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"And there's a tunnel, and a huuuge tree, and—"
Katsuki's completely tuned out of whatever stupid Deku is rambling about - it's even more dull than blowing up twigs, which he's already grown bored of. Too easy, with his amazing quirk! Deku doesn't even seem to notice, carrying on about castles or dream bridges or whatever. Sounds made-up.
"-and I get to go! It'll be so exciting!"
"It's just some lights and stuff?" Katsuki tuts. So boring, and so very Deku. "They have lights in Musutafu, and they suck every year!"
"Nuh-uh, these ones are super-cool! I saw them on the internet! They might even do hero ones!"
Huh.That would be cooler than the rubbish stars and trees or whatever their town put together. Still, Deku wasn't allowed to be right about anything, those were the rules. "Enjoy your stupid lights for babies, Deku, I'm gonna do something way cooler on Christmas Eve!"
Deku didn't look convinced. "But you said the lights here are boring?"
"Yeah, I ain't doing that! We're making our own fried chicken! And I'll get to do the frying!" He hadn't totally convinced the Old Lady about that point, but Dad had kinda nodded when he asked! He had to be old enough by now to start doing the danger cooking!
"Woah," says Deku, impressed. As he should be! "Mum only lets me wash rice, she won't even let me chop up vegetables..."
"That's cuz you're still a clumsy baby. Bet you'd slip and cut your fingers off."
Deku meeps, then puffs his cheeks out like a squirrel. "Nuh-uh! I'm not that clumsy anymore, Kacchan!"
Heh, he'll believe it when Deku doesn't regularly trip up in their forest adventures. Katsuki might cause half of those, but Deku should learn to dodge already. "Whatever. Bored now, home time."
Deku trots after him as always, and Katsuki puts his lights or whatever completely out of mind.
Deku looks down in the dumps all day, moping about like it's not the last day of school for the year. Pretty pathetic, if you ask Katsuki. He'd even got some All Might stickers Katsuki already had duplicates of as a present! It's not like he cares, but Deku's stupid mood rubs him the wrong way all day til he finally explodes. "Stop crying, Deku!"
"I-I'm not!" says Deku, and sure, maybe there's no tears YET, but Katsuki knows what's waiting under that wobbly face, given how many times he's caused it.
"You're gonna! The heck's making you all weird!"
Deku sniffles, and his eyes wobble even more, and argh Katsuki shouldn't have asked! Deku's even more Deku than usual when he gets like this! Eventually Deku scrunches his face up and spits it out. "Mum has to work today, so we don't get to see the special lights anymore... I know 'simportant but..." He gives up speaking, instead making burbling hiccup noises that grate on Katsuki's ears.
Hmm. Something pulls at him. An uncomfortable feeling, one that normally gets squashed down. Deku gets disappointed on the regular, so he shouldn't care a jot about it, but... there was that one All Might Christmas Special, about how a real hero makes dum-dums’ wishes come true at Christmas, that pops up in his head. "Well, let’s just go!" Deku looks at him like he's grown two heads, which is stupid - Katsuki always has the best ideas! "I know all about riding trains, it'll be easy!"
"R-Really?" says Deku. He doesn't stop crying, but his face looks a bit less annoying. It calms that weird feeling a little. "But... we need to go home after school?"
"Just tell your mum you're coming to mine, I'll say the opposite to the old bag, and we'll be back before they ever work it out! That one always works!"
"Yeah, when we wanna play a little longer... won't we get in trouble for doing this?"
"Psht. Sure, I'll get in trouble for like five minutes. You can just blame it on big bad Kacchan like always." Katsuki drags Deku off to the computer, the one their teachers haven't worked out is connected to the internet. Not like any of the other dummies in class would know how to use it for anything other than watching cartoons on YoTube. "Gimme what it's called, I never listened when you said before."
Deku makes an annoyed noise - listen, he can't expect Katsuki to pay attention to any of his mumbling, it's usually boring nonsense! - but he's perkier than before, excited. There's a long, long list of things that make Katsuki wanna push Deku over most of the time, but more than any of the other neighbourhood kids, he's willing to follow Katsuki's lead on an adventure, and that's not the worst thing about him.
