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The first thing Shoto realized when he woke up was that it was Christmas. His favorite time of the year. A day with presents, food, his siblings and mother. And best of all, reminder that his father was gone for good.
Frost covered the edges of his window and he could see the light snowfall outside, covering the ground with white. Shoto got out of bed faster than normal and changed into comfortable clothes, including a red scarf he got a few Christmases back.
The scarf was plain. The entire wool piece was a simple shade of dark red with fringes at both ends. The was nothing remarkably special about it, but to Shoto, it was everything. Having it wrapped around his neck gave him a sense of security.
At that moment, the door to his room slid open, showing the face of his older brother, Touya. A large amount of wrapped bandages loosely hung off his arms, but what caught Shoto's attention was the goofy-looking elf hat on top of his brother's red hair.
"Shoto!" Touya sang. A radiant, overpowering positive energy filled the room. "Merry Christmas!"
A small smile tugged at Shoto's lips as Touya escaped from the doorway. He made sure the scarf was wrapped securely around his neck and he left to join his family at breakfast.
The smell of delicious food was spreading around the house, one that Shoto knew and waited for year-round. He took a seat at the table and immediately reached for a plate of cold soba with a little dish of dipping sauce on the side.
"No matter what you'll always go for the cold soba, even in the winter," Fuyumi laughed lightheartedly. "I think Mom bought a more expensive kind specially for today."
Shoto chewed the noodles with a delighted expression on his face. "It's good."
"I'm glad," Rei said with relief. "But make sure to eat other foods as well, I think me and Fuyumi went a little overboard today."
"I don't think I've ever seen Shoto so happy before," Touya commented. "But then again, I'm never really around anymore, am I?"
"It must be hard having to work on most holidays," Fuyumi said. "I can't even imagine..."
"If it makes you feel better I'm always swamped with college work." Natsuo said to try and save the mood.
Even in that attempt, Shoto felt a little bit down. After his father left, he thought he would get more time with his family and fix the bonds that he couldn't make when he was younger.
But even so, Touya and Fuyumi were adults by that time, and when Natsuo went off to college, the only person he could spend a lot of time with was his mother. It wasn't like Shoto didn't want to spend time with her, but even she had work to do.
With Christmas though, everybody could get together again, even with Touya's job which caused him to work over holidays and gatherings his family hosted. Shoto always looked forward to seeing his older brother, as he was the one he could spend the least time with.
"I'm fine guys," Touya stated. He spread out his arms. "Look, I'm here now, aren't I? It's Christmas, let's just focus on that for now. And speaking of Christmas, let's open presents now!"
"You're even more of a kid than Shoto is," Natsuo laughed, sitting up from his chair. He grabbed his dirty plates and placed them in the sink carefully. "But yeah, it seems like you brought a ton of presents."
"What can I say? It's a good paying job," Touya put his plates away as well. He then went over to Shoto and ruffled his little brother's hair. "I also bought some stuff for you U.A. buddies. Tell them it's from your awesome older brother, okay?"
"Okay." Shoto said. A warm happiness filled his body and he started walking towards the Christmas tree in the large living room of the estate.
Multiple presents of several different colors sat at the bottom of the heavily decorated fir tree. Shoto noticed some of the presents he put there himself, but unlike the others they were in a bag with colored tissue paper, while the others were box-shaped with wrapping paper.
He sifted through some of the presents, and eventually found a bright red-colored one with his name on it. It said 'From Fuyumi.'
Shoto felt excited, though it didn't show much on his face. He tore the shiny wrapping and lifted the lid off a cardboard box inside. Peeking inside, he found a black photo album. He carefully lifted the album out.
Nostalgia rushed through him as he flipped through the pages, with photos of past memories that he remembered so well. He touched some of the photos gently with his fingers.
His hand drifted towards one particular photo, of them celebrating Rei's birthday one year. Like the other ones, the picture brought back good memories. He stared at it more than the other ones though.
He didn't know whether it was the white hospital room, the scar on Shoto's face, or the position his siblings were all in, but something seemed unnatural to him. Like the picture was out of place.
"Do you like it?" Fuyumi asked, breaking Shoto out of the trance he was in.
He shook the feeling out of his mind. He remembered the party well, so he shouldn't be questioning the picture. It was probably nothing.
"Yeah, I do," Shoto said. He closed the album, laid it on the floor, and then looked at his sister. "It's perfect."
That made Fuyumi pleased, clasping her hands together. "Thank you, I made sure to fill every pocket with a photo! It's a complete collection of family memories."
"Oh, Shoto this is beautiful!" Rei gasped. A snowflake-shaped jewel hung at the bottom of a sliver-chain necklace. "I love it!"
The compliment lifted Shoto's spirit up.
