#christmasbkdk

[mudhamster]

WBWNS: 21. December - Risk

Katsuki pushed open the bathroom door, and warm, humid air curled around his bare feet. The world was still half-asleep - grey light filtering through the frosted window, the faint gurgle of pipes, the smell of soap and mint toothpaste. Izuku stood in front of the mirror, lips in a pout and his hands still in his curls, already fully dressed in a pine green, elegantly cut jumper from his mother's latest collection and dark trousers. Red eyes wandered. Slow and heavy-lidded, trailing over Izuku's silhouette. The buzzcut above the collar at his neck, the line of his shoulders, his hips, down to the fit of his trousers, the length of his trouser legs above the eyesores of his banana socks. But the coast was clear. No snaps of ugly socks on breakfast television (like last time), because Deku's trousers fucking fit. And he had often suspected it, often thought it, often imagined for it, and finally got his way on his last shopping trip: Black.

They bought a piece in black.

Cause black looked damn splendid on that nerd. And something about the dark, loose-fitting jeans that wrapped around his calves and thights ...left room for visions of strong muscles... the kind that’d slowly kill him on any staircase in the near future.

"Kacchan!" Izuku chirped, obvious as ever, thank God, as soon as the mist on the bathroom mirror revealed him standing in the doorway. "You're awake!" "More or less," he grunted. With a laugh, Izuku looked over his shoulder, lips in a small, grateful grin. Katsuki crossed his arms, trying to drown the growing warmth in something that sounded like authority.

"Ready?" It was the asscrack of dawn, and his body screamed for another hour in bed. Deku's eyes, however, were attentive and bright, and his body seemed to vibrate with suppressed excitement. "No, god - Kacchan - just no. I was never ever made for live television," he laughed shyly and rubbed his nose, "in my worst moments, I still spiral when I think of the interview training with Mt. Lady." Without taking his eyes off the nerd, Katsuki pulled a bathrobe off the hook behind the door and followed him into the kitchen. The floor was cold beneath his feet as he thrust his arms into the cozy, warm cotton. "How long do you think it’ll take?" Izuku asked, turning on the kettle. Katsuki crouched in front of the dishwasher, looking for Deku’s dented ‘lucky charm’ thermos cup. "Broadcast’s from six to eight. You could be home by nine," he muttered. A backpack landed on the kitchen table. Izuku squinted at the fridge, trying to read their rotas, while he fumbled with the zipper. "You'll be gone by then, though."

Katsuki grabbed the cup and pulled it out of the dishwasher to clean it. "Yup."

They met at the sink. "I—uh," Izuku started, eyes flicking from the sleek reusable cup in his hands to the old piece in Katsuki's hands, held together only by fond memories and long-banned chemical compounds, "where did you find that?" "In the Nightmare Void," Katsuki replied dryly over the sound of splashing water, "that crack beside your bed." Izuku snorted, the sound so loud and unhinged in the delicate moments of the morning that Katsuki startled, dropping the cup and promptly splashing himself with hot, lemon-scented foam. "What the hell, Deku—" He turned off the tap energetically, shaking off his arms, irritation barely covering the warmth creeping up his neck as he whirled to the side, "are you a damn boar—" He didn’t get to finish. Arms wrapped around his waist, sudden and solid, and Izuku’s cold nose brushed over bare skin in the deep V of his bathrobe. His heart leapt to the top of his skull and popped there. "Sugoi, Kacchan," his voice sounded muffled, face mushed somewhere between his pecs, "you're spoiling me. How am I ever going to live without you?"

Don’t. Katsuki looked down — and Izuku looked up. And there it was — adoration, trust, love — all the things Katsuki had no idea how to deal with at 4:47 in the damn morning. This guy… these eyes. These freckles. This mouth. This smile – he wanted to lean in. He wanted to. So so badly – shit. Katsuki bared his upper lip at his completely deranged thoughts before grumbling; "Any semi-literate roomie would know that..." your lucky charm is a thermos cup that had been lost somewhere in the flat for at least two weeks, and that it would only take two hours of searching and two minutes of internal war to face this gap next to your bed with the light from a mobile phone. (It wasn't really that bad. Apart from half a packet of nuts and three empty water bottles, he only found crumbs, dust bunnies and the aforementioned cup). Deku's grin turned sly, in that affectionate way that made Katsuki take a deep, silent breath every time. His skin began to buzz with irritation. "Back off or I'll do something you'll regret." "Like?" The nerd bit his lip, pink and raw, and Katsuki’s fingers (fortunately still halfway wet) curled hard into pine-green fabric as he finished his sentence, “…making me cry?”

