Christmas

Faster than anybody could blink even with the fastest of speed type Quirks possible, months pass and the best time of the year finally rolls around in all of it's warm goodness. Hot chocolate, Christmas bells, snow, gingerbread men, snow, even more hot chocolate, what's NOT to love about Christmas? Well, there were a few things about the winter time that weren't pleasant as this time of the year marked the near end for the third years' in high school. For once they graduated it was time to for new flock to take their place, the previous showing the world their righteous colors and valor. Bitter to some, sweet to all.

Months of being in a relationship pass for a first and third year and in those months were opportunities to explore, to discover, to cry, to feel, and to smile. Exploring the many new doors that opened with the label of being in a relationship such as 'Couples Only' in select locations. Discovering the envy and jealousy that came with more and more people finding out about a mere first year being lucky enough to call himself significant other to somebody such as the third. Crying about the many times the rules were broken that were promised to be kept held and true. Feeling the warmth, the safety, and the angelic caress that came with the beauty that is love. And last, and most certainly not the least, smiling, at the sound of a happy heart dancing it's joyous dance without an end.

Christmas. The best time of the year, finally rolls around.

DING-DONG*

"I GOT IT." Mr. Hado stated after the doorbell of his home rung with visitors. Leaning forward and out of his recliner with a mug of warm milk in hand the father shuffled his way towards the front door while humming a tune that had nothing to do with Christmas, being in relation to it's polar opposite ruled by a pumpkin king. Dusting his free hand over the belly of his red ugly sweater the father arrived to and opened the front door to see his daughter in a blue elf outfit, Midoriya in a green elf outfit, and Togata and Haya in red elf colored outfits with bright smiles on their faces.

"Merry Chri-"
"Merry Chri-"
"Merry Chri-"
"Merry Chri-"

SLAM*
*CLICK*

"DAAAAAD."

"HAAAAAHAHAHA!" The father laughed heartily after shutting the front door on the students' greetings, twisting the knob and opening again to see his daughter's face shifted into an angry pout. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry-HAHAAA! Oh the opportunity was too good to pass up, hey kids! Come on in!"

"He-Heyyy Mr. Hado!" Togata greeted from the back of the group, the blonde and father slapping hands once the former entered the latter's home. "You look like you're up and running for a contender as Santa Claus!"

"Ehhhh, yeah I have been getting a little chunky lately haven't I?" The father sighed with a hand rubbing his belly. "All that food the wife's been cooking up is getting to me, so good though OUGH, can't get enough of that chicken ramen she makes."

"Oh, have the children arrived?" Coming out from the kitchen area was Mrs. Hado's voice which was followed up by the mother herself, a pan of freshly made chocolate chip cookies piping warm in her oven mitts. Donning a yellow ugly sweater underneath her black apron the mother placed the pan of cookies down onto the dining room table and removed her mitts to slip them inside the small pocket on the front of her apron. "How lovely, just in time too."

"Hey Mama Hado." Haya greeted as she walked up to Hado's mother. "Merry Christmas."

"Yuyu." The mother hugged the approaching third year and placed a kiss on her left cheek. "Merry Christmas my dear, thank you for coming."

"Ooh cookies, don't mind me-"

SMACK*

"Ow! Hey!"

"Those are not for you you lumbering oaf." Mrs. Hado scolded after her husband attempted to snag a cookie from the pan. "Those are for the children you can wait for the new pan to finish baking."

"WHAT?! Tchaughhh, lucky kids."

"Hey Mom!" Hado beamed as she skipped up to her mother and embraced her with a giant smile. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too Nejire, thank you for coming." Squeezing her daughter very tightly towards the end of the hug the mother released as she then shifted her attention to Midoriya, and held an arm out for a hug. "Midoriya."

"Mrs. Hado." The first year quickly and properly bowed. "Merry Christmas!"

"*GAAASP*"
"*GAAASP*"
"*GAAASP*"
"Ohhhhh dear..."

"Hmm?" The first year hummed after a trio of gasps were emitted with the father tucking his head down and looking away. "What is it?"

"Man, what are you doing?!" Togata whispered behind Midoriya. "Mama Hado's offering you a hug! Don't deny the hug!"

"Why?"

DOOOOOOOOM*

"O-Oh..." Midoriya gulped and stepped towards the mother with arms out for an embrace, the situation equivalent to a peasant groveling at a god's feet for forgiveness. "U-Um, hug, M-Mrs. Hado?"