If only he'd just follow behind Katsuki, and not try to keep up with him.
The place isn't super far away - they don't have to ride the really big train, and they can probably make it there and back before they'd normally finish playing, so once school is finished off they go! Katsuki has enough coins to pay for the train, and luckily stupid Deku doesn't notice when they have to change trains after missing the stop - it was probably his fault anyway, being so distractingly excited about riding the train without parents. He finds a bus shuttling people to the special park, full of all lovey-dovey-looking grown-ups who look as gross as his parents do, and finally, they make it.
He will concede, this once, that Deku was right - this is awesome.
And. Overwhelming. There's as many people milling around as at the new year shrine visit! Just for lights?? At the shrine, he gets to stand in between his parents, but here— most everyone is twice the size of them, all packed in too close together at the entrance—
The crowd jostles at them, and Deku squeaks, practically throwing himself at Katsuki to avoid separation. His face is scrunching up again as he pulls them off to the side, out of the throng of people slowly filtering into the park. Oh. Deku is nervous about the crowd.
Right. Deku is still kind of a baby, so of course he'd get nervous in a crowd like this. So Katsuki is just gonna have to lead him through it, since he's the leader. Yeah. "Kacchan, it's so busy," he whines. "Can we... is it still all right? To see the lights?"
" 'Course it's fine! It's just people, stupid Deku," says Katsuki, with more confidence than he feels. "...You better grab a hold of me though. So you don't get lost."
It takes some doing, but Katsuki stays brave as he guides them through the crowds of grown-ups to actually see the lights. He's gonna be a hero, he'll... he'll just have to get used to crowds of people, right? He just has to pretend like they're avoiding fans to go and do the real work. Deku clings on, gripping tight to his arm so Katsuki's hands won't get too sweaty, and while normally that'd make him shove the other boy as hard as he could, this is a... special circumstance. Yeah. If Deku let go, he'd get lost, and then Katsuki'd really get yelled at. It's not like he's worried or anything.
Walking through the tunnel of lights, the ceiling and walls fully blanketed in twinkly white and cream, his anxiety melts away. It's pretty, in a way he didn't know a load of strings and bulbs could be. They stand stock-still a while, watching in wonder as waves of different colours ripple through the tunnel - turning gold, silver, icy blue, while hearts and stars stand out in reds and yellows. It feels like it goes on forever, like the woods they play in, an endless path of stars brought close.
It does have an end, though, one that makes them both gasp at the giant fir tree covered in brilliant white lights. There's a bridge over the river, underlit so the planks are lit up like a rainbow, and covered on top with delicate strings of sparkles. It's magical.
From there, they have the greatest fun - running about from place to place to marvel at the giant birds, tall trees, at all the shapes and forms the lights take; dancing along with the music that changes the colours of the roofs of round houses, and back and forth over the rainbow bridge, where the colours slowly migrate across, each colour in a different place each time they cross. Still, Katsuki loves the tunnel most of all.
And Deku, flushed from the chill air and their gallivanting, gives him a smile bigger than he's ever seen as they trek their way back through that tunnel, finally slowing down to enjoy their last sight before the journey home. The softly changing lights pick out the green in his hair and eyes the same way the summer sun does, makes them more present. It gives him a... wiggly feeling, one he's not sure about. "This has been so cool, right Kacchan? Thank you!"
"Whatever, let's go before it gets any colder."
"Oh!" Deku tugs on his arm until they stop, and hurriedly pulls his scarf off. In winter, his mum always bundles him up like a marshmallow, even though Katsuki's seen him play in the snow in shorts without a care. Deku wraps the scarf around Katsuki's neck, carefully patting it down to sit somewhere close to right. It ends up kind of clumped up, but it's pleasantly warm from sitting around Deku's neck all afternoon. "I forgot, it's got pretty cold, right? You need to be wrapped up too!"
That wiggly feeling, it's... warm, and makes his cheeks flush in surprise. He grabs Deku's arm and hurries them down the tunnel and back to the entrance so Deku won't see. Couldn't have him thinking Katsuki was— embarrassed or something!