"For fucks sake, I-zu-ku."

How dare he tempt him like that? It would be so damn easy to bury his teeth in those round, freckled cheeks right now and watch...-

"What's the letter?"

Oh. It was supposed to be R, like reliability. Rationality. Roommates - (and that's what they were, so he swallowed hard, shoving the thoughts about big, hot tears and damp cheeks deep into his subconscious) or respect. R.e.s.p.e.c.t.

"Back off," he managed, quieter.

R - like resolve, yeah. Or – resisting-

"What's the letter, Ka-tsu-ki."

His brow shot up and his teeth ground so hard, once, he thought he might have broken one. Never in who-knows-how-many years did his name leave that mouth. Deku's mouth. His lips, tongue and teeth. His fingers trembled, but that damn nerd was still so fucking close, so fucking daring – still fucking smirking.

"You've got a goddamn" he swallowed, "death wish."

"Tell. Me."

"It's R. Like –"

"Risk."

The whisper hung between them, bold and dangerous in the dawn light.

The kettle clicked off, steam ghosting past their faces. Neither of them moved until Katsuki cleared his throat and Izuku took a slow step to the side.

Seems like both of them weren’t yet ready to walk that one extra step, to cross the penultimate line, to really risk it all in a fracture of a second.

But obviously, they both wanted to be.

[mudhamster]

WBWNS: 18. December - Sugoi

"Well. That's inconvenient," Izuku smiled, holding the phone to his ear, "and Kacchan?"

Katsuki poked his head out of the bathroom, his toothbrush still in his mouth.

A blizzard had shut down the city the night before and clogged the streets. Now it was up to the agency to decide which skills were best suited for the day shifts, when there was less criminal activity and more icy roads. Both of them were supposed to patrol the eastern district today, but apparently the office had other plans when they called his private line at 6:00 in the morning. 

Izuku had put down his toothbrush to answer the unexpected call. None of his quirks were considered useful. He could think of 23 arguments against it - but as it sounded, he wouldn't be all alone in the apartment. So he just nodded, kept his arguments to himself and watched as Katsuki scratched his belly sleepily. "I'll tell him."

The blonde leaned his bare shoulders against the door frame, brushing his teeth with one hand and shoving the other into his trouser pocket.

"That was Aizawa. He called to tell me I had the day off," he explained, tucking the mobile into his basketball shorts, "again."

"Whadabou mwe?"

"On call." 

"Tch," with a nasal snort, Katsuki disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Izuku standing in the hallway, his eyes wandering across the living room to the windows. Even though the balcony was covered to a hand's breadth with blinding white fresh snow, the ice around the edges of the window panes created a strangely subdued light. A light that made you want to light a fire and wrap yourself in mountains of blankets. 

Perhaps there was an application for the television that could at least partially realise this idea. He heard footsteps in the bathroom, then Katsuki approached him in the hallway and punched him on the upper arm.

"Why do you get time off, you little fucker, and I don't?"

"Ouch," he gasped, rubbing his arm, "I guess it's because you might be called upon to clear ice or snow."

"Do I look like a damn snowmobile?"

Izuku had to laugh. Without paying attention, they had strolled through the apartment together and now they were standing side by side in front of the balcony door, looking out at the snow-covered neighborhood.

Katsuki nudged his shoulder with his own, "S would be the letter today."

"S ... as in snow," Izuku suggested, smiling softly at his words.

"Or S for shit," Katsuki mocked his soft, whispering tone and Izuku raised his hand to slap his arm as well, but Katsuki caught his fist and winked at him.

"How about S for sparring?"

"Like here?" Izuku laughed and pointed at the couch. "This is more like S for Safespace; this is not a place for combat."

"Smartass."

An hour later, Izuku was sitting in his favourite spot right in front of the couch on a large sofa cushion, his upper body wrapped in plush blankets and two knitting needles in his hands.

One of All-Might's classics was on the TV. 

Katsuki was in the kitchen, and Izuku could hear a muffled podcast and the clatter of pots and pans as he spent his day off busying himself with roasting, frying and canning. 

"Hey, nerd."

Katsuki stepped between him and the TV, squatting down and lifting a spoonful of creamy yellow sauce.

"Peanut teriyaki, try it."

"Oh," the spoon slid over his lower lip before Deku could drop the knitting needles and reach for it himself. 

The sauce had already cooled, spreading instantly over his tongue, the taste filling his whole mouth, "Hmmmm".