DOOOOOO-*

"Yes, a hug." The mother warmly smiled as she took the first year into her arms and hugged. "I would very much like that."

A chorus of relieving sighs came from around the room as first year and Hado's mother hugged like a melting cookie, the two letting go with the latter giving small pats to Midoriya's left cheek. "Children, thank you all for coming over this holiday and spending time with us. It is a shame your other friend is not present with us but perhaps another time, for now there is something my husband and I would like to gift each of you for being the wonderful kids that we love. Hiroto?"

"Mm? MM!" The father hummed with half a chocolate chip cookie in his mouth before lumbering back into the living room. "Right!"

"YOU'VE TAKEN A COOKIE?"

"Sorry honey, just can't stop myself." Mr. Hado apologized as he reached behind the recliner he once sat on and pulled out four gift bags, each bag separated by yellow, salmon, light blue and emerald green colors. Like Santa Claus the father waddled his way back to the entrance and approached Togata with the yellow bag. "Not with those cookies, okie-dokie let's see here. We got Togata-"

"Ooh! Thanks!"

Next came the salmon colored bag. "Haya."

"Thanks."

The emerald colored bag. "Midoriya."

"Thank you!"

Finally, the light blue colored bag. "And of course, how could we ever forget, my little angel..."

Hado smiled as she reached out for the bag. "Aww, thanks Da-"

Before the father swung the bag towards Mrs. Hado. "And precious wife Aimi."

"DAD."

"HAAAHAHA! I'm kidding I'm kidding! My little angel, or I should say our little angel, Nejire. Check 'em out kiddos!"

Peering into their bags and removing the gift paper that cluttered the top each student looked inside with curious eyes before their curiosity turned to glee when they removed the contents within. Each student was gifted a personally customized and hand-knitted ugly sweater from Hado's mother, the design on each sweater holding a special interest to the owner's liking and favorite. Whereas Togata's sweater had the design of Eri chasing after him over a plane of grass, Midoriya's held that of All Might standing tall with left fist raised into the air and the student standing next to the hero. Also in the bag were pieces of jewelry picked out by Hado's father, original and rich material leather watches for the boys as the girls were gifted beautiful necklaces of a bird soaring free.

The mother sighed in content as each student wore a giant grin on their faces and showed their gifts off to each other, the father holding his wife close with an arm while he did the same. "I think by now, we've truly made it, haven't we Hiroto?"

Mr. Hado chuckled. "Yeah, we sure have. We sure as hell made it in life."

SMACK*

"Ow."

"Language."

"Sorry."

"Hey hey Izuku look!" Hado said as she showed off the back of her ugly sweater. Knitted onto the sweater was the design of her and Midoriya holding hands with each other and a heart knitted around the two, their attires matching the same one they wore for their first real date. "It's us two on the back of my sweater!"

"Oh yeah I got that too!" Midoriya said. "That's on the back of my sweater as well that's so awesome! O-Oh hey uh Nejire? Can we, go somewhere more private really quickly? There's something I wanna show you."

"Sure we can go to the backyard really quickly, come on."

"Aaaaand another one goes down the hatch-"
"STOP eating the children's cookies-"
"Hey Yuyu check it out! Mine's-"
"Wow, she really managed to get Eri's design down pretty good. On the back of mine is-"

Weaving their way out from the main group Hado guided Midoriya through the living room towards the rear of the house where a door barred them from the inside and the backyard, the couple quietly exiting from the abode and stepping out into the back. Shutting the door behind him the first year shakily exhaled as his girlfriend stood by with an arm clutching the other behind her back. "What is it you wanna show me?"

"Hoooo..." Nervously breathing out through his lips Midoriya slightly opened up the middle of his elf outfit and reached inside the left half, pulling out a small black jewelry box and a folded up piece of paper. Holding the box out to Hado the girl took it with a curious hum as Midoriya unfolded the paper. "Don't open it, not yet. There's...There's something I wanna read to you first.

Nejire, there are, a LOT of things I wanna say to you, and a LOT more things that I wanna say about you, but for the sake of the two of us not standing here for all of eternity, I'll try and make it simple. Before I met you I was, lifeless. Well, I wasn't lifeless in the literal term but lifeless as in nothing really felt like it mattered. It didn't feel as if whatever I was doing was making anybody any kind of good no matter how hard I tried. Of course in the moment of when those were all happening things were different but, they didn't seem that way.

