Shiroi - White Day 2019

Izuku woke to powdery snow falling beyond his dorm room window. For a moment he was stunned, padding over to the glass to stare, his cheek pressed against ice-cold glass. It never snowed in March – it hardly even snowed mid-winter where they lived, so why was there suddenly a layer of white coating their neighborhood?

He bundled up in his warmest clothes, carrying his boots with him to the front door, and was surprised to find another figure already investigating. He looked strangely pretty in his burnt-orange jacket, specks of white floating on his shoulders, the tips of his ears flushed pink. Izuku smiled as he pulled his woolen hat back off, sneaking out to pull it down over snow-tipped blond hair. 

“Morning Kacchan,” he grinned, when the young man whirled around. “Do you know what happened?”

“News said some quirk went haywire, they think it'll stop soon but it might take a day or two to melt. Sounds like bullshit to me, bet it was deliberate.”

“Why?”

“Makes sense today, doesn't it?”

Izuku cocked his head to the side, but Katsuki didn't elaborate. Instead he turned away again, looking up at the rooftops coated in a fine layer, and Izuku couldn't help but smile.

“Want to go for a run?”

“Haah?”

“That's why you're up early, right? You always run! Come run in the snow with me.”

“In fuckin' snowboots and all these shitty layers?”

“Aww, Kacchan can't handle the cold.”

“Fuck off, nerd. I can still beat your shitty ass.”

“Prove it! Race you to the convenience store, loser buys breakfast!”

“You're fuckin' on. No quirks, asshole.”

“Deal!”

Katsuki cracked a little smirk as they began to jog, quickly picking up the pace when they found their footing. Katsuki jeered every time he slipped or fell behind a little, but Izuku just continued to run, giggling as they wove around early-morning commuters and other joggers. 

He was out of breath by the time they arrived, but as he touched the front door, he heard Katsuki growl. Two paces, that was all it had come down to. One little slip on the ice, one extra pedestrian to dart around. 

Not that either of them were complaining. It was more fun when it was close.

“Fine, nerd,” Katsuki grumbled, shoving the door open. “Pick your damn food.”

Izuku would have skipped if the floor wasn't so slippery, instead having to settle for gingerly stepping over the threshold to reach a rubber mat. The store was almost empty, just a few men in business suits and waterproof coats to contend with, and the hot food section was ripe for the picking.

“What do you want?” Katsuki asked, scanning the aisles.

“Something hot.”

Katsuki snorted, but nodded, marching over to the metal trays to look. Izuku smiled as he watched, a collection of hot food items gathered together into little paper bags and passed to gloved hands. As he tapped his phone over the payment scanner he glanced over his shoulder, and Izuku smiled as he hurried to catch up.

“Here,” Katsuki grumbled, sitting down at a little bar near the windows and shoving Izuku a can. “Drink.”

“Thanks, Kacchan!”

He tore open the hot cocoa and took a long sip, humming contentedly as it warmed him from the inside out. He cupped his hands around the can to warm them, watching quietly while Katsuki divvied up his spoils.

“Eat,” he said next.

He'd torn open one of the paper bags to make a makeshift plate, sliding it across to Izuku with his steaming hot breakfast. There was soup and rice, like they both ate almost every day, but also eggs and fried chicken and even potatoes waiting for him. His mouth was watering before he could even peel a glove off to pick it up, and Katsuki smirked at him.

“You think I don't know you, dumbass?”

“You know me so well!” he praised, taking a massive bite of chicken. “So good!”

They chatted quietly as they ate, discussing the latest news and incidents, lamenting their workload leading up to their final exams. It was weird to think it was almost over, that soon they would be graduating, soon they would all be parting ways. Izuku wondered if he would ever see Katsuki again, when he was no longer obligated by school and their home neighborhood, and the thought made him sniffle a little.

“You should probably save these for later,” Katsuki mumbled, shoving a little plastic package into Izuku's jacket pocket. “You don't need them right now.”

“Huh?”

He reached for the package, but Katsuki's glare halted him in his tracks, and instead he just nodded.

“Thanks, Kacchan. I'll save them.”

“Good.”

It wasn't until they parted ways back at the dorms that he finally sneaked a peek, when they'd split up to their own rooms to get changed for class, and Katsuki was safely out of sight. He pulled the crinkly package out, surprised to find a pack of pretty white marshmallows cut into flowers and hearts, but when the shock ran its course he softened a little, smiling to himself.

Katsuki certainly took his losses seriously.

─────

After their pleasant morning run in the snow, and the hearty hot breakfast on Katsuki's dime, it was almost a downer for Izuku to sit down at his classroom desk. There were whispers and hugs being exchanged all around him, maybe even more so than normal, but Izuku just leaned his head in his hand and began to read the notices written on the board at the front. They were written out in neat, even characters, much cleaner than Izuku's sloppy handwriting. He suspected Tenya was the one to do them today, Momo was a little more stylized in her writing, a little more free-flowing. None of the words seemed particularly important, if he was entirely honest, but he'd have felt bad if his best friend went through the effort of writing them out and he didn't even bother to glance at them. 

When he reached into his backpack for water, he was surprised to find a little plastic container awaiting him, fastened shut with an airtight seal. He frowned at it as he pulled it out, glancing at scrawled handwriting on a note fastened to the top.

“Give these to your friends.”

Still he frowned, trying to decipher the message, until he glanced up at the board again and his jaw fell. The last message, in bold white chalk.

“Have a happy White Day.”

He'd completely forgotten, with everything else going on. All his study, all his interning, he'd forgotten the one simple rule – his friends all gave him chocolate on Valentine's Day, he was supposed to have something for them in return.

