Have A Merry Christmas!

Late December, a few days before winter break. Todoroki and Katsuki were interviewed together because they took down a group of thieves called the Cider House Gang moments after receiving their provisional licenses. You and your classmates watched their interview on your phones before class starts. Much to Katsuki's disapproval, and Kaminari and Sero's amusement, the interviewers edited the videos to the point where Todoroki is the one doing the most talking. They also cut most of the footage with Katsuki in it. Sero and Kaminari laughed so hard that they burst into tears.

"Hahaha, you two were interviewed for a full hour!!" Kaminari exclaimed, bursting with laughter alongside Sero and pointing at his phone screen. "But Bakugou got completely cut!!"

"You can't even see him!" Sero laughed out.

"Use my footage, damnit...!!!" Katsuki growled in anger through gritted teeth.

"In a way, I guess they were covering for him..." Ochaco said.

Tsu nodded in agreement. You suppressed a laugh to not upset your boyfriend any further. Katsuki did three interviews with Todoroki, and in all three of them, he was mostly rude to the interviewers, scowled most of the time, and snapped at Todoroki. Needless to say, he's a far cry from your dad, but he does share a few similar traits with your mom when she was a UA student. 

"This concludes our interview with these new, reliable provisional heroes." The female reporter says on your phone. You sat at your desk as you continue to watch the news, turning up the volume so the rest of your classmates can hear. "We can't wait for them to begin their activities as pro heroes. Anything to prevent a repeat of the tragedy which befell Deika City." An image of said city appears on your phone. The city looks like a part of it was destroyed by some sort of shockwave. "Today marks the ninth day since the incident. It took 20 people just 50 minutes to bring Deika City to the brink of annihilation."

"I heard that the extent of the damage was even worse than in Kamino." Iida said, from behind. "Fortunately, the casualty count was limited due to the remoteness of the city."

"It seems the act was organized in order to illustrate the failure of the heroes, but let's hear what the citizens themselves have to say."

The screen shifts to a few random citizens. 

"It would be foolish to blame Deika City's heroes." Said a middle aged man wearing a scarf. "Rather, it's time we began discussing restrictions on Quirk usage."

​​​​​​​"The heroes aren't the ones to blame." A woman with big hair and a guitar comments. "You can investigate all you want now, but hindsight is 20/20."

"We want the heroes to keep doing their best!" A teenage girl said as her friend nodded in agreement. 

"We'll do our best too, you know!" The other teenage girl added.

"In previous incidents in which the heroes were set up, they were the ones who accepted the blame." Hero Expert Aorio Kuraitosu explains. "However, in this day and age, we have reached a turning point. Rather than placing blame on the heroes, we have transitioned to giving them encouragement."

"Everyone has a more positive perspective on heroes, now." You said.

"Yeah!" Ochaco agreed as she uses her hands to create finger glasses. "Ever since "Can't You See?" kid showed up on TV, things have changed!"

"Let's not forget Endeavor!" Mina chimed in while doing finger glasses. "He really gave it his all when he fought that Nomu!"

The classroom door suddenly bursts open.

"Don't be so optimistic!" A female voice chimed in. "You might think that the winds are changing in our favor, but if you look deeper down, what you'll find..." Mt. Lady enters the classroom with Miss Midnight. "Is a growing sense of urgency and unrest." The two female pro heroes stood in front of the Class and posed. "Were those really words of encouragement towards heroes? Or were they perhaps just a prayer for victory? Recently, hero society became tainted by showbiz. But now, heroes are back in demand in the truest sense!"

"Mt. Lady!?" Izuku exclaimed while Mineta, who is a huge (perverted) fan of the gigantic female pro hero, clung to him and freaks out.

"Since you guys are getting more media exposure now, I've invited Mt. Lady as a special guest." Mr. Aizawa shows up in his yellow sleeping bag and leans against the doorframe. "Midnight will chaperone you all."

"What media exposure!?" A frustrated Katsuki shouts. "I keep getting cut!"

"Maybe you'll do better after this!!" Eijiro enthused.