The journey home isn't nearly as fun, since there's no exciting thing waiting for them at the end and all the grown-ups he sees keep giving them weird looks. Until Katsuki bares his teeth at them anyway, that trick always works on adults that get too nosy. Deku keeps dozing off, which is better than having to listen to him chatter away, but... a little more chatter would be. Okay.
He gets a vibe when they get to their home station - maybe a little later than they'd planned on staying out, but not totally out of ordinary for them - that screams trouble. It's proven right when out of the loose crowds, the old bag appears. Busted.
"Bakugou Katsuki," she says, stressing each syllable with a very dangerous smile. "Imagine my surprise, when I call up your auntie to say thanks for looking after you, and she thanks me for taking care of little Izuku!" Katsuki cringes, as Deku wilts behind him. They weren't meant to be co-ordinating! "She was so grateful that we'd have Izuku round after she had to work."
"U-um, it- it was my idea," tries Deku, meekly pulling in on himself and looking up at his mum with big wet eyes. Katsuki's seen this trick work before, but she's not shouting, which means she's real mad. They ain't wriggling out of this that easy.
"No, this has Katsuki all over it. Doesn't it, you precocious little brat?" She gives him a little thwap, shaking her head. "Goodness knows where you get ideas like this, it certainly isn't from your father." She crouches down, meeting them at eye level and giving Katsuki another little shove, and Deku a tousle of his hair. "I've been waiting here longer than you think. Lose track of time having fun worrying your parents?"
"How the heck'd you know to come here anyway? We coulda just been playing in the woods like always!"
"I know everything, Katsuki. I'm your mother." She stands up, and gestures for them to follow. She hasn't blown up yet, so keen to keep that from happening, Katsuki drags Deku along after her. "Inko told me how upset she was about not taking Izuku to see the lights, it was obvious from that. I almost went out to the park to catch you little nuisances myself! But, I knew you'd show up back here sooner or later."
Hmm. While that was definitely his mum's typical approach, that didn't sound like what Deku's mum would do. So... "Auntie doesn't know, right? Can we keep it that way?"
To his and Deku's surprise, the Old Lady bursts out in a loud cackle. "Not a chance, kid! You're in serious trouble, but there's no way I'm not telling Inko how you saved Izuku's Christmas!"
"Oi. Where are the lights?"
They're most of the way through clean-up after their Christmas party, when Izuku tunes into Kacchan, who's shoving at Kaminari with a slippered foot.
"In the... ceiling?" says Kaminari, looking up like they might suddenly not be. "Oh! We already took them off the tree, dude."
"No, the—" Kacchan growls, with a harder kick. "The outdoor lights! Ain't it Christmas?"
It's surprising he even mentions it - other than a particularly memorable outing from their childhood, seasonal light displays never seemed to be Kacchan's thing. This has been a year for surprises, though, particularly where it comes to Kacchan.
"Hey now, no complaining from the grinch!" says Kaminari, kicking Kacchan back. "We had to tape that hat on, where's this festive spirit coming from? If you wanted lights you should've made it happen!"
Kacchan tsks and pouts, which is his way of saying Kaminari's right, but... Izuku gets it. In all the excitement of getting their cute outfits together, decorating the common room and sorting all the food, the thought of light displays hadn't been on anyones mind, but... is it really Christmas without seeing some lights? It's not like it's simple for them to go into town to see them, with how cautious the school is now.
It's always been Izuku's favourite part of the run-up to the end of the year. The New Year's traditions, the fried chicken, strawberry shortcakes - all great, but walking around town with his mum and seeing what lights had gone up was a little bit of magic. And now that it's been mentioned, it's a part he misses.
"Eeeh, now that I think of it, why didn't we do lights?" says Ashido, dumping her bag of rubbish in Kaminari's aggrieved hands. "Is it cuz like, it's a thing you go somewhere else to see? 'snot like any of us have put up town lights."
"Speak for yourself!" pipes up Kirishima, shoving a sofa back into place with a grin. "I always used ta help out with stringing them up back home!"
"Yeah, that sounds very you," says Ashido, then lights up. "Oh wait, I totally saw you doing it once! First year of middle school!"
"I like them a lot too," adds Izuku. "They're really nice to see when the nights are getting longer."