He closed his eyes and let out another soft moan. It was the perfect mixture of sweet and salty, the peanut, the spicy taste of teriyaki, "Sugoi, Kacchan".

Izuku slowly blinked his eyes open and beamed proudly at Kacchan. It must have been exceptionally warm in the kitchen because his cheeks were unnaturally red and he was certain that he could hear his breathing getting heavier. Izuku swallowed, sucked his lower lip into his mouth and looked at the beautiful face in front of him, not knowing what to say.

"I've tried some new sauces," Kacchan finally murmured in a hoarse voice, raising a hand and gently wiping the corner of his mouth and lower lip with a rough thumb, " wanna try the rest?"

This time, Izuku immediately stuck the knitting needles into the ball next to him and stumbled to his knees, "did you make unagi too?"

"Of course, you prefer that stuff to tap water."

Izuku held onto Katsuki's shoulder (unnecessarily, shush) and stood up. 

"Show me!"

[mudhamster]

WBWNS: 20. December - Ornaments

“You fold the paper like this over each other—the tip of his tongue danced at the corners of his mouth through his concentration—“here you can hold it, this is a bit complicated”

Deku held the paper, folded to the point of bursting, between two fingers and groped for the scissors, then he started to cut out a wobbly circle. Katsuki hastily raised his hand, “Let me cut that, you-”

“Hand strength, Kacchan,” he reminded him without looking up.

With a snort, the blonde backed away, pouting, and crossed his arms sulkily over his chest.

They had been sitting at their kitchen table for an hour, covered in colored paper, glue and thread, and the paper objects Deku was trying to make with him. He lifted one of the balls, clicked his tongue disapprovingly, and watched Deku's pathetic attempts to cut a straight line.

“Is it your ego?”

“What?”

“That's keeping you from letting me cut out this crap?”

Deku lowered the scissors and looked at him with a blank stare, then over at the scraps on the table.

“Ugh”

“Give me that,” he snatched up the paper and scissors, and tried to cut out one of the ornaments using the circle that had been drawn. But the paper was thick and the craft scissors were damn blunt, and less than half a minute later, his fingers that held the scissors were aching.

“Give it back to me,” Izuku pleaded, worried about Katsuki's fingers, ‘I can keep cutting, no problem.”

“No,’ Katsuki snapped, but still squeezed the paper back into waiting fingers, and then got up. No normal person could cut with these crappy scissors without amputating a finger eventually.

“What-”

“Wait here.”

A broad, warm hand pushed Izuku back into the chair as he tried to get up, then Katsuki had left the room and he took a deep breath. Paper ornaments, or something that resembled them in part, lay before him and he snipped a particularly ugly example into the middle of the table in a disgruntled manner.

“Try this one.”

Katsuki parted his fingers and placed the heavy handle of a metal scissors in the palm of his hand.

“Whoa, what's that?”

“An old pair of the hag's scissors.”

“Wow, I- ”

“Try it,” Katsuki urged, pulling his chair harshly off the table and sinking back down next to him while Izuku reverently raised the scissors to the paper and cut. 

“Oh my god look!” the cut was sharp and straight, and before Katsuki could point out to him HOW sharp it was, a twitch went through the nerd and a drop of thick blood dripped onto the tablecloth.

“Useless,” Katsuki cursed, pulled his chair towards him with a jerk, grabbed Izuku's bleeding index finger and resolutely enclosed it in his lips. Izuku froze, eyes wide open, the paper dropping unheeded on the table. He swallowed hard as he felt a hot tongue touch the cut on his finger. His breathing was unsteady, his heart was milliseconds away from blowing up.

Katsuki retreated, pulled a pack of tissues out of his pocket and plucked one out.

“Bathroom!” he commanded, wrapped the handkerchief around the wound and wiped the blood off the table with a second one, ”now, Deku. Before you bleed to death.”

“O-okay.” Despite the fact that Izuku would never bleed to death from a tiny wound like this, he gave Katsuki's mouth a quick glance, then stood up.

“Bandage it properly!”

“Okay.”

[mudhamster]

WBWNS: 4. December - Mint

Asking Izuku for three days in a row for a word that started with a certain letter would get boring too quickly. Besides, he had to avoid patterns as long as possible, otherwise Izuku would figure out too soon that he had a mission: to make him go out with him.

“Got any plans for the evening?”

“Me?”

