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“Since Christmas is approaching, a bunch of us in the Second Year hero course decided to do a Secret Santa. Hey! Why am I hearing complaints? It's just a gift exchange! What's the worst that could happen?”
A lot. That was the simple answer.
Did Toru have to jinx it?
Yuga had been through a lot over the course of his high school career, the largest of which being the main reason he'd almost dropped out of UA in the first place. The only reason he was still here was so he didn't disappoint his friends.
However, he would argue that this was up there with the most difficult things he would have to do.
Getting a Christmas gift for Neito Monoma.
Great.
That was just going to be oh-so simple.
He was already fairly certain Monoma's friends must have forced him to participate. He couldn't imagine how sour he would be about the UA Traitor giving him something.
Yuga's immediate course of action was to ask Monoma's friends about his interests. That was the only way this could end up going remotely well.
That wasn't so difficult. Mina and Toru were friends with Kendo. It was a good thing the classes had agreed that you were allowed to ask your person's friends what they liked, or he'd be absolutely screwed.
Kendo was incredibly kind, even sympathetic to Yuga's blight.
“Hey, if Neito does anything rude, just tell me. I'll deal with him.” She offered.
Yuga nodded. “Uh. . . I'll keep that in mind. Merci, Mademoiselle.”
Kendo smiled warmly at him. “Don't worry about it. I know he can be really, how should I put this, maniacal? But he's got a good heart.”
Yuga found this incredibly hard to believe. Every time he'd seen Monoma, he was antagonizing his class. Sure, he'd saved the world. But that didn't make him a good person.
Just like how Yuga saving the world didn't make up for everything he had done.
Regardless, he trusted Kendo's judgment. And he prayed she was right.
~☆☆☆~
Neito wanted to bang his head against the wall. Why, why, why?!
First, he's forced to participate in this stupid tradition. Second, he gets Yuga Aoyama.
This had to be a sick joke. It had to be. What the hell did Aoyama even like? Glitter?
Neito should just get him a shitton of glitter and call it a day. But that would be absolutely unacceptable.
Aoyama had never done anything to him, he should at least try to get him something nice.
Gah!
Why did this have to be so complicated?!
He supposed the bright side to all this was that Aoyama seemed to be one of the sweeter members of the class. That poor guy had gone through a lot.
Neito might also find him attractive-curse you, bisexuality- but that was just a tiny thing.
Reiko's friends with that alien girl. Ashido? I've seen her hanging out with Aoyama. Maybe I can get information from her.
One thing he would not be doing under any circumstances was asking them directly. Absolutely not. He would never live that down.
He walked over to Reiko's room, knocking lightly on her door.
She opened the door, blinking sleepily at him. “Who did you get?”
“. . . Aoyama.”
The slightest of smirks crept onto her lips. “Oh. Oh really?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that is certainly interesting.”
“Why?”
“No reason whatsoever. . .”
Neito backed up hesitantly. “Reiko. . . You're scaring me.” Whenever you could tell she was plotting/amused, you were in trouble.
“Apologies, Neito. I am just. . . Interested to see how this plays out.”
“That is not helping. . .”
“Heh.” And now she was laughing at him. Great.
“Can you just give me the information I came here for?”
Reiko slid her door fully open. “Alright. Come in.”
~☆☆☆~
Christmas day arrived, and Yuga was more nervous than his aunt's cat. (Aka, extremely.)
He'd shown Kendo the gift he'd bought for Monoma, and she'd told him that if he claimed not to like it, he was a liar.
The classes were hosting a combined Christmas party to make the gift-exchanging process simpler.
Monoma was standing in the corner of the room, arms crossed. He had a box underneath his left arm.
Yuga hesitantly approached him. “Bon après-midi, Monoma.”
Monoma glanced up. “Oh. Salut. Je te cherchais.” Why he'd chosen to greet him in French, Yuga couldn't be sure. Was that his attempt at being friendly? Honestly, he appreciated it.
“Ah, what a coincidence. I was actually looking for you, too.” Yuga responded politely.
Monoma raised a brow. “Oh? Why?”
Yuga smiled warmly. “I got you for Secret Santa.”
“Dude- I got you.” Monoma sounded caught between amused and baffled.
Yuga chuckled, unable to find any other emotion that would be appropriate in this situation. “What a lovely coincidence that is!”
The two exchanged boxes.
Yuga was honestly nervous to know what he'd gotten. He'd not even considered the possibility that Monoma would have gotten him. That seemed far too unlikely.
But fate had decided to laugh at him. How very fitting.
Yuga first watched Monoma as he cautiously undid the ribbon on the box. He watched the other blonde's eyes visibly light up. He looked so happy, it caught Yuga off guard.
Monoma always looked pissed off, his eyes were forever empty, and a clearly fake smile was always plastered onto his face.
Not now, though. His eyes were bright and seemed to shimmer like stars (and as someone whose eyes were unnaturally shining, Yuga could say that in confidence). His smile was so pure. . . Yuga had never seen such a beautiful thing. Not once in his entire life.
Yuga didn't think he'd receive any actual reaction to his gift. Maybe a sarcastic-or genuine, in high hopes- thanks. Not this.
He was not prepared for this.
He was Yuga Aoyama, he knew all about fronts. And what he learned today, was that Monoma was damn good at putting one up.
“Do you like it?” Yuga asked.
