Chapter Text
"You come anywhere near this pot roast before it"s done, and I"ll whack you sideways," Momo threatens with a wooden spoon pointed directly at Katsuki"s soul.
He pops another handful of banana peppers in his mouth and holds up both hands in surrender. "When did you turn into my mother?" Katsuki asks around the peppers stuffed in his cheek.
"When I caught you sneaking half cooked peppers out of the crock pot for the third time."
Katsuki laughs as Eijirou carries an empty serving tray back into the kitchen. "Another round of hot cocoa, babe!"
"Already? Didn"t I just send you out there with eight mugs?"
"Yeah, and now I need six more....at least." Eijirou sets the tray down beside the stove, where Katsuki stirs a pot of home made hot cocoa. His signature recipe. "Maybe make it seven, just in case."
Katsuki rolls his eyes and laddles steaming frothy cocoa into styrofoam cups, one at a time.
Izuku races through the kitchen, skidding to a stop behind Katsuki to shove a Santa hat over his head.
"DEKU!"
Just as he flew in, he races back out, cackling like a mad man.
"NO RUNNING IN THE KITCHEN!" Momo scolds, but its followed by only laughter.
"I think you look handsome," Shouto deadpans from his place at the kitchen island.
Katsuki rolls his eyes. "You"re literally wearing a red and white striped sweater, you fricken" candy cane."
"If I recall correctly, it"s the sweater that you bought me."
Katsuki flings an empty styrofoam cup at Shouto"s head, then laughs his ass off when it bounces off and hits Ochako and Mina"s gingerbread house.
"I will float you into the attic and lock you up there for the remainder of the party," Ochako threatens as she fixes the gumdrops lining the side of the gingerbread house.
"I"d like to see you try, Round Face."
"If you two start fighting again, give me a heads up so I can video it this time." Mina teases.
"KACCHAN, HOT COCOA." Izuku yells from the living room where the party is starting.
"SHUT UP, DEKU. GIMME A DAMN MINUTE."
There"s a round of cheering and excited yells, so Katsuki can only assume someone else has arrived. And moments later, his assumption is proven right.
"Hello, friends!" Tenya greets from the kitchen doorway with an overpriced bottle of wine. "A gift, for our hosts!"
"Thanks, Tenya!" Eijirou takes the bottle and adds it to the few they"ve already received. "Is Tetsu here?"
"Yes, Izuku has already given him a Santa hat."
Eijirou smiles wider than ever and rushes between people to join the chaos in the living room. Shouto finishes off preparing the Christmas themed party favors that he insisted were necessary, and follows after him. Izuku yells something silly about the two of them returning empty handed, then marches into the kitchen to poke at Katsuki and grab a tray of hot cocoa to pass around to the recently arrived guests.
Old and new holiday music plays from a high quality speaker, courtesy of Kyouka, while classic Christmas movies play on TV at a low volume. The tree, a beautiful eight foot tall evergreen, (fake, because Izuku would have cried if Eijirou had chopped down one of the few trees in the spacious backyard), decorated in gold garland and scarlet red glass ornaments, stands tall near the back of the room in front of the curved windows.
Several people have arrived. A few are running late, due to scheduling and patrol shifts and the like, and others like to arrive fashionably late. Most are dressed in holiday attire and ugly Christmas sweaters, others in casual wear and relaxed clothing. Though, a couple....seem to have held a glitter warehouse at gun point, slathered themselves in glue, and rolled around in a pile of sequins and rhinestones.
"Do you like it?" Aoyama spins in a circle. The lights from the tree dance off his...sequin encrusted tutu and golden garland crown of mini ornaments and battery powered fairy lights.
"How could I not! Your craft knows no bounds, and I am struck blind to any and all brilliance that falls short of your own," Monoma croons sweetly with a roll to his tongue.
"I love that for you guys, I do, but you"re both giving me an astigmatism. I can"t see anything but blurred and streaky lines." Hanta holds up a hand and moves past them to sit with his back to the tree.