But that all changed when lo and behold, you decided to show up in my life. From the very moment I laid my eyes on you I knew that things were somehow, in someway, going to get better. You looked happy, you sounded happy, you gave off the impression that anybody and anything could be happy, and because of that I had no right to feel anything else other than to feel happy. For everything in this world that's been created there's always been a balance of good and bad, and considering the way my life was going before I met you I whole-heartedly believe that you are the good to everything that is my bad. That you are the sign I've been looking for, all along this miserable road I've been taking.

As your friend you made me happy, and as your boyfriend I've only been infinitely happier ever since that day on the rooftop when you confessed to me. To this day I still feel bad about not being able to make something special for you in terms of my own confession, and to this day I've been trying to make it right by giving you the only thing I have in store for you, which is a never ending supply of gratitude and appreciation. Where I frowned on my worst days you smiled to make it my absolute best day, where I felt like I couldn't stand anymore you knelt beside me and helped me onto my feet to strive for a better future. How I managed to be so lucky I have no clue, nor do I think I will ever have a clue for so long as I breathe. But when knowing that you are the kind of girl I love and hold true to myself, I don't think I could ever want a clue. Because I'm perfectly happy with the way things are now.

You can open the box now."

Hado quivered her bottom lip as she opened the small box to reveal a light blue sundial seashell turned into a necklace, her eyes tearing up and blurring her vision. "This is a shell I found on the beach during our first real date and, it reminded me of somebody. It reminded me of you. Hermit crabs like to use shells like these because it protects them from the natural world, it protects them from everything that's trying to eat them or bring harm their way."

Midoriya lowered the paper down to his side. "Just how you protect me, from everything that I think about when it comes to the past and what I've been through.

For somebody being so soft as you are you've managed to keep me together much better than I think anybody ever could, you've kept me safe on days and nights where I felt at my weakest. For most of my life I was just a hermit crab without a shell, always being the victim to people's words and actions simply because I didn't have a shell like everybody else. But then you came along, and with you and your bright smile you've protected me from the thoughts that linger at the back of my head and the memories that haunt me for what I used to be. For every hermit crab wandering around out there, the perfect seashell is waiting for them to be found. And for this little hermit crab that grew up as nothing, it's found the one, just for them.

I love you, Nejire. You're the greatest gift out of everything I could ever receive on Christmas. The absolute, greatest."

"*sniffle..*SNIFFLE*...Waaaahaaa!" Bawling her eyes out into an absolute mess Hado lunged forward and hugged Midoriya with every ounce of her might, crying into the chest of his outfit with tears of joy. "I love you! I LOVE YOU I love you Iloveyou-"

"I know." Midoriya smiled while hugging the girl. "You tell me every day that you love me. But I'll tell you even more, forever and always."

Quieting down in her happy sobs Hado rubbed at her nose and eyes before removing the shell from it's small box and holding it out to Midoriya. "*sniffle, c-can you..."

He happily obliged, taking the string of the necklace and looping each end around the base of her neck to tie it behind her. Once the necklace was tied onto her neck he took a step back and marveled at the perfect that was a sundial shell sitting at the top of her chest, matching perfectly with her hair and eyes like it was meant to be. "W-Well?"

"You look beautiful." Midoriya said. "Like you always do."

Hado attempted to smile but ultimately fell victim to her tears again, her arms branching out for a much needed hug at this time. Granting her all the love she could want Midoriya stepped close and hugged her once more, this time matching the perfect set of her lips that waited for him in a kiss. He could feel the wetness of her cheeks from the streams of tears that ran down her eyes but did he care? Not in the slightest as the world could only matter if it's name was Nejire Hado, in which the very world was in his arms right now. That which mattered, being in his arms right now.

Their kiss was a divine touch, lasting for an eternity packed into a single moment as they broke away. With teary eyes of beady blue staring into the broken past of emerald green, they knew that what was meant to be shall, and forever, always be that, of love.

"I love you, Izuku."

"And I love you too, Nejire."

With Hado leaning into him and embracing him tightly Midoriya held her close as he took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out, resting his cheek against her head as his heart thumped strong in his chest. Looking up to the moon that hung directly overhead, it was beautiful, an angelic white vibrant to that of snow with a glow so heavenly it was as if an angel was descending from the realms above. But how could that be? Knowing he was holding onto one right now in this very moment, how could another be descending when he needed no more? Then it mustn't be.

Because for every hermit crab wandering around on the sandy shores of a beach, the perfect seashell was waiting for them to be found. All floating along with the tides, that were carried by the waves of love.

The End