Shopping.
Christmas shopping is a big time of the year, for customers and businesses alike. It's the time where stores can start numerous amounts of sales to make civilians want to shop till they drop. People have money to spend on gifts for loved ones and business owners are hungry for that cash.
For Katsuki, once he was old enough to live on his own, he never bought gifts from others, nor did he ever receive any. Not because no one wanted to. He specifically told people to never buy him gifts for Christmas. Instead, Katsuki bought stuff for himself. Not really as a 'Christmas gift' but as if it was just a normal day and he needed or wanted something.
Like today. Katsuki broke his favorite mug after having it for about five years. He would have bought the one he saw at the mall but it broke once again after he stumbled upon an old high school friend...
Izuku Midoriya, nicknamed "Deku" by Kacchan. Originally, it had a negative meaning, but as they got older, Izuku changed what the name meant... And so did Katsuki... But no one knew that.
After Kirishima and Izuku paid for the broken mug, they headed out of the mall, along with Katsuki trailing behind.
"Was that all you wore, Kacchan? A scarf? You must be freezing!" Izuku exclaimed.
The blonde merely groaned before he responded, "I'm fine."
"It so weird, Izuku! Katsuki never wears a coat! And he's never gotten sick!" Kirishima smiled. He came closer to Izuku and whispered, "The others and I made a theory that Katsuki's burning rage is what keeps him warm every year!" The two chuckled at the joke.
"HEY, I HEARD THAT!"
Kirishima and Izuku continued walking on the snow painted sidewalk, heading for the bus stop at the end of the pavement. Once Katsuki realized that's where they were heading, he stopped.
"Hold on, where the hell are we going? Parking lot's over here!"
"Oh, well, Izuku and I walked for most of the time! But, since the only way to get to the mall is the highway, we had to take the bus!"
"Why didn't you just... I don't know... Drive!? You have a car!"
"Yeah, but we wanted to enjoy the outside! We weren't even planning to go to the mall originally but, I'm glad we did! We got to run into you!" Kirishima smiled.
"Yeah... And break my mug." Katsuki groaned.
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous smile, "Yeah... Sorry about that, Kacchan."
"But anyway, I drove here so why don't we all just take my car? It'll be faster. Plus, there'll be less annoying people..."
"Aw sweet! That's so nice of you to offer, Bakubro!"
"Whatever." Katsuki sighed out as he turned around and headed back for the parking lot where his car was, with the other two following along behind him.
Once the car was found, Katsuki simply unlocked it with the push of a button from a little remote attached to his key ring. He sat in the driver seat while Izuku sat in the passenger seat while Kirishima took the back seat.
As Katsuki started up the car, warm air started to surround the inside, keeping everyone from freezing from the outside chill. Even the seats started to warm up! Once everyone had buckled up, Katsuki exited his parking space and left the mall parking lot.
Kirishima made himself comfortable in the back, slouching into the seat with his arms and legs stretched out. He only laid like to at for a while but popped himself back up into an upright posture as he placed his hand on Katsuki's car seat.
"Hey, Katsuki! Turn on the radio for me! I wanna jam out back here, bro!"
"No. All that's playing is Christmas music!"
"Ohhoho! Even better! Turn it on!"
"No. I'm not listening to that awful garbage."
"Aw, what's wrong with Christmas music, Kacchan?"
Izuku hasn't been around to know about Katsuki's hatred for Christmas. He knew he didn't care for it back in high school but now things had changed quite a bit. Katsuki looked over at Izuku and back at the road. Instead of having a furious tone in his voice like before, he talked more nonchalantly.
"I just think the music is repetitive, annoying, and really cheesy. It's always about love or... Santa Claus... Or snow... Stuff that bothers me..."
"Santa Claus... Bothers you?" Izuku questioned.
Katsuki had to pause his thoughts for a moment. Hearing that name brought back memories. Santa Claus... The magically, Jolly old man that delivers presents to all the nice boys and girls in one night. At least, that's what everyone thinks when they hear "Santa Claus" But for Katsuki... He had different thoughts when it came to him...
"Santa Claus is coming to town!-"
"I love this song! Turn it up, Izuku!"
The sound of the aggravating melody struck Katsuki's ears, causing him to evacuate his thoughts and focus on Izuku and Kirishima. Before Izuku's hand reached out to turn the volume up, Katsuki bolted his hand out to mute the music entirely.
"Nope! My car, my radio! No Christmas music!" Katsuki exclaimed.
"Aw, come on, Katsuki! Lighten up! The music might make your heart grow two sizes, you Grinch." Kirishima smirked.
"Shut up, I'm not a Grinch..." Katsuki mumbled, putting his focus back on the road.
The drive continued with no music playing out the radio. The only noise that could be heard was Izuku and Kirishima's constant talk about the holidays, which was just as annoying to Katsuki but it was tolerable for the time being. It wasn't before long that they made it to a new department store. Instead of a mall, it was a gigantic building with numerous amounts of all personal needs.
With the holidays coming up, sales were promoted all around the building, and much holiday decor surrounded the outside and most-likely filled the inside too.
Once Katsuki found a suitable parking spot, the redhead and green-haired men rushed into the store, admiring all of the Christmas festivities within. The entire front of the store had nothing but holiday goodies to bring cheer into the hearts of those who absolutely loved Christmas.
Katsuki took his time leaving the parking lot and entering the store. Unlike the other two, he wasn't all the fond of what was inside. He looked around to see if he could find the other men and found them playing around with the headwear.
Kirishima wore deer antlers with a red glowing nose tied into his face while Izuku had a Santa hat with an attachable beard, with some of the hairs getting into his mouth, making him spat them out here and there. The two looked in the mirror as they had fun with their outfits.