Ashido rubs at her chin and hums thoughtfully, then nods decisively. She rushes off, grabbing Uraraka and Yaoyorozu and dragging them outside, leaving the rest of them none the wiser.
"She really left me with her clean-up job?" whines Kaminari. Izuku takes pity on him, and helps with the last of the tidying.
An hour later, when the common room has been returned to its normal state and the class is milling about as usual, Ashido bursts back in with a cheer. "Alright, everyone out! We've got one last surprise!" When there isn't an immediate exodus, she grabs at Iida, waving his arm around with a little too much enthusiasm. "Come on, Class Prez! Get 'em moving!"
"Well," says Iida, pulling out of Ashido's clutches and then making almost exactly the same arm gesture - somewhere, Izuku knows Uraraka is laughing - "You heard our classmate! Outside we go!"
"I'll let everyone who's gone back upstairs know," says Izuku. If he's followed the thread correctly... Ashido gives him a knowing wink. There is, after all, only one person missing.
Kacchan looks surprised to see him, but if he's put off by having Izuku at his door, he doesn't otherwise show it. "What now?"
"You're still wearing the hat?"
Kacchan pulls it off with force, throwing it somewhere deep in his room and getting right in Izuku's face, nostrils flaring. "You saw nothing, got it?"
"I won't tell anyone else, but I definitely saw it," says Izuku. Kacchan growls and tries to shut the door in Izuku's face, but he shoves back heavily enough at the thing to stop it closing. "Wait wait— I came to get you! I'm pretty sure Ashido's done Christmas lights for us!"
Kacchan stops pushing the door, stepping aside quick enough to let Izuku topple through from his own force. He really never misses an opportunity to be a jerk, but Izuku's a lot more coordinated than he used to be, and manages to just stumble around instead of falling flat on his face. Progress!
"You serious?"
"Well, she dragged Yaoyorozu and Uraraka out, right? Those two could do it pretty easily between them?"
Kacchan narrows his eyes, then starts picking through his wardrobe. It's not often Izuku gets to actually come into Kacchan's room; he tries to be discreet, but can't help trying to catalogue all the details, the finer points that have changed since he was last here. He's been looking up Endeavor's agency in more detail, if the laptop is anything to go by.
"Stop creeping," says Kacchan, flinging a scarf in his face. He's put on a coat, along with his own scarf - the cream one, a favourite. If it's as soft as the one he's thrown at Izuku, he can understand why. They head back downstairs, and out, Kacchan at a pace Izuku would call excited.
Outside, the girls have done it - haphazardly strung between the trees and lampposts, along the street in front of their dorms, is their very own Christmas display. Violently pink and purple strings of lights strung between branches overhead clash with hearts and stars balanced on the tops of lampposts; weirdly accurate planets with little cartoon UFOs circling them float mid-air above the path; a rabbit in the moon pounding mochi - that has to be Uraraka’s influence - hangs lopsidedly from a tree branch, and little silhouettes of cats sit in the grass lining the way. Izuku's... definitely never seen anything like it.
Beside him, Kacchan muffles a snort behind a gloved hand. It turns into a full blown laugh when he spots the mesh of neon teal and pink lights wrapped round one lamppost. The way his eyes scrunch up, how he draws in on himself to keep from cackling... Kacchan always used to have a grin on his face, always ready to laugh, but...
"Can tell this was that alien's idea, that's for damn sure," says Kacchan, still smiling. He shoves at Izuku when he doesn't respond. "Ever gonna cure that staring habit? Pisses me off."
Ah, Izuku really had been staring, hadn't he? "Oh, sorry, it's just... I don't think I've seen you laugh in... a while." Years, actually. The last time... it would have been before their last year of middle school, at least.
"'snot much to laugh about," says Kacchan, scuffing a foot against the path. "This shit's hilarious, though. Why's Jupiter so detailed when the spaceships are so tacky! It's not even mochi season yet!"
They join the rest of their class in marvelling at the decorations, unusual as they are. Satou's had the smart idea to get some hot chocolate going, the pot being warmed by a softly smiling Todoroki. The biting chill of the cold air is nothing against the warmth he feels at having this group of friends, ridiculous as they can be, who'd pull off something like this just for the sake of it.