They left the hero agency together and instantly the cold night took their breath away in white clouds from their lips. It hadn't snowed yet, but from the way the air smelled and the cold took possession of the streets, it wouldn't be long. A breeze carried the scent of roasted almonds to them and he heard Izuku openly sniffing the air.

Katsuki, barely averting an eye roll, pushed his hands into his pockets and frowned.

“No, Deku, your mom.”

“My m-mom-?”

“‘Course not, idiot. You didn't eat lunch, so … wanna grab somethin’ to eat?”

He looked down at the few centimetres between them, saw how Izuku's mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ as he tried to remember. Did he eat so rarely that he-?

“Oh, actually I did! I had some soba with Shouto after break. He came in late,”Izuku explained, rubbing his hands a little uncertainly, “But anyway, I still don't have any other plans now. We could go downtown, to the Christmas market? And get some snacks?”

It was such an unexpectedly brilliant idea that Katsuki was momentarily overwhelmed by the possibilities of how he would react to it, because his letter was M today and, by God, it had only caused him trouble all day.

“For some mulled wine?” he finally asked, patting himself smugly on both shoulders and taking the first step towards the city centre, in the opposite direction to their apartment.

Izuku giggled, glancing at his empty arm for less than a split second, then he caught up with him, “Or hot chocolate?”

“With marshmallows?”

Izuku narrowed his eyes suspiciously, scanning his face for a clue as to why he was offering all this, because “you hate sweet things like mulled wine or marshmallows.”

Which, of course, the nerd was absolutely right about. However, he hadn't found an elegant solution for today's letter yet, being too uncreative to meaningfully combine ‘magic’ or ‘music’ (not to mention his final boss: mistletoe - way too early, way too much) without doing something stupid, atypical or cheesy like... like dragging Deku to the theatre – he paused on the pavement.

“Kacchan?”

He stared at the guy next to him, heard himself ask “do you like going to the theatre”, and read unabashed irritation and amazement on his face again before the nerd dared to start giggling.

“What's wrong with you? Did you get an undercover team-building assignment? Do you have a bet? If so, just tell me so we can split the stake.”

Katsuki still stared at him.

“Would you or wouldn't you go to a damn theatre with me?”

Izuku's laughter got a bit more strained and then disappeared after an awkward cough. He rubbed the tip of his nose and mumbled, “I would”.

Katsuki bit his lip internally, took out his phone and yes, for heaven's sake, opened his notes app because he was (unfortunately) no superhuman and the information trickling between them on the floor were too fucking precious for later, so he wrote it down, and –

”What are you doing?“

“Did you upload an extra package of Wh-questions to your brain at the beginning of the month?” He tapped his index finger on Deku’s forehead, and he gasped in offended surprise, ”if you know what's good for you, you'll shut up for a second – oy!”

Izuku had tiptoed to a unseen spot and was peeking at his phone.

“You're not ordering any tickets.”

“So!? I asked you if you would, not if you want to –“

“You also asked if I had plans today!”

Katsuki let the phone drop, perplexed by the direction their conversation was taking. Deku would have gone to the theatre with him, as spontaneously as only the two of them would set something like this up. But it’s not supposed to work that way.

“Do you expect me to buy something immediately after you say yes to it?”

“That's precisely why we have an air fryer, a multifunctional vacuum cleaner and 10 yoga mats of different thicknesses at home, darling.”

The pet name derailed his brain. He still vaguely saw the plan to just drink a crappy mulled wine with Deku and then go home – but the plan was dangerously close to the edge of impossibility. Because Deku was standing in front of him, his gloved fists on his hips, looking at him like the smartass he was. He bared his teeth provocatively.

Katsuki did the same, his neck twitching from the feeling of being caught and his gums pounding because he wanted to sink his teeth into Izuku's knowing grin.

Damn it.

He took a deep breath, looked over his shoulder as if he were considering something, then licked his gums.

“Not today, okay?”

Izuku's body tension seemed to deflate like a balloon that had been rolled too close to the fireplace.

“Sorry. I didn't mean to—"

“Shut it. I didn't tell you to shove the idea in your deepest, most sinful—"

“Oh my god, Kacchan! What are you even trying to-?”

“Deku, god damn it,” he grabbed him by the upper arms and leaned down as close to him as he could, “shut. your. mouth. Please.”

His gaze seemed so intense that Izuku turned his head away, mumbling something under his breath, cheeks aflame, revealing his blushing neck in the process too. Katsuki let go of him, tightened the patheticly frayed scarf around his neck to protect his freckles from freezing, and shuddered. God. Too much tension for a goddamn stroll in the open.