"Awww, come here, mi querido." Camie holds out her arms. Hanta swerves to the left and collapses onto the couch, their thighs pressed together. "If you don"t stop that, we"re leaving early and I"m dragging you to my place," he whispers against her cheek with a quick kiss.
Camie squeezes his shoulders and trails a playful finger up his arm. "You don"t have to drag me anywhere, bae. I"m a very willing companion and participant."
"BRO, ARM WRESTLE." Tetsu"s elbow lands on the coffee table, fist flexing. "Best 424 out of 846!"
Eijirou drops onto his knees on the other side of the coffee table. "LET"S DO THIS."
Katsuki stomps through the mass of people and yells over the chatter and music and noise that dinner is almost ready. He quickly adds on a few threats about Eijirou and Tetsu not breaking their nice coffee table.
The pile of gifts under the tree grows and grows as more people arrive. The smell of honey baked ham and pot roast floods the home, along with sweet peppermint and gingerbread from Sato"s freshly baked gingerbread snickerdoodles and peppermint bark cookies. Izuku flits about groups of people and eases conversation into a constant stream of joy. Eijirou brings laughter, Shouto brings smartass remarks and silly banter, Izuku brings ease and comfort, and Katsuki brings home made refreshments to warm the bellies of their guests and ensures that none of their furniture of decorations get damaged in whatever mayhem Denki, Izuku, Ochako, and Eijirou start.
He weaves back through the loitering crowd of people and bags up the now full trash can. When Katsuki carries it out the back door and into the trash bin, Hitoshi vaults over the fence.
"Santa Claus?" Katsuki jokes, but Hitoshi only says back, "uh....ho, ho, ho?"
"The hell are you doin"? We"ve got a front door, you know."
"Well, yes, but this way I can just blend into the crowd and there aren"t sudden bursts of cheers and dozens of eyes on me." He shrugs back.
Katsuki rolls his eyes. "Whatever, just take your shoes off by the back door."
Hitoshi follows him up the back deck stairs and through the door that leads into the laundry room. His shoes get kicked off alongside Katsuki"s outdoor ones that he strictly uses to take out the trash.
"Where"s the cat?"
"Probably in Candy Cane"s lap," Katsuki answers.
Hitoshi nods and nabs a cup of cocoa on his way out the kitchen. And just as he"d hoped, he managed to blend into the crowd and stealthily sneak his way over to the couch where Milk is draped half over Shouto"s lap, and half over Kyouka"s.
Katsuki pulls the roasting pan out of the oven carefully, setting it on the stovetop to baste it and check it"s core temperature. The ham looks good, and smells even better. There"s a loud cheer and obnoxious laughter from the living room, so he assumes even more people have arrived. He laddles juices and broth from the bottom of the pan, and pours it generously over the ham and between the pre-cut slices.
"Is that my honeyed ham recipe?"
Katsuki jolts as the grinch is leaned over his shoulder.
Well, she"s not the grinch. She"s worse than the grinch.
His mother.
"Ma", the hell are you doing here?"
"We received an invitation!"
Katsuki squints his eyes at her. "Deku?"
"If you mean my darling, precious, kind, and sweet Izuku...then, yes."
"What are you even wearing?" He turns fully, and the gold colored bells on her dress jingles as she sways.
"I"m Mrs.Claus!"
The Beverly Hills Version of Mrs.Claus, maybe.
"Ew."
Mitsuki smacks his shoulder. "We"re Missus and Missus Claus!"
Katsuki blinks at her. "Don"t you mean Mister and Missus?"
"No, no...Inko and I!"
"Oh, dear sweet Christmas fucks." He rubs at his eyes. "Then where"s dad?"
"Our elves are passing around gifts."
"WHAT?" He stomps past her, heading back into the living room to find fuckin" All Might and his dad, dressed as freakishly tall elves and handing out brightly wrapped gifts as Inko calls their names.
"And Sato!" Inko points and calls out names, one by one. "Oh! Hello, Katsuki dear!" She waves at him with a leather gloved hand. At least she"s dressed as Mrs.Claus should be. Long red robes, jolly hat, extra layers, and like a character from an Agatha Christie novel.