While others would find it weird two see two young men getting excited like children at Christmas decorations, Katsuki couldn't help but crack a tiny, little...
Smile.
But it wasn't necessarily towards both of them... For Katsuki's crimson eyes we're set on the green-haired Santa Claus.
There was something about hearing him laugh and seeing him smile that cause a feeling of deja vu, as well as a warm, delightful feeling within him. But before those feelings could grow, his smile disappeared and he snapped out of it.
What are you doing, Katsuki!? Don't smile! They're just being immature! Liking Christmas like that... What a bunch of children! I hate Christmas! And everyone who likes it!
He walked away from the scene and over to the ornaments. Not to look and see if they were pretty or if he'd want to buy them. He wanted to look to simply make fun of them.
Star Wars ornaments? Darth Vader with a Santa hat? A snowman Stormtrooper!? Yeesh, they just have to ruin Star Wars with their stupid money-making holiday!
Katsuki looked down the aisle further and saw even more.
Avengers!? Not them too!
Seeing his favorite characters getting holiday outfits just to be hung up on a Christmas tree made Katsuki disappointed. But besides ruining classic characters, he noticed the more traditional decor as well. One that really stood out to him was one that was glowing red from the store lights shining through it.
He carefully picked it us to look at it better. It was a somewhat translucent red heart with words encrusted on the bottom, saying "I'll give it to someone special" As a nod to the song "Last Christmas".
With the heart being clear enough to see through it, he noticed a figure in the heart. Someone across the aisle...
Deku...
Katsuki could help but continue to look his way. He slowly moved the heart ornament down to get a clear view of Izuku.
Why do I feel like this?
He hung the ornament back up on its hook, still keeping his eyes on Izuku.
Ever since I ran into him this afternoon... I've been feeling... sick...
He saw him still with Kirishima, enjoying everything Christmas related in the area. Katsuki could feel his face heating up again, his hand pushed his scarf over his cheeks on instinct.
His legs gave out a feeling of wanting to walk towards the two and engage himself into whatever they were doing but.
No.
The mug, Katsuki! You're just here for the mug!
"The mug! Right! Right! That's why I'm here!" Katsuki mumbled into his scarf as he turned his body around and began jogging over to the kitchen supplies.
Dammit, what am I doing? Getting distracted by pointless Christmas shit!
Katsuki was able to escape from his short dilemma and found the aisle full of mugs. After taking around one to two minutes of carefully searching through the supply of various designed mugs stacked amongst the shelves, he came to the conclusion that...
The mug wasn't there.
Great. Another waste of my damn time.
Katsuki sighed in defeat. Not only did it feel like a waste of time but the whole trip felt like a waste of a day.
All he wanted to do was spend his whole day at home in the comfort of his couch, enjoying the warmth of his fireplace while savoring hot cocoa and watching a non-Christmas movie or show.
But instead, he had to go and break his favorite mug that he had for about five years as a gift from Izuku for secret Santa gift shatter on his kitchen floor thanks to the patting on the bottom of his slippers.
Ever since then, it seemed like he's had bad luck all day. Well, except for one thing...
Katsuki stuffed his hands in his pockets, making his way through the rest of the store to kill time while the other two were probably still playing around with the Christmas supplies. Besides, maybe the store had more mugs somewhere else. Katsuki doubted it but it didn't hurt to scope it out.
As he had entered the entertainment section, the wide arrangements of televisions on the wall began to play an ad.
"Hey, all you Christmas lovers! As you all should know, I'm Nejire Hado! Well-known Christmas extraordinaire back for another wonderful season of the best time of the year!"
From how cheery the girl on the screen was, it quickly annoyed Katsuki, making him lose interest and start to walk away at his own pace.
"This year is all about love! Do you have a special someone this Christmas season? Or perhaps someone you want to impress?"
For some reason, those words triggered Katsuki, causing him to pause and pay attention once again. He slowly looked back up and the screen and listened.
"Well, whether you're in a relationship or have someone really special in your life, then you need my new holiday book! Available in this very store that you're in right now! It's all about tips on how to make your Christmas loving special someone super joyful this year! Wanna impress? Then buy the book today! Check you guys later and happy holidays!" The ad ended, followed by an ad for a movie that had recently released onto DVD.
Katsuki had thought for a moment... About Izuku... He absolutely loves Christmas! While Katsuki hated it more than anything else in the world, deep down he had this feeling... But what?
"Just this book. That's all I'm buying today." Katsuki placed a book onto the counter, which the worker had scanned.
"Alright, sir. That'll be 1,000 yen."
"Alright, losers. Let's get out of here." Katsuki said as he passed the two men and exited the store. Kirishima and Izuku quickly ran out to catch up with him.
"Did you find the mug!?" Kirishima asked.
"Nope. No luck. It's alright though."
"Sorry about that, bro. Wait... Then what's in the bag?"
"None of your damn business. " Katsuki groaned.
Izuku wanted to apologize to Katsuki about the mug again, but his face was freezing up too much. His gloves and jacket weren't enough to try and cover the chill from the outside air.
Katsuki had noticed and hesitated before grunting under his breath. He took off his scarf and wrapped it around Izuku instead. "There. Wear that."
Izuku silently gasped as he adjusted the scarf around his neck and face. "O-Oh. Thank you, Kacchan."
"Don't mention it."
"W-Wait! But now you don't have anything to keep you warm-"
"Don't worry about me! I'll be fine."
Kirishima looked over at the two and smiled to himself, seeing as they were getting along well just like they used to.
Katsuki kept the book covered in his bad, hoping neither of the men would notice what it was. Katsuki had no idea why he had even bought it, to begin with. His mind hadn't been acting right lately...
I hate... Whatever this stupid feeling is...