"I didn't know you liked stuff like this," says Izuku, once they've got their own hot chocolate and seen all the sights. Kacchan hadn't told him to eff off all evening. "We went to the park that one time, but other than that?"
"Winter sucks," says Kacchan, shrugging and tucking his chin into his scarf. There's still mirth in his face, tugging at the corners of his lips and eyes, even as he tries to hide it. "'scold and it gets dark early. Putting lights up everywhere is like a big 'fuck you' to the days getting shorter. Even if these ones're weird as hell it's good to have 'em."
That's a very... Kacchan way to put it, but... it's the same reason Izuku likes them. They can be pretty and exciting, bring people together... pushing back against the encroaching darkness, with joy and levity. It's the kind of hero he wants to be. "I think our class would call them a success just for making you laugh! It's not exactly... uh, this isn't exactly the... best year of your life, after all..."
Kacchan gives him a long look, one Izuku can't place, then looks up to the stars. Izuku can see his breath condensing in the cold air, slow, thoughtful breaths. "Wouldn't say that," he says, after a long pause. "Got into my dream school in top place. Finalist in my first Sports Festival. Already taken on villains and won. At 16 I’ve made All Might stumble in a fight. Everything else is just shit I gotta use to be the best - my own giant 'fuck you'."
If anyone could do it, it would be Kacchan - even at his worst, he's always been a light in the darkness for Izuku. A shining light to strive to reach, one he now gets to stand beside.
They sit quietly a while longer, breathing in the cold air, watching the stars and the lights shine on, together.
"Next time they ask me I'm kicking someone's ass. Remind me. 'Kacchan, you promised to ruin the day of the next person who asks you to go north', got it?"
"You say this every time," says Izuku's tinny, whistly voice. "But you can't ever resist going back! Everyone up there loves your... burning passion..? Isn't that what they say?" Izuku says some pretty cringy stuff on the regular, but what he gets out of the oldie heroes up here is even cringier. Izuku's not wrong, though. Seems like Hokkaido loves a hot-head. Probably because he's never around long enough to wear them thin. "You always bring the best souvenirs back from there too."
He grunts in agreement. "Food's good."
"The beer's good too!"
"I'm not drinking that shit though, am I!"
He can hear Izuku grinning at him, even through the phone line. "Only because you get all sleepy!" That's not the bit he's laughing (psychically) at Katsuki about, though; while he does fall asleep at the table every time they go out drinking, it's the fact he gets so clingy that amuses Izuku. Drinking away from home would only lead to over-weepy calls from bars while colleagues call it 'gap-moe' or something equally annoying. "What are you doing right now? Have you finished up?"
"Yeah 'm done. Kinda pissed we couldn't wrap up earlier, I coulda got a flight." It's not been a long job, but it's been longer than he wanted - Katsuki'd had some hope he would burst in and catch all the villains with time enough to get home before Christmas, but no dice. He's old enough to not get really mad about other heroes taking things cautiously in their own backyard, at least not outside of his own head.
"Aww, I miss you too! You would hate travelling today though. What are you— woah!— what are you up to now?"
"Should be asking you that, where the hell are you?" Throughout the call, there's been endless noisy interference, the wind whistling loud over Izuku's voice, stealing words here or there. Izuku's not desperate enough to call him while he's working, so he can only imagine the man's sat at the top of a tree or something. Wouldn't be the first time.
"Ahahah, I'll tell you later, promise! Tell me all about Sapporo! There's a Christmas Market, right? Like in Europe? Are there the ice sculptures?"
"That's in February, dumbass," says Katsuki. "It gets dark an hour earlier and everyone's been giving me free shit, that what you wanna know?"
"I don't know what I expected," says Izuku with a laugh. His voice fuzzes out again. "Is it really that cold? Did it snow already?"
"Yeah, I gotta wear my uniform top all the time or risk freezing my nips off."
"We can't have that!" says Izuku, over a surprised snort. It's been, what, a week? Already Katsuki misses seeing his face when he gets to catch Izuku off-guard. They'll have their New Year together, but Katsuki can't help the pinch of upset he feels in not having Christmas Eve together. "There's a big light show, right? Even if there aren't sculptures?"