"Hello, Auntie." Katsuki greets back, then turns to his mother. "Did you buy something for everyone?!"
"Well, yes....we bribed your boyfriends into giving us the guests list, then went on a shopping spree. There"s nothing quite like retail therapy to treat seasonal depression."
"Ma"....you don"t have seasonal depression."
"I do when my own son doesn"t even invite us to his Christmas party!"
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE FOR DINNER TOMORROW NIGHT!"
"WELL WE WANTED TO SHARE THE HOLIDAY CHEER EARLY!"
"THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SMALL GATHERING?!"
"IT IS SMALL! THERE"S ONLY FORTY PEOPLE ON YOUR GUEST LIST! THERE WERE TWICE AS MANY PEOPLE AT MY BABY SHOWER!"
"ONLY BECAUSE INKO THREW IT FOR YOU AND INVITED THE WHOLE GODDAMN TOWN!" Katsuki yells back, freezing with both hands up. "Wait, did you say forty? As in forty goddamn people are gonna be under our roof?"
"Yes? It looks like almost everyone is here, though we"re missing a few." She taps her long red glittery nail against her lips in thought.
Katsuki sighs, long and hard. "Fuck it, I might need to make some more food though, because we only-"
"Oh, no need. Inko brought several dishes, and Shouto"s family is coming with even more."
"Merry Christmas!" The door flies open, as if on cue, because this is clearly a fucking Christmas Carolling Musical filmed in the 1980s.
"Mom?" Shouto stands and unceremoniously plops Milk into Hitoshi"s lap.
"Hello, my sweet snowangel!"
"SHOUTOOOO!"
Shouto winces at the sheer volume and gusto. "Hello father."
"CAN WE GET INSIDE BEFORE MY ASS CHEEKS GET FROSTBITE?" Someone yells from the porch.
Shouto ushers his mother and father inside, watching with a grin as Natsuo tumbles in after them.
"Hello, Merry Christmas, where"s the cat?"
"Merry Christmas, she"s on the couch with Hitoshi and Kyouka." Shouto answers, then gets a simple side hug before Natsuo practically pushes everyone out of his way.
"Hello! Apologies for being late!"
"Big sister!" Shouto, Izuku, and Eijirou shout unanimously.
"Merry Christmas! Dad, the pies?" Fuyumi asks, and Enji turns to help take the piles of dishes from her arms and carry them to the kitchen with Mitsuki"s guidance.
"Oh, don"t forget the cassaroles and gratin!" Rei calls out and follows Fuyumi to the kitchen with a giant picnic basket packed full of glass dishes and containers.
"Cassarole? As in...green bean cassarole?" Katsuki asks, forcefully taking the basket from her to carry it around the kitchen island.
Rei nods with a motherly smile. "And my famous potato pavé and au gratin. Yumi brought her fried spicy tofu, herbed mac and cheese, and a special serving of soba."
And like Christmas magic, Katsuki could give a fuck about having dozens of people under his roof. Because good ass food, is good ass food.
The kitchen quickly turns into a "parents only" area, with Mitsuki finishing up the honey ham, Rei and Fuyumi arranging dishes around the kitchen island to make a giant buffet, and Masaru flying around the room to grab utensils and make his mouth watering eggnog. Momo is the only one allowed in there that"s not a part of the "parental advisory committee," to tend to her pot roast and finish baking her tray of roasted vegetables.
With nothing else left to do, Katsuki finds himself planted on the couch.
"Merry Christmas, Katsuki." Inko pats his knee and sets a flat gift box on his lap. He opens his mouth to vehemently protest, but it snaps closed upon the stern look she gives him on reflex.
He sighs, "thank you, auntie," and pulls the ribbon off. The paper is easily torn, bunched up and sat aside.
His fingertips brush the spine of a very old, worn down, light brown leathered book. He opens it, and wrinkles his nose to fight back the burn of decades old emotion.
A photo album.
An old, well loved, photo album, packed full of pictures that were taken on a shitty disposable camera from the 90"s. Pictures of Izuku"s birthday parties, play dates at the park, Halloween costumes, sleep overs, all the way to the birthday party they threw for him in their last year of high school.
