!"

For once Suri agreed with Mineta.

"Ya know, he's got a point guys," Suri said, smiling as she came in carrying the venison roast. It instantly filled the room with a delicious smell that made everyone's mouths begin to water and they cheered happily now that food had arrived. "Specially since it's time to feast!"

And that meant the knock on the door was right on time.

"I know we're a bit late…"

"Tricky! … treat?"

"Wrong holiday…"

"Eri!"

Everyone was more than happy to greet Eri as she tried her best to get with the festivities. There was the adorable instance that she handed out Easter Eggs, which had everyone rolling with how silly it was. She was trying her best to understand holidays and celebrations, which was still a small struggle, but everyone knew that with a little bit of help, the girl would eventually get it. And that made Suri settle down on her own situation, so far everything had worked itself out, whether it was smooth or rocky was to be seen, but it gave her hope that she'd figure it out. She'd get her shit together. That levity helped her to have an enjoyable evening that made her just as happy as ever.

The night was filled with great food, which she was more than graciously complimented for. It made her happy that everyone enjoyed her cooking, including Bakugou who had been arguably the best cook out of all of them. Even if his compliment was backhanded and sounded like an insult, it was praise. And Suri would take all of it she could.

It showed that Bakugou cared and that's what mattered to her.

The gifts portion of the night had been set up as a Secret Santa so no one knew who had gifted them what they received. Two weeks ago they'd put everyone's name in a box and had drawn lots, Suri's luck of the draw had gotten her Shoji. Trying to figure out what to get him had been an insanely hard task because, truly, outside of his name and his Quirk, he didn't let anyone in. He was a very personal person that kept to himself and basically had no attachments to anything material at all. Suri had spent the week and a half leading up to tonight shadowing him and trying to see if there was anything that might stand out. The only thing that stood out was the fact that he and Pony had been spending time together ever since the Joint Training battle.

Apparently Pony had made some comments about him, felt sorry afterwards, and had tried to make it up to him. From the sounds of it, she'd had a bad experience at an aquarium when she was a kid and was terrified of octopi. Shoji had the misfortune of triggering that fear.

That however, was what helped to figure out what Suri decided to give him. She'd gotten lucky while out on a date with Mai and found a giant - literally giant - octopus squishmellow that was the same color of white and blue as his hair and mask. Which, coincidentally, was the same shade of blue as Pony's eyes.

Suri was nervous how he might react to it so she watched him from the corner of her eye the entire time they were opening gifts. In the end, she was able to breathe a sigh of relief because, as minute and subtle as it was, she got a chuckle out of him. The chuckle was just as blink and you miss it as the light squeezing he gave his new friend. Her happiness from his reaction added to her own reaction as she opened her own gift.

"Gods, I fuckin love you guys," Suri giggled, a grin that was big enough to hurt her cheeks showing, as she pulled out a black hoodie. But not just any hoodie, no, this had Queen Bitch written in a thick fancy script font colored in leopard print with a little golden crown imprint above the words.

And as good as that gift was, Eri's gift - of course - topped that.

Suri was rolling in laughter that had far exceeded hysterical and was killing her sides in pain. The pain from laughing was excruciating but it didn't matter because she would happily endure it a thousand times over for the most precious little girl in the world. Because the nervous smile Eri gave Suri as she crawled back onto her feet and tried to calm down her laughing fit was worth it.

And what did the precious silver haired little girl get Suri?

A bottle of catnip.

Catnip!

Once Suri was able to recover, the gift earned Eri a big hug, plenty of nuzzles, and one big fat kiss to her cheek. Needless to say, Eri had no idea what was going on or what was so funny but she graciously accepted the affectionate display. It would be something the two of them could joke about as the girl got older and was pulled further out from under the rock Chisaki had been keeping her under.

The rest of the night was filled with singing, dancing, and fun. It went late enough that latecomers like Ibara, Shinso, Pony, Chibi, Taiga, Aiko, Mai, Ryuko, and Pazuzu were able to join in on the festivities. There had been plenty of food left for the wereanimals to scarf down their fill while they enjoyed singing from Jirou, Suri, Momo, and Tooru. The party officially ended as Eri finally tuckered herself out enough that she fell asleep on the couch and had to be picked up and carried out in Aizawa's arms. That was a sight that everyone stored away mentally - though Ochako may or may not have had the sense to quickly snap a picture of the event. Aizawa wouldn't be caught dead admitting that he enjoyed being a pseudo dad, but everyone knew his true feelings. In truth, he didn't mind one bit taking care of Eri. Enjoyed it. Was proud that he was sort of good at it. And, most of all, loved seeing her happy.

With Eri and Dad-zawa taking their leave, it was a sign for everyone to turn in for the night. Slowly all of them filed up to their rooms in small droves leaving only the Suri Squad, Bakugou, and Todoroki. Suri was working on washing dishes and putting leftovers away while Izuku, Bakugou, and Todoroki helped to bring her said dishes and put away the extra tables.

"Kuroyashi," Todoroki asked as he brought her a small pile of bowls for her to wash. "Have you made a decision on your work studies?"

"To be honest," Suri sighed, pausing on her task to purse her lips and give him a slightly disparaging glance. "I haven't. I'm trying to hold out and see if I can go work with the Outsiders again but with how fast the deadline is coming up… I dunno."

"I see," he said simply and turned to see Izuku and Bakugou coming up behind him.

He gave both of them a small, emotionless glance, gave Suri the same one and then turned so that he could face all three of them at the same time. He looked them over once more before he gave a self assured blink, like he was double checking that he was right.

"Midoriya. Bakugou. Kuroyashi. If none of you have a work study yet, why don't you three come with me to the current number one hero?"