"Yeah," says Katsuki. He's naturally drifted toward it, bearing the dark and the cold to see the streets lit up, see the crowds of strangers all huddled up against each other to share a little warmth. "No more questions, nerd. Tell me what's going on with you." Talk to me, he can't quite say. Let me hear your voice.
But, Izuku understands. He launches into some story about his agency, washed out by the wind as it is. There was a time when Izuku’s voice was either meaningless background drivel or so grating he'd want to blow his own ears off, but now it's— an important part of his life. Izuku only really shuts up when he's dead serious, Katsuki wouldn't have it any other way. And with Izuku in his ear, he can almost pretend they're together, walking down the avenue of lights in step.
Izuku cuts off midway through his story with an excited gasp. "Oh, uh, Kacchan! What are you wearing?"
"Seriously, you perv? A coat, I already told you it's frickin cold!" He pauses. "The navy one." Izuku gave it to him a few years ago, a souvenir from a trip out of the country somewhere much colder than Hokkaido. It was a total shock Izuku could pick a stylish piece of clothing that Katsuki didn't immediately hate, let alone something actually warm.
"And what can you see? Like, what's the nearest landmark?"
Katsuki looks around automatically, even if Izuku's not making any damned sense. "The radio tower? The hell's this about?"
"I'll talk to you in a minute! Loveyoubye!!" Katsuki's so bamboozled by Izuku hanging up on him, on HIM, that he can't even be mad about it. What the hell was that?!
There's a tug on his waist, then a yank, launching him straight into the air— and straight into Izuku's arms.
"Caught you," says Izuku, and his windbitten face and stupid bambi eyes are the best thing Katsuki's seen all week. "I thought you might like the view from above!"
They've both done stupid things for each other, justified and not, but this might take the cake. All that annoying background noise— "Did you seriously fly yourself all the way here?!"
"It was quicker than the train!" And, Katsuki could kiss him for that extremely stupid point, so he does. On his bright red nose, his watery eyes, chapped lips - Katsuki kisses everywhere he can reach, suspended in the air as they are. Below them, the twinkling gold and silver lights stretch on for a mile, the people tiny specks.
They drift along the avenue, Izuku keeping them floating with ease. From above, seeing it all together - the scale, the variety, how each display links to the next - makes him feel like when they were kids, when he first saw how magical some bulbs on strings could be. A bright light in the darkest part of the year. From their vantage, he spots what he wants most.
"Land over there," he tells Izuku, pointing at a tunnel of trellises and string lights. He ignores the looks of surprise around them, grabbing Izuku by the hand and dragging him in.
When they were little brats, amazed by a tunnel that seemed to go on forever in waves of gold and white, he'd wondered why the adults there seemed more interested in each other than in the wonder around them. Now he knows. Katsuki squeezes the hand in his, hard, and gets a squeeze back; Izuku pulls him in until they're shoulder to shoulder, quietly watching as the colours make their gradual wend across the trellis.
"Of all the things I thought I'd grow up to be," says Izuku, his eyes soft, the corners pinched. He'll get wrinkles soon enough, Katsuki thinks, faint lines around his eyes and the corners of his mouth that speak to a life spent smiling. Katsuki will make sure of it. "I never thought 'one of those lovey-dovey adults' was on the slate."
"Says the guy who flew himself a thousand kilometres just to be a sap? You were always doomed."
"We were both doomed," says Izuku, and pulls him in even closer, wrapping an arm over Katsuki's shoulder to rest their heads together. How someone who thinks basketball shorts are acceptable winter wear can feel so warm and cosy never stops baffling Katsuki. "Do you remember? When we went to that big park when we were kids? They had a tunnel like this, we thought it was the most magical thing. You insisted I hold onto you the whole time and ran off when I gave you my scarf. I only realised what that was all about years later! Kacchan was always doomed to be as lovey-dovey as me!"
Katsuki growls, but Izuku ain't wrong. He's as sentimental as they come, and would've dwelled on not being together today longer than he'd like to admit; he loves the lights, and loves to see them with Izuku even more. Just as he made Izuku's Christmas once years ago, Izuku has made his today.
They take their time, walking the streets and seeing them again by air together, wrapped up in each other as they look on at the bright defiance of the long nights; the beckoning of longer, better days to come.