And out of all those pictures, Katsuki"s in the frame for almost every single one.
Inko sits beside him, and puts a gentle hand on his arm. "You"ve been such a big part of his life for so long, and I don"t think you ever realized...just how big of a role you played in his growth. This is for you, and I know you"ll love it and take care of it, even longer than I have."
Katsuki rubs the sleeve of his shirt over his eyes, sniffling harshly to hold back any snotty bullshit. "You"re sure?"
Inko smiles, gentle and kind. "I"m very sure, and there is no regifting or exchanging allowed." She adds on, firmly.
He snorts, nodding. "Yeah, no. This is...." he shakes his head. "Thank you, auntie."
"You"re very welcome, honey." She pats his arm again. "Now, put it away before Izuku sees this and starts crying. Once he starts, it"s nearly impossible to make him stop."
Katsuki snorts again, louder and more laugh like. "Ain"t that the truth."
"Kacchan, look!"
Katsuki shuts the album and Inko throws a decorative pillow over his lap to hide it.
"Mom knitted me and Eijirou sweaters!" Izuku flexes, showing off the All Might themed sweater with Christmas embellishments. Little cartoon All Mights wearing Santa hats and riding reindeer, carrying trays of cookies, and holding massive candy canes like they were weapons.
"That"s....very well made, but also an eye sore."
"BABE, LOOK! I"M SHIRTLESS, BUT ALSO NOT SHIRTLESS." Eijirou flexes beside him, and his hand made sweater is literally just of his chest. It"s a muscle sweater, and Katsuki wants to laugh but he also doesn"t wanna get whacked for it by the woman who lovingly knitted said sweater beside him.
"That"s...yep, lookin" good, Red."
The door bell rings, and Ochako vaults herself over three dozen people with the help of her quirk and lands with a ninja roll on the other side of the couch. "MOVE, I"M GAY!" She yells and pushes past people to get to the door.
"Tsu"s here!" Izuku announces in her stead.
"I gathered that, thanks." Katsuki rolls his eyes.
"Children, dinner is ready!" Rei calls from the kitchen, followed by one of his own mother"s eye-twitching cackles and All Might"s hearty laughs.
And that"s how Katsuki found himself two plates deep into a food coma, sprawled out on the smaller couch, with Izuku petting his head and Shouto"s legs drapped over his own.
"I"m so full, I can"t even breathe without feeling like I"m gonna explode," Mina complains from the floor.
"Is it Dirty Santa time?" Ochako asks from her seat at the kitchen table.
"I prefer the term White Elephant," Iida proclaims from the other side of the table. "Dirty Santa has....certain implications."
Katsuki snorts, but the hand that smacks over his mouth at the speed of All For One keeps his smartassed retort to himself. Which, rude, because it was a good one.
"White Elephant time!" Momo announces with a clap of her hands.
Izuku abandons Katsuki and Shouto to help Ochako and Camie write out numbers and put them in a Christmas Tupperware bowl for drawing. Which, again, rude.
"Ah, shit. I didn"t bring a gift for the game." Natsuo leans back in his chair and pats his belly.
"That"s why I brought two, because I knew you wouldn"t," Fuyumi sighs, pulling a silver wrapped box from her very large purse and tossing it into his lap.
"AW, HELL YEAH." Natsuo tosses it into the pile under the tree and draws a number from the bowl. "NUMBER 13! WHOOOOO-"
"Can you not scream?!" Fuyumi throws a decorative pillow at his back.
One by one, they draw numbers and huddle around the tree for the game. Inko, surprisingly, goes first and unwraps a dainty, reliable, compact, and useful book reading light that pins onto the pages and lights the page for easier reading at night.
"Oh, this is lovely!" She holds it up for others to see and lays it back into her lap. "This feels like the kind of gift that dear Tenya would bring."
"You would be correct!" Tenya smiles and knife hands in her direction.
"Thank you, sweetheart!"
"Okay, next!" Momo says, and the second draw goes to Tetsu.