Deciding to focus back on his own presents, Shoto grabbed a black-colored present that said 'From Touya.'
"Did you get him another piece of clothing?" Natsuo teased, poking fun at the oldest brother. "I bet it's going to be socks or something."
"You know he loves the clothes I give him," Touya said. "He's even wearing the scarf I gave him, and we're not even outside."
Shoto ripped open the present and ignored the bickering. Inside was a pair of dark-red mittens, matching the scarf he wore. He grabbed the end of his scarf to compare it to the the mittens.
It was the perfect shade of red.
Some people might consider that gift disappointing, but Shoto it was a special type of perfect.
He slipped on the mittens and felt the softness of the wool on his hands. It was a familiar feeling, just like when he first wore the scarf he now had on.
"I love it," Shoto had stars in his eyes as he stared at the mittens. He glanced up at his older brother with gratitude. "Thank you, Touya."
"No problem, Shoto," Touya grinned triumphantly. "See, I told you he loved my gifts."
Rei giggled, feeling the love in the room. "That's sweet, Touya. Shoto, shouldn't you take off those mittens? You won't be able to open more gift with them on."
Thinking about that for a while, Shoto took them off with a heavy sigh. The mittens were perfect in every way, matching with the scarf and perfectly fitting his hands.
The morning came and went, and soon there was wrapping paper being scooped up and a ton of light-hearted laughs. With Shoto next to them, the family could let out a less mature side of them, giving back the youth they lost when Enji was still around.
The gifts from Natsuo, Rei and his friends from school were great, and Shoto loved them. But they didn't compare to the mittens he got from Touya..
The fact that they matched with the scarf he loved so much brought back so many memories. To their first Christmas without Enji. It was during a scary time, for all of them, especially Shoto and Rei.
But his siblings were a big light in the dark, and they spent Christmas caring for each other. That was also the first time Shoto got happy memory he could remember.
The red scarf was the only present he got that lasted over those years. It held comfort and love from all his siblings, so whenever he felt lonely, he could look at the scarf. But with his friends at U.A. now, he was less lonely than ever before.
It was nice to look back at the nice parts of the past though. So Shoto felt that no matter what he did, he would never be able to repay the debt he had to his family.
In fact, he had a lot of debts he needed to pay. To his teachers and friends at U.A. The heroes that helped inspire him to become one himself.
Shoto's ideal world was here, in a place where he could be happy and feel content with his life.
The snow that fell outside was inviting, after spending a lot of time cleaning up the paper everywhere. He could also wear the new mittens he got outside.
Covering himself with a jacket and snow boots, Shoto stepped outside and felt a blast of chilly wind hit his face. Puffs of breath were visible around his mouth. He carried a bag filled with Touya's gifts that were supposed to be for his classmates.
The bag was quite light, Shoto wondered what Touya got his friends.
Shoto brushed off the matter, and started walking towards the houses of his friends. He loved looking at the blinking Christmas lights and over-the-top decorations covering people's houses and businesses. It was silent outside, so he could take in the beautiful sight without distractions.
Shoto found it hard to navigate cities and streets. And addresses in those streets and cities were even harder to find. Apartments and the like were a whole other matter. But still, he continued delivering the small presents.
The bag of presents still had some leftovers by the last present Shoto gave. Looking in, he figured he had enough left to give to his teachers at U.A.
Feeling content with himself, he headed for home. His eyes drifted up to the cloudy sky, gray and covered but beautiful nonetheless.
Shoto never checked the time while he was delivering the gifts and wondered how long he was gone. It couldn't have been too long, he actually found his friend's houses faster than he initially thought he would.
Maybe he should've just waited until the next school day so he could hand them out all at once. But it didn't really matter now. What's done is done.
Shoto slipped off one of his soft, warm mittens to grab his phone. The screen lit up, displaying the time it was. He sighed in relief, it only took around an hour, which meant there was plenty of time left in the day.
He looked back up, examining the street he was on. Suddenly, the picture from earlier flashed in his mind. The feeling that something was unnatural came rushing back as well.
But why? Nothing was out of the ordinary here. It was just a very quiet street, one he went by very often. Shoto glanced both ways, feeling slight dread that made him colder than the winter air.
He kept telling himself nobody was there and that he shouldn't worry about unnecessary things. It hit him then.
Nobody was there.
It was quiet. Too quiet, not a car, animal, human there. The parks he passed by, the streets he crossed, even some store windows he looked through, the only thing he heard was the crunching under his own feet.
His pace quickened, enough so the Christmas lights decorating the houses he passed by blurred into a stream of rainbow. His heart beat faster.
Eventually, Shoto broke out into a sprint, not stopping once until he reached home. The minute he grabbed onto the door handle, he rushed through and slammed the door shut.
What was that feeling of fear?