Monoma didn't even look up. “It. . . Is beautiful.” he sounded half-breathless.
“Really? I don't think chickens are meant to be that color.”
“Don't disrespect Shane's chickens!” Monoma snapped, but it sounded surprisingly playful. He was grinning, and it just made him look even more adorable.
Yuga smiled. A real smile. Monoma's smile was infectious for absolutely no reason. It was like Mina’s but. . . *Different*. He couldn't quite explain it. Maybe because Monoma was an attractive guy. Who knew?
Monoma carefully lifted the little ceramic item. “It's gorgeous. . . Damn. Thank you. Like. . . I wasn't expecting anything this nice. I mean. . . I've been a jerk to your class for so long. . .”
A silence settled after that.
Monoma broke it. “I don't really hate your class, you know.”
Yuga blinked rapidly. “You. . . Don't?”
“Nah. I just want to make my class more hyped up.” Monoma answered with a casual shrug.
Yuga could not help but laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of that explanation. “Was there not a simpler way to do that?”
“Sure. But where's the fun in that?”
“And here I was starting to think you weren't as bad as I thought.” Yuga teased, somewhat hesitant to test the boundaries.
Monoma laughed. “Oh, were you now? Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think you're half bad, either.”
Yuga found himself getting a tad flustered. What an odd reaction to something that hardly qualified as a compliment.
Monoma rolled his eyes. “Alright, enough stalling, open your gift.”
~☆☆☆~
Neito would be lying if he claimed to have even a scrap of confidence about his gifting abilities. That was the main reason he usually just directly asked people what gifts they wanted. He needed specifics.
Thankfully, Reiko had specifics. Thank God.
He'd gotten Aoyama an assortment of different cheeses. Because apparently the guy was obsessed with the food. Valid, honestly.
Neito couldn't help but smile when he heard the excited squeal his gift had elicited. Aoyama was seriously adorable. It was a problem. Why did he have to be so cute? How was Neito supposed to even pretend to hate someone this lovable?
Aoyama's eyes seemed to be sparkling even more than usual. Neito would have been very easily convinced they were actually made of glitter. “Merci!”
Neito looked down, because he could feel his face heating up. “You're welcome.”
He'd been trying to ignore the thoughts that had been in his head since Aoyama had walked over here. The thoughts that Aoyama looked absolutely flawless up close. Genuinely.
Neito shifted awkwardly. “So. . . I assume you're going to go join your friends now.”
Aoyama shrugged. “Hm. Maybe I'll stay over here for a bit, if you don't mind.”
Oh, lovely. Neito was going to die now. Gosh Darnit. “Yeah. That's fine. Whatever.” Really, Neito? How old are you, ten? He asked himself.
Aoyama chuckled. “It is very hard to take you seriously while you're wearing a Christmas sweater.”
Neito laughed too. “My sister made this for me. She color-matched the snowflakes to my eyes, that's why they look so out of place.”
“Your sister is a pro-hero, right?”
“Yep. Number eleven. You would not believe how many people compared me to her when I was growing up. We're, like, polar opposites. She's always cheerful, always hanging out with people, always confident. And I'm. . . Well, you know how I am.”
“A reclusive little grouch.”
Neito gasped in mock-shock. “Rude! But yes.”
Aoyam winked. “A joli reclusive little grouch.”
Yep. Death to Neito. That was today's theme. “Okay? I'm pretty. So what? You're cute.”
He swore Aoyama blushed. “Merci. I suppose we both have twinkling qualities.”
“We also both saved the world. That's another thing we have in common.” Neito really did suck at joking.
At least Aoyama laughed. “We have a lot in common, don't we?”
“Yeah. We could probably have interacted before, but I had to be bitch, just for the hell of it.”
“A very odd strategy for making friends.” Yuga said, audibly stifling a giggle.
Neito nodded, fighting down a grin. “It's definitely super effective and not at all the worst idea ever.”
“Mhm.”
They both lost their composure after that. They were laughing like idiots for a solid couple minutes. Nothing was even that funny. They were just having that effect on each other.
Neito suddenly became aware that he was being stared at. He turned, seeing Reiko and Itsuka watching him. Ashido and Hagakure were also there. When they realized he'd noticed them, they waved at him and scampered away.
What the fuck?
Well, the fuck was that they were obviously very curious as to how the hell Aoyama and Neito were getting along. Or were placing bets on how the conversation was going. Or were not at all surprised they could get along but wanted to confirm. Or-
“Monoma?”
Neito snapped his attention back to Aoyama. “I think our friends are judging us.”
Aoyama snorted in amusement. “Yeah, probably. I'd bet money they did this on purpose.”
“Nah. Itsuka wouldn't do that, nor let it happen. But they're definitely not disappointed with the results.”
“And what are the results?” Aoyama seemed to be a little scared to ask.
Neito tried to shrug nonchalantly, but his brain short-circuited halfway through. “The results are that we're friends. . . I guess.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“. . . Not that we're friends- ach- nevermind. I just mean. . . Fuck, my brain isn't working. Um. . . Friends? At least for now? Shit. That sounded weird-”
Aoyama covered his mouth with his hand while he laughed. “Okay. I think I understand what you're attempting to say. Qui, we can be friends.”
“Cool. Our friends are never letting us live this down.”
Aoyama winked. “I'm okay with that, if it means we can be friends. For now.”