"Bro, pick mine," Eijirou whispers and claps Tetsu on the shoulder. "It"s the Crimson Riot wrapped one."
Tetsu winks at him, bending to dig through the pile and pull out the exact one. He rips the paper apart, and shouts in joy.
A...jumbo container of strawberry flavored maximum protien powder.
Yep.
"Bro! This is exactly what I needed!"
"Number three! Will you steal a gift or choose one?"
"CHOOSE ONE!" Ochako yells and holds the slip of paper she drew with the number three written in red ink. She jumps over a few people sat on the floor and around the coffee table. "MOVE, PEASANTS."
And that"s how the game continues. Ochako unwraps a squishmellow, Sato gets a collection of scented lotions and bath bombs, Tenya opens a box of ivory chopsticks, Hitoshi steals Sato"s self care basket, Sato chooses a replacement gift and wins himself a set of high quality cooking knives(that Katsuki brought as his gift for the game), and Momo gets a good bottle of wine. All Might goes next, and scores himself one of Inko"s beautifully made blankets.
Rei is next in line, and wins the gift that Hitoshi had brought. Which is a twelve pack of fuzzy socks, all in different cat prints. She doesn"t outwardly threaten anyone, but it is obvious that she won"t let it get stolen during the game without putting up a bit of a fight.
To Shouto"s surprise, his father even plays and unwraps a unique snowglobe of an aerial view of the city. Mina goes next, scoring a BTS album and photocard. Aoyama picks a gold and silver paper wrapped box, which held a smaller box, then a smaller one, and an even smaller one. The smallest box holds a gift certificate for one of the nicest restaurants in town. Monoma immediately announces that it was the gift he brought, and asks Aoyama out on a romantic evening date on their next day off. While Monoma scores himself.....a silver plated, vintage hand mirror.
The game goes on, with Katsuki"s turn eventually landing next. He, unknowingly, picked the gift that Rei had brought, which is a crocheted baby blue scarf with a matching hat and gloves. When Shouto suggests trading, Katsuki threatens to bite and alligator roll him across the floor.
Eijirou gets a lava lamp, Hanta steals the lava lamp on his turn, then Eijirou picks a gift bag that"s packed full of protein bars and sweat bands.
"BRO!" He shouts, and Tetsu shouts back.
"BRO!"
"BRO!"
"BRO!"
"OKAY, WE GET IT! NEXT!" Ochako laments with a groan.
The game comes full circle, with Masaru and Kyouka going second and third to last. Masaru"s gift being a box of Belgium chocolates and luxury hot cocoa, that was no doubtably supplied via Momo. Kyouka won herself a tamagotchi and an universal phone charger.
"Okay, I think auntie is last!" Izuku declares while holding his game prize tight to his chest, which is a limited edition, Season"s Greetings, All Might coffee mug.
Everyone is laughing and having a great time. Mitsuki takes to the floor and picks the last gift. She lifts it and holds it up. "Oh, this one"s a little heavy!" The paper is pulled back to reveal a simple plastic Tupperware, packed full of-
"Brownies?" She tilts her head. "I don"t know who brought these, but I feel like it was sweet Sato!"
Suspiciously, Hanta starts sweating.
Really.....sweating.
"Hanta, look me in the eyes and tell me those are not what I think they are," Katsuki whispers with a hiss to his voice.
Hanta starts to sweat even more. "Look, man...I didn"t know there were gonna be parents here, and out of all these people, I definitely didn"t think anyone"s mom or dad would have picked mine!"
"Oh my fucking god-"
"Sorry to disappoint, but those aren"t from me!" Sato answers with a belly laugh.
The room falls silent, as some catch on and others don"t.
"Uh....Mrs.B?" Hanta starts, nervous. "I"m so sorry, but those aren"t just...brownies."
Mitsuki looks at him, then tilts her head. Camie and Mina lose their absolute shit. Denki looks like he"s about to combust in maniac levels of laughter.
"You mean these are...." She looks down at the tray, then back up at Hanta.
Hanta, regrettably, nods in acceptance of his demise.