“So,” he grumbled, “Rewind, and repeat: mulled wine?”

“Hot chocolate?”

Katsuki wanted to object outright, but then he remembered the course of their conversation, “Marshmallows?”

“Mint or hazelnut?”

“For your chocolate?”

Izuku stuck out his chin and explained, “Yep. Now we've come to the point where I've been asking you how long you've liked sweet things, so I figured-”

“Okay, okay, let's skip that,” Katsuki interrupted him, and (obviously) decided on M for, “mint.”

“The letter is M.”

Katsuki stopped in confusion for the umpteenth time tonight and Izuku's grin couldn't have been wider as he looked up at him, “I really don't know why you're doing this, or how you came up with that, but...” the cold had nibbled at his round cheeks, making them the colour of freshly cut cherries. Katsuki wanted to bite into them, too.

“But?”

“I like it.”

[mudhamster]

WBWNS: 11. December - [ ]

"Hey Kacchan," Deku's knee fell against his and he dropped his book to look over at him. It was raining heavily outside, the apartment was in the dark of the cloudy afternoon sky and only the small lamp was on to give Katsuki enough light to read. On the other side of the room, the TV was flickering at a very low volume.

"How are we going to do Christmas this year?"

"As usual," was on the tip of his tongue. That would mean they would exchange gifts early on the morning of December 24th and then head over to their parents' house. From there, they would go their separate ways until the first days of the new year.

"Why d'you ask?"

"Shouto asked if I would visit him over the holidays."

His reaction was a mean impulse he would probably never get rid of, "oh yuck," he wrinkled his nose, "don't let me get in your way."

If Deku preferred to cuddle up with Scarface instead of hoping that he would invite him to the Bakugou household for the first time, then so be it. Deku studied him for a long time, then shrugged and turned the TV back on. Hm. 

Katsuki kicked the thought around in his head and finally grabbed his cell phone. He could text Todoroki to deal with his non-existent family drama without Deku, or he could ask his parents if it would be okay to invite him over for one of the days after Christmas. 

He decided to do both. 

Not a minute moment later, Deku's phone buzzed, then suddenly, green-flaming, angry eyes grilled him to medium-rare. Todoroki was indeed very fast. 

"What did you tell him?!!"

Another phone pinged, this time the one in his hand, and he saw a thumbs up emoji on his question in the family chat. 

"Told him you were with me."

tbc on ao3

[mudhamster]

WBWNS: 9. December - Nutcracker

"They gave me the day off after lunch."

Katsuki looked up from his desk and met Izuku's almost offended look.

"My condolences?"

Izuku walked into the office, his eyebrows furrowed so deeply that they disappeared behind the curls on his forehead, and ignored him.

"The last time I had a day off was... a year ago? I had a fever then."

He dropped into his chair, lost in thought, and Katsuki reached into the small basket next to him, an Advent present from the hag, and flicked a peanut across the table. It landed in Izuku's curls, and he seemed to be so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice.

Dumb nerd with an even dumber hair routine, he thought amusedly and rummaged through his basket for more projectile material.

He tossed another nut, this time a hazelnut. Unfortunately, Deku raised his head at precisely that moment. It smacked him in the face and the idiot cried out, throwing his hands and feet up in the air. Katsuki snorted in deep amusement and blew the top three sheets of paper off of his desk in the process.

"Kacchan! Oh my God!" He threw the nut back and it whizzed past Katsuki's ear at the speed of sound and crashed into the wall behind him, where it got stuck.

They stared at each other with open mouths, until Izuku covered his mouth with his hands to hide his laughter.

"You're NOT supposed to scare me in confined spaces!"

Still stunned, Katsuki looked over his shoulder at the crushed nut in the concrete, "It was a lousy nut, Deku,"

"In my face! At my desk."

He rolled another over countless papers and Deku grabbed it angrily.

"Our desk," Katsuki teased.

"Why are you even doing this?"

As if he had been waiting for the question, he placed a miniature nutcracker between them and revelled in Izuku's surprised gasp.

"I had all kinds of ideas what to call you when you tried to crack those nuts with your bare flimsy fingers: 'nutcase deku', 'nutcrack noob', 'nonefficient-"

Crack

Katsuki stopped mid-sentence and looked at Deku's hand as it held the broken hazelnut shell.

"Kacchan, I've been training my hand strength for years," he imitated the movement, which, now that he saw it, reactivated the memory in Katsuki's head. Deku's hands in class, under the table, doing homework in the dormitory. Everywhere, really.

