The staff at U.A held an informal Christmas party held in the teacher's dormitory each year when the kids were asleep.
This year was the first Christmas for their newest member, the cat woman counselor that had become a good friend to several of the staff already. Present Mic in particular was often seen around her both during school hours and afterward when coworkers would meet up in a local bar to relax. Recently they'd even begun working patrols together, and rumor had it at least one of them was sweet on the other.
Hizashi took a deep breath and gripped the gift he was holding a little tighter. "Here goes nothin', I guess," he muttered before quickly striding over to where she was chatting by the kitchen with Aizawa.
Elly's striped tail was twitching as she spoke to the grumpy-looking man, her smile infectious enough so that the frown he wore on all social occasions wasn't touching his eyes. He looked up sharply as his loud friend came barreling down upon them, sweating and nervous.
"I think Yamada wants to talk to you," he said dryly before walking off to get a drink.
Her ears perked and she turned just as Hizashi reached her. He handed the brightly-wrapped box to the excited cat woman and she miaowed with happiness. "For me?"
He nodded. "I wanted to get you somethin', especially since you don't have family here. It must suck."
She shrugged that off. "I'm okay with them not being here, but this is so awesome of you!" She tore the paper off and opened the box.
Elly stood for a long moment, stunned into silence. One hand crept up to cover her mouth while her eyes widened impossibly huge.
Hizashi grinned nervously. "Do you like it?"
"How - how did you know? How did you get him?!" She picked up the object inside, eyes shining like stars with pure joy.
It was a stuffed yellow dragon in pleather material, with bright purple wings, green ruffles along his back and tail and felt "fire" coming out of his mouth. Her hands shakily found the right foot and pressed it. A tinkling, pretty music box rendition of <i>You Are My Sunshine</i> began to play.
He stared, lovestruck, while she held the plush to her chest and started to cry silent tears of joy. "Oh, Hizashi!"
"You told me the story about how you lost it one night when we were at the bar. I hit up every website and all the social media I could. It was hard 'cause I had to be anonymous! Otherwise ya might've known I was trying."
"Ohhh." She put the toy on the counter beside them and threw her arms around him. His necklaces pressed coldly into her cheek but she didn't let go. "Thank you. You're the best man in the entire world."
He blinked. "Wuh - but Ches..." Yagi was sitting on a section of the large couch in the common area, talking to a few of the others. "All Might's <i>right there</i>."
She squeezed him tighter. "So? I meant what I said."
<i>She just told me I'm better than ALL MIGHT?!</i> He shook himself back to reality because she was still speaking.
"You're the best for <i>me</i>," she clarified firmly. "You're <i>my</i> sunshine. You've always been," she added very quietly.
"Welp! Th - that's uh, my name," he said rather lamely. His name did, in fact, literally translate to the word - a fact that obviously hadn't been lost on her. His gift had a double meaning; she had lost a very special stuffed toy long ago, a beloved companion she'd been mourning for years. He'd not only found the toy, but had offered himself as well. Hizashi wanted to be her comfort but now he was frozen, unable to take the next step.
Kayama had been lurking around the corner and she waved frantically at Hizashi to get his attention. He frowned at her, shaking his head - <i>please don't fuck this up for me!</i> -- but she tossed him something small. Her actions were so quick he responded in kind, snagging it in mid-air.
It was a tiny sprig of mistletoe with a red ribbon around it. He glared at her but she stared back twice as hard and started making outrageous kissy faces. His face flushed bright red and he stared at it stupidly, blinking as if he couldn't process the idea she'd presented to him.
Elly pulled back slightly, her cheeks also stained pink. She cleared her throat uncomfortably, staring down instead of into his eyes. "I'm sorry, I know I got carried away there." She laughed, a high-pitched, desperate sound.
"No, it's not you, I was just..." He reached up and awkwardly held the leafy berries above them in one hand. "Uh, Merry Christmas?"
She looked up and gasped, startled. "Hih -"
She didn't get to finish saying his name because he cut her off in the sweetest way possible. They kissed while Kayama grinned and snapped several highly detailed photos with her phone.
"You gonna blackmail him later with those?" Aizawa eyed her warily as he sipped his drink.
"Not sure," she said, pursing her lips in thought. "I might keep them until the wedding."
The dark-haired man snorted. "I would say that's jumping the gun a bit, but the way those two fit together..." He shrugged, but if he was about to say more it was cut off by a bunch of rowdy cheers. The rest of their colleagues had finally noticed the couple embracing nearby.
"Hey, look at that!"
"Aww, cute."
"Happy holidays!"
Hizashi blushed but defiantly kissed her again, refusing to let their audience stop his overdue display of affection. Elly squeezed him tightly, smiling through the kiss.
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