Mitsuki shuts the lid on the Tupperware and walks quickly to the door. "INKO, WE"RE HAVING A SLEEP OVER."
"Your house?" Inko asks as she gathers her things.
"HELL YEAH," Mitsuki calls back, then sticks her head out the hallway. "REI, YOU"RE COMING TOO!"
"Are you sure? I wouldn"t want to impose," Rei starts.
"REI. MY HOUSE. WE"RE GETTING LIT LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE!"
Rei gathers her coat and purse, really with no fight at all and a whole lot of suspicious willingness. "If you insist!"
"Wait, can I come!" Fuyumi calls after them.
"I AIN"T YOUR MAMA," Mitsuki yells back.
"Yes, you can come." Rei heads for the door as Fuyumi jumps from her seat.
"WHAT ABOUT ME- MPRMHPH!" Natsuo starts to protest, but gets shoved over the back of the couch by Fuyumi, in classic big sister grand slam style, shoves him backwards with a pillow to his face.
"Should we....stop them?" All Might asks, worriedly.
Masaru sighs, "there is no stopping them."
"Long night ahead, it seems." Enji nods, arms crossed over his chest. "Looks as though we are departing early. Have a good evening, children and children"s friends." He nods to the crowd of people in general, and heads for the door.
"Wonderful party, thank you for having us, enjoy your night!" Masaru gives a polite bow and wave at the center of the room, receiving excited and happy farewells in chorus. He ruffles Katsuki"s hair and pats Shouto, Eijirou, and Izuku each on the shoulder before heading for the door.
All Might decides to do a group hug in five parts, for each side of the room and the group of people littered around the floor. Even in his smaller form, he"s a big dude with long arms and gives big fucking hugs and Katsuki"s not even mad about getting the breath squashed out of him. He bids them each farewell by name, which takes even longer, but he"s a man with a big heart and won"t let anyone go without being mentioned.
When the parents are out the door, absolute unbridled, manic filled laughter erupts from every set of lungs in the room.
"SHUT UP!" Katsuki screams, then points at one very specific person. "HANTA!"
"SHIT-" Hanta leaps over laps and furniture, attempting to make a quick escape.
"YOU GAVE MY MOTHER POT BROWNIES, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
"I BROUGHT THEM FOR THE GAME, MAN!"
"WHAT POSSESSED YOU TO DO THAT?! WHO"S IDEA WAS IT TO BRING FUCKIN" WEED INFUSED CHOCOLATE BROWNIES TO OUR CHRISTMAS PARTY?! YOU SICK BASTARD!"
One of the lamps tumbles off a corner table and Izuku"s face is so red from laughing, he almost blends into Eijirou"s hair as he leans into him and wheezes.
"I NEED HIM ALIVE, BAKUBABE!" Camie yells after them. "HE"S MY DATE FOR THE NEW YEAR ANNIVERSARY AT THE AGENCY GALA!"
"I DON"T GIVE A SHIT!"
"BRO! BRO, PLEASE!" Hanta tries to be serious, but his shouts and pleas and punctuated in laughter.
"I NEED TO BREAK SOMETHING AND IT NEEDS TO BE YOUR FACE!"
Momo reaches out and snatches him by the collar of his shirt as Tenya blocks him with one entirely too buff of an arm. Respectfully, fuck Tetsu"s work out regimen and fail-proof bulk diet routine.
"You can break faces later, at work, when chasing villians and mass murderers and petty theives. For now, we resume the holiday party with dessert and party games!" Momo announces with a certain firmness in her voice that Katsuki really wants to rebell against, but chooses not to for the sake of the after-party atmosphere he wishes to keep jolly and light.
For......reasons.
Unfortunately, Izuku and Eijirou were in charge of the first of many party games.
Which means people are taping tissue boxes full of Christmas ornaments to their asses and...attempting to twerk the ornaments out of the box within thirty seconds.
And like FUCKS is he gonna miss the opportunity to film Izuku and Eijirou shaking ass like their lives depend on it.
And thankfully, Katsuki escapes such a game with video footage of his idiots doing idiotic things, and without having a tissue box taped to his ass.