"Excuse me!" Mineta cuts in, pointing a finger at Mt. Lady. "I'm not one to talk, but isn't she the showbiz-tainted person here?"

"Quiet, shrimp!!" Mt. Lady smacks Mineta's pointing finger before pulling out a card that says "Media" on it. "Today, we'll be doing media traing! The beautiful me will teach you how to properly behave as a hero!"

"Don't really get what we're doing, but..." Eijiro faces his classmates with a determined grin. "Everyone!! Let's get with the program! Plus Ultra!!"

"Plus Ultra!!" Class 1-A cheers before putting on their hero costumes and following the adults outside.

⭐️

"We'll be doing hero interview practice!!" Mt. Lady announces to you and your classmates. She's standing on a stage with a patterned background.

"Oh, that's it?" You questioned, expecting something different.

"Yep!" Eijiro nods. "Looks like it!"

"Why don't we start with you, sweetheart!" Mt. Lady points at you with the mic in her hand.

Your emerald eyes widened and you point at yourself. Much to your dissatisfaction, the female pro hero nods. You reluctantly climbed up onto the stage as you hear your friends encouragement and comforting words. When Mineta told you to imagine everyone in lingerie, you instantly forgot about your nerves and kicked the runt in the face.

"What an incredible display, Himawari!" Mt. Lady praises into the mic before pointing it at you. 

You glanced at the microphone then at the female pro hero. "Do I pretend like I just completed a rescue mission or something?" Mt. Lady nods, and you played along. "Thank you! If I couldn't help citizens in need, then I wouldn't be a great hero."

"And what kind of hero do you aim to become, Himawari?"

"I want to be the kind of hero that people can rely on. Whether it's civilians needing to be rescued or a fellow hero that needs back up, I want to be someone who can protect the people that she loves and cares about the most."

"What a noble answer! Do you mind telling us what kind of special attacks you have?"

"Believe it or not, I came up with several. But my one of my strongest moves is called Dragon of the Aqua. It's an attack where I create a huge current of water in the shape of a dragon. There's also it's fire counterpart, Sunflower Ryu. Both of them are useful against larger opponents."

"Cute, a heart of gold, and resourceful! I love it! You know, with that brilliant personality and attractive appearance, you can make any guy you want fall to his knees~"

"She's already taken!" Katsuki shouts before you could answer yourself. 

"We're revealing our movesets?" Tokoyami questioned. "In an interview!?"

"Ahh, that's not the right mindset, UA students!" Mt. Lady crouches down to speak to the audience below her. "Not everyone knows what kind of people you are! Your special attacks symbolize who you are! They demonstrate what you are capable of! To your fellow heroes, they're key to efficient team-building. To villains, they're a warning of your presence. To the citizens, they're a signal that they can trust you with their lives. There's a profound reason as to why heroes yell out their attack names."

As you listened to Mt. Lady, you and your classmates no longer see the female pro hero as a "showbiz-tainted person" anymore.

"What the hell..." Mineta said in astonishment. "Up until now, all she was concerned about was how she looked in front of the camera..."

"It's not just Mt. Lady." Eraserhead said. "Right now, all the heroes are being pulled in... by the No.1 Hero."

While Class 1-A are in the middle of their Media training, Kami and Principal Nezu stopped by the Teachers Dorm check on Toshinori. 

 Kami knocks on the door to her husband's dorm room before entering with Principal Nezu. 

"Toshinori~"

All Might, who's sitting at his desk, turned in his office task chair to see his visitors.

"Did you pull another all-nighter?" Principal Nezu asked the former No.1 Hero. 

"No, I've been sleeping well! Please do not worry!"

Kami knitted her brows and sighed. "Toshinori, I love you unconditionally." Kami marches towards her spouse. "However, it seems that you can't even recognize your own exhaustion. You should know by now that a lack of sleep is bad for your health!"

"Haha. Sorry, love." All Might rubs the back of his neck and smiles apologetically at his wife.

"Honestly! What was so important that you'd deprive yourself to proper sleep-?" Kami sees what her partner was working on and she calms down. 