"Hand strength," he breathed and Izuku bit his lip.

"Yeah," He lifted the soft kernel out of its shell and rolled it back to Kacchan's side of the desk.

Still without a voice, but with a much too fast pulse, Kacchan picked it up, threw it into his mouth and lifted the tickets while chewing.

All to distract Deku.

To distract himself.

To understand why the thought of Deku cracking nuts with one hand also did something to his own.

Suddenly, Deku reached over the desk, ripped the paper out of his hands and held it high above his head: "The Nutcracker! But - that's today!"Katsuki nodded, his tongue still heavy as lead.

"Ballet!?"

Izuku bolted out of the chair and Katsuki, without knowing why, managed to get up as well and had just enough time to put his feet firmly on the carpet to catch the nerd in a jumping hug.

"I've never been to a ballet," Deku's warm breath was on his ear, his grip around his neck tight, "didn't you want to go to the theater?"

“Would you rather be in the theater?"

"No, no I wouldn't," Izuku let himself sink back onto his heels, burying his hands in his hair and another nut fell to the ground between them, "I need a new shirt. We have to go to the mall again - when are you done?"

"Same time as you," their eyes met and Katsuki took a deep breath, "as it happens."

[mudhamster]

WBWNS: 3. December - [ ]

Deku welcomed him with wide, dark eyes at the small oak table in their kitchen. It was still pitch-black outside, just like yesterday, and the rest of their flat lay in darkness. Next to Deku's large and scarred hand lay the newspaper, opened to the page with the crossword puzzle. Tch.

He was making it far too easy for him.

“Go on,” he instructed quietly, “read me one.”

“Really?’

“Don't make me rethink this.”

He strode across the kitchen, grabbed a cup of black coffee and leaned against the worktop while the other at the table combed through the small grid with his knees bouncing under the table. Deku's shoulders were hunched, his thick hood billowed around his neck and he unconsciously nibbled on his thumbnail. Katsuki casually checked the level of the coffee pot. Deku must have been awake for at least an hour. He switched on the kettle with the flick of one finger.

“How long have you been awake?”

“It dupes other birdies into raising its young,” Deku read instead of answering his question.

“Deku,” Katsuki snarled threateningly as he tossed a tea bag into a fresh cup.

“Wrong. 6 letters.”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes and Izuku continued, “starts with C, ah!! A cuckoo!!!”

Blonde eyebrows furrowed, “say that again”

“Cuckoo”

”Again,” he demanded, “double.”

The water had finished boiling and Deku obeyed him as always.

“Cuckoo, cuckoo. Why?”

“Because it sounds hella stupid, Deku. And it lifts my spirits,” Katsuki replied, swapping Izuku's coffee cup for the fresh tea unnoticed and then taking a seat at the table.

Izuku looked up from the newspaper and their eyes met. 

After an unusually long inhale, Deku slowly opened his lips, took a breath, and then said “Cuckoo” again and Katsuki chuckled into his cup in surprise. 

There was no letter today, but the nerd didn't seem to give it another thought either. 

[mudhamster]

WBWNS: 10. December - Embrace

The nerd had flown through the shops like a little green bee in search of the perfect flower. Katsuki had trailed behind. He only owned clothes that were pristine, far beyond the optical standard, so he didn't have to bother looking for himself. Izuku, on the other hand, cherished and cared for his worn-out collection of clothes, the oldest piece being a worn-out, ass-brown sweater from their high school days. Disgusting.  Yesterday, Izuku had finally bought a cute, dark green turtleneck, while Katsuki had deposited the rest of the clothes that Deku had tried on at four different shops in order to pick them up today, one day later. Maybe as a Christmas present. Maybe as a nice gesture. Maybe just because.  Yesterday's ballet had been a very special combination of cringe-fest and amazement at the flexibility of the human body. Equally more and less than what he’d expected. And even though he hadn't really felt comfortable, he had stayed until the end for the nerd.  "D'you need another bag?" a soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts.  "Nah," he shoved two more shirts into the bag on his wrist, which was already quite heavy, and the cashier smiled as she handed him the receipt. "Goodbye!"

With a nod, he left the store and stepped onto the puddle-covered street. It was drizzling. Not enough to use an umbrella, but enough to be annoying. Katsuki flipped up his collar against the wind and put on his cap, then started to walk home. He could have taken the train or the bus. But he needed time to think. 

Ten days into his plan to woo Deku out of his socks had made a few things clear to him. 

tbc on ao3