Denki and Hitoshi organized the next game, which is a gift unwrapping game. But the gift is wrapped in dozens of boxes and layers upon layers of wrapping paper, and they have to wear.....oven mits....while attempting to tear apart the box.
It takes fifteen minutes of ten second intervals for each turn, before Sato finally gets the box ripped open and triumphantly holds up a folded up one hundred dollar bill.
The next game, though.....
The next game is a class favorite.
It"s called, "Indestructible."
Which has all of them outside, under the clear starry sky, with a large box in the middle.
"This year-" Momo begins, "we had Mei create this for us! It"s, supposedly, invincible wrapping paper, layers of zip ties, a wooden box made of bamboo, and a dense metal box in the center. Inside the metal box, is your prize! We will take turns, you get five seconds each!" She lifts the heavy box and Kyouka gives her a look about lifting it. Because despite her healed body from the incident months ago and her clean bill of health, Momo still has lingering leg pains and gets back spasms from time to time.
"We will start with our most gracious hosts, and move down the line!" She hands the box over to Eijirou. "And as always, quirks are allowed!"
"LET"S GOOOOO!" Tetsu shouts and hypes Eijirou up.
Each person in their deformed circle spreads further out to give eachother and their own quirks space.
"Ready!" Momo holds up a timer. "Get set......GO!"
Eijirou"s hand hardens, and he jams his fingers into the box and claws at the stiff paper. It crinkles and finally tears just barely. He pulls at it until a singular strip of the paper rips down the side.
Five seconds are up, and the box is passed to Katsuki.
"HAHAHA, EAT SHIT, STUPID BOX!" His palms spark against the paper at full power, which he had to keep his hands in heated gloves to produce enough sweat in this godforsaken cold ass weather, and the "blast-proof" paper explodes in tiny bright red confetti pieces.
With time up, it gets handed over to Izuku.
And to be fair, Izuku uses just enough One For All to crack the wooden box into pieces.
Shouto uses his turn to rapidly heat the metal box, then cool is just as quick to attempt to brittle it"s structure.
Mina tries melting it.
Aoyama blasts the sides open easily.
Tetsu slices through the zip ties around the, now smaller, box.
Sato crushes and tears through the thick cardboard and tedious layers of cotton and wool bound around the thin sheet metal.
Kyouka passes on her turn, with Monoma copying Aoyama"s quirk and blasting the corner of the metal sheet.
It gets passed to Hitoshi next, who pretends to brainwash the metal wrap into opening itself, getting a chorus of wild laughter in return.
The sheet makes it"s rounds, with the next participant being Ochako. And, to some"s surprise and other"s expectations, she digs her fingers into the ripped and frayed metal edges and wrenches that thing open like her life depended on it. Ochako pries it open with a triumphant yell and holds up a thin transparent gift bag that"s holds a jewerly store gift certificate, a gift card for their collective favorite Italian restaurant that everyone goes to, and a single hand written coupon(made by Mei herself) for one free gear repair.
"We have a winner!" Momo claps as everyone else joins in congratulations.
Their guests return inside for cups of cocoa to warm themselves and begin putting away left overs. It"s still rather early in the evening, but with it being Christmas Eve, most everyone has evening plans of their own.
Some leave with foil wrapped plates to re-heat whenever they want, others with bowls and containers packed full of food that will last them weeks, and some leave with only their exchanged gifts and hearty farewells.
The crowd dwindles steadily. The Christmas music still plays from the speakers, but at a lower volume.
Katsuki begins furiously cleaning and yelling at people to throw their trash away before leaving. He vacuums the living room rug with pure rage and wipes down the coffee table like it was his number one enemy.
As the last group leaves, Katsuki, Eijirou, Izuku, and Shouto are left standing in the entryway.
The door shuts, they wait for thirty seconds, then Izuku and Shouto race to the back door in unbridled mischievous giggles.
"Sshhhhhhh!" Eijirou warns them. "Not everyone is off the porch yet!"
Katsuki groans and realigns the pile of shoes and slippers by the front door before following after them.