On All Might's desk, there are a bunch of documents and a notebook containing information on the Quirks of the past wielders of One For All. 

"I apologize for not taking a break, but after what happened during the joint training session, I had to look for more information." All Might glances at the notebook. "Unfortunately, there aren't many records of our predecessors, so..."

"Can you at least leave the researching to me while you take a nap."

All Might knows that his partner won't take no for an answer when it came to his well-being, so he says "very well" to Hope, accepting her help.

"You are very lucky to have such a caring lover." Principal Nezu said, making the couple smile at each other. "Also, I have a report for you two." Kami and Toshinori turned their attention to the principal. "Soon... the work studies will start again."

🎄

"Merry Christmas!!"

Class 1-A is having a Christmas party at their dorm! There's a Christmas tree with ornaments representing each student, delicious food you made with Sato, presents for gift exchange, festive Christmas decorations, and every student in Class A is wearing a red or green custom made Santa outfit. Katsuki, being his usual self, refused to wear his Santa outfit. However, after pleading and giving him the puppy dog eyes, you got your boyfriend to wear the Santa coat and the custom stocking hat.

"This is so annoying." Katsuki groaned, looking at the spiky pompom on the tip of his hat.

"Don't you love doing stuff like this for the holidays, Blasty?" You asked your boyfriend.

"No. I love you, idiot, and that's why I'm out here and wearing this stupid get-up."

"If it makes you feel any better, you look cute in Santa gear." You playfully moved the cap over his eyes.

"Hey!" Katsuki moved the cap off of his eyes. "I'm not cute, damnit!" 

You giggled and the two of you went to help your friends set up the tables. You used to spend Christmas with your parents, Sir Nighteye, and Lumine when you were younger. But after Lumine's death, you and your mom moved to Izuku and Katsuki's neighborhood, you stopped seeing your dad, and you had to keep the fact that your All Might's daughter a secret. After the move, you mostly spent Christmas with your mom. Spending Christmas with more people you care about is a lot more fun. Your parents aren't here, but you'll get to celebrate one of your favorite holidays with your friends. 

"Telling us to do work studies on such short notice..." Kyoka said as you set the Christmas Paella down on one of the tables. "I bet we're literally the busiest freshmen in UA history!"

"At least we all will be getting more hero experience out on the field." You added, giving the fruit salad you made to Sugarman. "Usually, we'd have to wait until we're second or third-years, but then we were able to get our provisional hero licenses." You handed your boyfriend the Christmas cake before getting the silverware. "And thanks to the new policy, we got the okay to do work studies."

"That's true." Kyoka turns her head to Ochaco and Tsu, who are sitting next to her. "You two are going back to Ryukyu, right?"

"I guess so." Ochaco answered. "What about you, Jiro?"

"Don't know." Kyoka shrugged.

"Maybe you can see if Gang Orca is accepting work study students." You suggested as you sat down next to your boyfriend on the sofa. "Since your Quirks are similar, I'm sure you can learn something from him."

"That's not a bad idea."

"What will you do, Midoriya?" Iida asked his friend. "Since Nighteye's Agency has..."

"Centipeder took over the Agency, right!?" Eijiro enthused. "You and Hikari could totally meet up with him again!"

"That's what we also thought, but..." Izuku's voice trailed off. 

"When Izuku called Centipeder, he said he and Bubble Girl are so swamped with work that they can't take us in for our work studies." You answer for you friend.

"Gran Torino said he couldn't take us in either. Himawari will be fine because she got more offers during the sports festival, but I'm in limbo."

"Ah, I see..." Eijiro said.

"Since this round of work studies is a mandatory assignment rather than a voluntary exercise, the school said they'd find a place for me, but... I don't know."

"Izuku's right about my options not being limited, but I just don't know which place will be the best for me."

"Then... why don't you go with Bakugou!?" Eijiro shifts his gaze to his ash-blonde friend. "You're going back to Jeanist, right!?"