"Shoto? Did something happen out there?" Fuyumi asked, noticing her brother's tiredness. "Are you okay?"
Shoto managed to nod, and promised it was nothing. He removed his jacket, slipped off his mittens, took off his boots, then immediately went to his room. The first thing he grabbed was the photo album.
He flipped through the first few pages looking for the birthday photo. Then a few more pages. Until the end, he continued flipping the pages. Where did the photo go? He must've missed it somewhere, surely.
He went through the album again, and sure enough, the photo was nowhere to be seen. The dread Shoto felt earlier returned. It felt like something else was in the room. His eyes darted around to check.
Shoto looked from his closet, to the window, to a mirror. His reflection stared back at him, with his normal, uninjured face. Was it himself that he felt was out of place in the photo? It seemed like he was closer to the answer.
Thinking back, Shoto tried remembering to the best of his abilities. It's not like his hair or eyes were any different. The scar he got from his mother was in there too.
...Scar?
Shoto looked back at the mirror. The big, red scar that was clearly in the photo was gone. But how did it end up in the photo then? Why was it so familiar he overlooked it?
His mother was in the hospital since before he could even remember. How could she give it to him, only to have it disappear.
Hastily closing album, Shoto left his room in search for his mother. He knew the place she would most likely be was the room with the biggest window, so he hurried there.
After going down a few halls and rooms, Shoto found the room, where he found his siblings and his mother staring out the window with a concerned expression.
"What's wrong?" Shoto asked. He took a step closer to his family and turned his head to face out the huge window. His eyes widened.
There was blizzard. Visible piles of snow stacked itself against the glass, while a flurry of snowflakes blew in every direction. Only white beating against a darkened background could be seen.
"It's a good thing you didn't go out around this time," Touya said. He pressed a hand against the freezing glass. "You could've died!"
Natsuo took a look at his phone. "There was no forecast about a blizzard. This came out of nowhere."
Rei glanced at her children. "Why don't we go-"
A sharp crack rang out.
The next thing Shoto knew, there was snow everywhere. It was cold, unbearably freezing. White clouded his vision, spraying snow into his eyes. Sparkling shards of glass exploded into the river of air.
Panic started taking over him, blocking out any sense of rationality. Through the wild stream of snowflakes, he saw red. The red was bright, like paint splattered across a blank canvas.
What was happening? Why was this happening?
"Touya! Mom! Fuyumi! Natuso!" Shoto screamed out. He heard the cries the others, but they sounded so far away.
His shouts died out in the roaring of the wind. Shoto looked around desperately, with his fingertips becoming numb and face losing color. He tried moving towards the striking red. His legs wouldn't move.
His family was nowhere to be seen. Shoto gripped onto his scarf, with all his might even though fingers were turning blue.
The red of his scarf reminded him so much of blood. Like the red drops splattered in front of him. Shoto's mind twisted at the thought, but at the same time, the cloth was so warm.
The insanity made Shoto scream. This wasn't supposed to happen. It was Christmas after all! So why?
WHY WAS THIS HAPPENING?
His body suddenly jolted upright.
Shoto's breathing was ragged, his vision blurring together and unfocused. Cold sweat dampened his shaking body. The sound of his thumping heartbeat mixed with the alarm ringing in his brain.
It was dark. Shoto attempted to swallow with his dry throat as his eyes zipped around the room. There was no snow, no red. The darkness wrapped around the entire room, with the exception of the glowing digital clock next to him.
12:06 AM, December 25.
It was Christmas.
The nightmare that shook Shoto resurfaced in his mind. He liked Christmas? What a joke. He would never get what he wanted for Christmas, it's so called 'miracles' didn't exist.
Shoto's eyes moved to the scarf that lay next to the clock. The soft fabric warmed his shivering yet sweaty hands. Patterns and multiple colors decorated the piece of cloth. It wasn't anything like the red scarf in his dream. It wasn't simple like that one was.
The red scarf wasn't burned at the end either.
The photo album he'd seen in his dream. He knew he kept it somewhere. With a shaking body, he quietly crept to the real binder on his desk.
He flicked on little light, blinding his eyes. Shoto waited for his weary eyes to adjust to the light, before opening the album. The crinkling of the plastic accompanied the flipping of the pages.
His hand stopped where the photos abruptly cut off. Half of the didn't even feature Shoto in them. Even less featured his mother in them.
Shoto turned off the light, not bothering to close the photo album. He was tired of looking at those memories that weren't his. Thinking of that life that wasn't his.
He climbed back into his bed, shutting his eyes. He hated that his brain was messing with him. A dream about that holiday he prayed would grant his wish, making that wish alive, only to take it away.
Shoto wanted his ideal world.
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3002 words
A/N- merry christmas! i hope you liked this weird, crappy oneshot lmao.
(this is a present for my sister)