Izuku wrenches the back door open, and Momo slips back inside quietly with Kyouka right behind her.
"Did they notice?" Shouto whispers.
"Not at all!"
There"s a suspiciously loud thud upstairs. Katsuki quirks an eyebrow at Momo.
"Ochako floated herself and Tsu up to the second floor, and came through the guest room window."
"For fucks sakes, they"d better not break anything," Katsuki groans back.
"Hitoshi"s coming, hold on-" Kyouka holds the door open, and Hitoshi seemingly drops down from the goddamn roof, Denki right behind him.
"Thank you, my balls are frozen to my thigh."
"TMI, bro-" Eijirou laughs.
"Where"s Mina?"
"She should be-" Kyouka starts, but something smacks into the back deck doors behind the Christmas tree. The door creaks open, and Mina shuffles in through the crack with Hanta right behind her.
"WHY AREN"T ANY OF YOU NORMAL?!" Katsuki whisper yells.
"BECAUSE YOU TOLD US TO BE DISCREET!" Mina whisper yells back.
"Yeah, dude. It"d be super sus if like six people vaulted themselves over your fence." Denki reasons back, "so we went incognito." He wiggles his brows, like a weirdo.
"Babe, there"s eight of us," Hitoshi thumps him gently on the forehead.
"I"m not mathing on Christmas, okay?!"
"Shut up!" Katsuki turns as Ochako and Tsu come down the stairs. "We need a head count."
"I think we"re all here." Izuku holds up his fingers as he counts and looks at each person. "Eight and four makes twelve....yeah, looks good to me!"
"We"re missing two more guests, and one bimbo." Katsuki points out.
"Oh, Camie went to my place for a change of clothes and to grab more gifts, she"ll be here in like...twenty minutes." Hanta explains.
It wasn"t too shocking when Hanta asked at the last Littles play date to tell Camie of their....practices. they"d been seeing eachother in secret for too long of a time for it to be considered a secret, since neither of them are very discreet. And Camie...well, she took it well.
Really well.
Because, evidently, her, Ochako, and Denki all share a therapist. The same therapist who suggested and explained age regression therapy to her after revealing her own past as a girl who matured too quickly, and missed out on a lot of her childhood. Though Camie didn"t take to the idea of regressing herself, she was entirely supportive of the idea when Hanta finally sat her down and explained where he disappeared to a couple times a week.
Because he"d made a promise to Denki back in high school, and he"s going to keep it.
After hearing her support, and after a while longer, Hanta asked to reveal who the little is that he helps take care of. And with that, the entire group came together and held a meeting, with everyone giving their blessings and permission.
So.....this is Camie"s first time being around them all....as a family. A mixed up, dysfunctional family, but a family when they need one.
And come to find out, Camie needs a family just as much as they do.
"So......is it littles time?" Eijirou rubs his hands together and not to subtly bounces on the balls of his feet.
"You guys ready for the whole Christmas experience?" Momo teases in the direction of their regressors.
"We gotta bake cookies, play games, take baths, get into our jammies, ooooooh we got a whole night ahead of us!" Eijirou beams.
Kyouka snorts. "I think Ei"s more excited than any of us."
"I just love Christmas and family time, okay?!?!"
"Listen up-" Katsuki points at each of them, one by one, with orders. "You all need to be regressed and in your comfy clothes before anyone else gets here. I"m gonna finish cleaning. Eijirou, Mina, Kyouka, and Momo are gonna help you all get settled. Hanta, you and Toshi are gonna help me get this place Littles safe."
"On three!" Eijirou puts his hand in the middle like a dweeb.
"No," Katsuki grumbles.
Izuku yanks his arm and holds it hostage out on top of Eijirou"s. "On three!"
"What are we supposed to yell?" Mina asks when her hand is settled on top of the pile of limbs and fingers.
"Operation, Family Christmas!" Eijirou yells over the laughter and giggles.
"One," Izuku starts. "Two!.......Three!"
As their arms lift into the air, a unanimous shout of grumbles and cheerfulness echos through the house.
"OPERATION, FAMILY CHRISTMAS!"