With a last moment of hesitation he took off the lid, eyes widening when he found the prettiest little cupcakes he'd ever seen, decorated with white frosting and sprinkled with silver glitter. He could decipher the mystery later, right now he had no other choice.

“Uraraka!” he beamed, jumping up to approach her table. “Happy white day! Have a cupcake!”

“Wow, Deku! They look so good!”

“I hope they taste amazing too!”

By the time the bell rang, he'd finished his rounds, and only one cupcake remained in his container. Whoever had left them for him was prepared, there was no way they'd been so close to the exact number without it being intentional, so why was there one left?

“Kacchan?” he found himself asking, leaning over to hold out the container. “Would you like a cupcake? They're for White Day!”

A hint of pink spread through Katsuki's cheeks, and he sneered as he quickly looked away, shrugging.

“I didn't give you anything for Valentine's, nerd.”

“But you got me-” he paused, glancing around and dropping his voice. “You got me the marshmallows, right? I would have gotten you something more but I guess I kind of forgot it was today.”

“You eat it,” Katsuki mumbled, staring out the window. “They're probably really good.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. It's yours.”

“Well, okay. I'll get you something later, I know you don't really like sweet stuff anyway. Let me think about it, it just might be a little late I guess.”

“Whatever.”

He leaned back and peeled the wrapper from the last little cake, smiling to himself as he took a big bite.

It really was a damn good cake.

─────

Izuku was nervous as he knocked on the door, shuddering oddly as he waited. Half of him expected to be ignored, the other half to be exploded, but still he waited patiently. 

The lock clicked, the handle turned, and suddenly he was looking up at fierce red eyes. His sweatpants hung low around his hips, showing off a strip of skin between the waistband and his soft hoodie, and Izuku found himself weirdly fixated on it when he quickly tore himself from the intimidating gaze.

“I got you these!” he said quickly, thrusting a bouquet of white flowers at Katsuki. “I never planned to get you flowers, but I was thinking about what I could get you, and I saw these in the front window of a shop and they were just so perfect! Look, it's like they're exploding out from the center, see?”

Katsuki accepted the bouquet, staring in silence for a moment before he looked up at Izuku's flushed face.

“Come in.”

He turned and walked back into his room, and Izuku stuttered. He'd only planned to drop them off and hopefully feel like they were well-received, he'd never planned on actually staying - he had homework to do, after all – but if Katsuki was inviting him to hang out, could he really say no?

He stepped forward.

The door swung closed behind him, and Izuku looked around the room. It was messy as ever, with dirty clothes flung across the floor, the clean stuff draped over his desk rather than folded and hung neatly. He knew all Katsuki's friends would expect a perfectly clean room, what with Katsuki's perfectionist nature, and he was pretty sure he was the only one who knew the truth. Katsuki's bedroom was organised chaos – messy as hell, impossible to find anything unless you were Katsuki. He liked it that way – no one else needed to be going through his stuff, after all. He could tell you exactly which sock was covering his wallet, which precise pile of crumpled clothes held the item he desired.

“Sit.”

He gestured toward the bed, and Izuku sat obediently. Katsuki unearthed a glass jar from somewhere – clean, thankfully – and filled it with water to house the flowers. They looked surprisingly good on his desk, and oddly suited him. Katsuki wasn't what you would generally call a “pretty” person, but he certainly had his moments, and the word certainly looked good on him. 

“Pretty,” he found himself bleating stupidly. 

“Yeah,” Katsuki agreed, much to Izuku's surprise. “Thanks.”

“No problem, Kacchan! I hope you like them!”

“I do.”

He sat down next to Izuku, turning to lay back on the bed, fluffy white pillows propped against his headboard. When Izuku looked up he found an old monitor mounted to the wall opposite, some video app pulled up onscreen. 

“Want to watch with me?”

Izuku glanced at the highlighted title, face lighting up when he read the words.

“You found it?!”

“It just came out online, had to pay some good cash for it, but figured it was worth it since we- since I was busy when it was in theaters.”

“Can I stay?!”

“Yeah.”

Katsuki reached for his blankets, tucking them up around his lap, and tentatively Izuku leaned back against the pillows with him. Katsuki reached over, pulling the blanket up again, and Izuku smiled as he snuggled in. It was warm, next to Katsuki, but not overly hot. Just a pleasant comfort, especially compared to the snow they'd been trudging through all day.

“You baked them, right?” Izuku asked quietly. “You knew I'd forget.”

“Yeah.”

“I didn't realise at first, I'm sorry. They were super yummy, everyone said so.”

“No kidding, nerd,” he snorted. “You think I can't cook?”

“I know you can cook. Kacchan is amazing.”

Katsuki paused for a moment, glancing over at Izuku's beaming smile as he hit play, and tentatively he found himself reaching an arm out. Izuku froze when the limb went around his shoulders, but when no tricks came with it, he found himself slowly leaning in, resting against Katsuki's side on the tiny bed.

“I'll buy you more flowers when they die,” he said softly, closing his eyes to really take in the way Katsuki felt against him. “I'll keep finding ones that suit you.”

“I'll keep bailing you out on holidays.”

Izuku smiled, and when he looked up, he found a little smirk on Katsuki's lips too.

“Do you like me?”

“Obviously, nerd.”

“Okay, good.” He smiled, humming to himself thoughtfully. “I guess you're stuck with me, then.”

“Alright.”

“Forever.”

“Okay.”

“Even when we graduate, and everyone is getting jobs, and-”

“Deku,” Katsuki cut him off. “I said okay.”

“Forever?”

“Forever.”

He would never forget White Day again.