Your smile changed into a frown when you heard Eijiro's suggestion. After the Kamino incident, Best Jeanist took some time off to recover from his injuries. On the day he was supposed to return, he was reported missing. You can't help but feel like it's your fault that he was fatally injured and went missing because he's one of the heroes that were at Kamino. If you hadn't gotten yourself kidnapped, Katsuki wouldn't have been used as leverage, Ragdoll would still have her Quirk, Best Jeanist would've been okay, civilians wouldn't have gotten hurt, and your father... wouldn't have lost his power. Your boyfriend noticed the change in your mood, so he wraps his arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer to him to comfort you. He knows you feel responsible for what happened back in Kamino.

"...I haven't decided yet." Katsuki answered his friend. 

"Ahh, well you and Yagi had a lot of offers during the Sports Festival, right? I'm sure the two of you can go anywhere you want!"

"It would be great to work together out on the field." You said to your boyfriend. 

"Yeah."

"So, do wanna you pick who we'll work with, or do you want me to choose?"

"I'm not interested in learning from some nameless rando."

You giggled. "You know, not all our offers are from unfamiliar heroes. And it wouldn't hurt to keep an open mind."

"Hey!!!" Mineta exclaimed as he slams his hands on the table, making the dishes clatter. "It's the holy night!! How long are we gonna sit around talking about school!?"

"What are you?" Kaminari asked Mineta. "The Yule Inspector?"

"Well, Mineta does have a point." Sato comes out of the kitchen with a delicious turkey. "Let's just sit down and enjoy the food!"

"Wait!" You quickly called out before anyone could think about grabbing a plate. "We have to wait for two more guests before enjoying anything!"

Right on cue, the main door of the Dormitory suddenly opens.

"Sorry we're late..." You all heard Mr. Aizawa's voice. "Have you all already started...?"

Your homeroom teacher enter the dorm with Eri. You almost died from serotonin overload when you saw the little girl in her own Santa clause outfit. 

"Um, am I supposed to say... trick or treat...?" Eri asked Aizawa. 

"No, you've got them mixed up." Eraserhead replied, kneeling to Eri's level.

"Eri Clause!" You and your classmates immediately left your seats to see the little angel.

"So-" Ochaco trips and slides on her belly, still gushing over Eri's cute appearance. "So cuuuute!!"

"It looks good on you!" Izuku beamed.

"Demons out!" Eri tosses soybeans. "Demons in!"

"That's Setsubun, buttercup." You giggled.

"Is Togata and Horikoshi coming too?" Eijiro asked. 

"I told them we'd be here, but they're celebrating with their classmates." Eraserhead replied before gesturing Eri towards us. Go on now, have some."

"I'm so happy you're here, Eri!" You kneeled down as the little approaches you.

"Aawww!" Ochaco squealed. "You're so cute, I could die!"

Eri brings out three Easter eggs from her pocket. "Here, take these eggs I've painted."

"That's Easter, but thanks anyway." Ochaco takes the eggs.

With Eri and Mr. Aizawa joining the party, you all continued to celebrate Christmas together. You ate the delicious food and didn't leave any leftovers, you sang Christmas songs with Kyoka, chatted, and exchanged gifts. At the time, not knowing what the future held, all you could think was, "I hope we can have a fun Christmas party next year, too" you wished that from the bottom of your heart. The Christmas party couldn't last forever, though. You said goodbye to Mr. Aizawa and Eri as they left. While cleaning up the mess caused by the Christmas party, everyone's thoughts turned back to the issue of where to go for work studies.

"Izuku, don't carry that table with all those dishes still on it." You reprimanded your friend.

"Oh, sorry!" Izuku stopped what he was doing. "I wasn't thinking much of it."

"It's okay. Come on, let us help you."

With Katsuki, the both of you picked up the dishes from the table Izuku's carrying. Todoroki, with a stack of dishes in his hands, approaches the three of you.

"Yagi. Midoriya. Bakugou." You and the two boys turned to face your half cold half hot friend, and he gives the three of you a surprising proposal. "If you don't have choices you like, I was thinking... come with me. Do a work study with Endeavor. The No.1 Hero."

To Be Continued....