Chapter Text
New York City was buzzing with Christmas spirit. Every next corner you could hear jingles and see people hanging up lights or stars on their front porch. The shops were filled with fake trees and snow, decorations spreading the kitsch of a happy, merry Christmas.
And in this buzzing and often busy time where people ran from one shop to the next, there was one boy who climbed on spots with high attention, not caring about a shout, who got his cans filled with the colors of Christmas and speed-painted his masterpieces. Most time he was finished in under ten minutes. Time was a critical point in his protest. People often called the cops as soon as they saw him climb. But he was a man on a mission. He wouldn’t leave the spot without his message. Next to him was always his best friend. A red head with spiky ends, a big smile showing his pointy teeth, but all hidden by a mask showing Santa like he wore as well. His buddy of crime. He tried to get rid of him, but he was glued to him like a bubble gum to his shoes. Annoying and disgusting. But he started to like him anyway, not that he would ever admit that.
So today they had climbed the outside of the Guggenheim museum and the famous rotunda was their victim. A few Santa Clauses were giving joy to the people on the streets, singing and hohohoing to everyone. Sometimes they were accompanied by elves wearing silly and fit tights which were disgusting and an insult to real elves. Katsuki hated it all. Christmas was a big, messed up tradition which benefited only the corrupt economy and capitalism.
“Dude, hurry up and let’s get started!” His best friend Eijirou a guy with Japanese roots called out at him and threw him the first can. A bright red type. Katsuki smirked and shook it, the picture clear in his mind.
It was dangerous. It was bright as day, the people on the streets noticed them as soon they appeared on the roof and called immediately the police but Katsuki was fast. There was probably not a single artist faster than him. In under 5 minutes the masterpiece was finished, still wet but the sirens where also quite nearby. They packed their stuff and when the first police car rounded the corner, the two sprayers descended the building. The two boys had to hurry or else they would spend the next years in prison. They ran for the next subway station, the police officers hot on their heels and left the sight of a big painted Santa on the front of the museum hanging dead by rope.
Sidestepping pedestrians the two boys entered the subway station on one side, parkouring through it and emerged on another street. They left behind the initial police officers, but more were following them. “Eiji! We have to split up! Let’s meet at Mina’s place!” He didn’t wait for an answer and jumped around the next corner, heading in a different direction. As predicted the police officers split up and chased them equally.
Over five blocks they didn’t let go of him but around another corner and out of sight Katsuki shed his Santa mask and grabbed a cheap cap from a souvenir shop. He slowed down and put on a black hoodie, turning to a bookstore to hide inside. The officers slowed down, turning frantically to check for a lead but came to a stop. He heard them shout to check their surrounding and Katsuki retreated into the back. He tried to fuse with the people, hoping to succeed. Yet he always outrun the stupid pigs.
An officer entered the bookstore and when locking eyes with him he started to make advances. Katsuki let the book fall he was using as disguise and ran for the employees only area, praying that there would be a backdoor. Luck was on his side as he escaped and ran the empty alley. He rounded another two corners with the officer chasing him and then decided to jump on a pulled-up fire stair when he deemed the distance save. His fingers just got the end of them and then Katsuki had to heave himself up. He hurried up a few flights of stairs and then hid in a dark niche, breathing hard. It took a few seconds till the police officer had caught up to him but ran right underneath him following the alley into a bigger street buzzing with people.
Katsuki waited another twenty minutes. His breathing had slowed down and slowly the adrenaline came down as well. The noise of the city lulled him into a state of trance, waiting till the air was clear. When he deemed it save to leave his hiding spot a breath of relieve escaped him.
But it didn’t last long. A dark silhouette was suddenly towering over him on the fire stairs and blocked out the light. “KATSUKI!!!”, she screamed and before he could make an out, the silhouette grabbed him by his ear and dragged him into the light. “That’s it brat! Enough of your impertinence! You’ll return home!”
“Old hag?!?!” Katsuki screamed back as he was pulled out of the niche by his ear – and indeed. Mitsuki Bakugou stood in all her glory and threating aura before him, looking as young as ever not having gained a single wrinkle since the three years when he saw her last. She wore a red, sharp coat going with white gloves and a white scarf. “What the hell are you doing here?!”
“You think we didn’t know what you’re up to?? You drop almost daily on the naughty list, don’t you dare try to talk yourself out of it!!” She pulled him further along and with a snip of her fingers they left New York City downtown and were standing in Aunt Takeyama’s living room. The house where he spent the last ten years of his seventeen years of growing up.
The rooms were already decorated with lights, stars and other glitter covered Christmas symbols. It was a cozy home filled with love where a warm, buttery smell flowed through the air. “Alright brat go pack your things while I go speak with your aunt!” Mitsuki shoved him in the direction of the stairs, not allowing backtalk and firmly made her way into the kitchen where the buttery and sugary smell came from Aunt Takeyama baking Christmas treats.
Katsuki took two stairs at once and raced up to his room under the roof, slamming the door shut behind him. Screaming loudly out of rage he threw himself on his bed, furiously hitting the pillows continuously.
“Oh lame, you have another tantrum. What is it this time? Did someone steal your crayons at kindergarten? Was your naptime disrupted? Were you forced to share your toys?” Yu, his older cousin who went to college had opened the door without him noticing and leaned lazy on the doorframe, chewing bubble gum.
“Shut up and get lost big head!” He jumped for Yu to push her out but got bulldozed back instead. She was almost four inches taller than him and he underestimated every time how freakish strong she could be.
“No chance kitty kat.”
“Fucking suit yourself!” He fell back on the bed, threw his arms over his head, and remained growling. Yu joined him, loudly chewing her bubble gum, and scrolling through social media.
“Your new piece is sick kitty kat! Look, people are already reposting the hanging Santa all over the media!” He threw her a side glance, only huffing annoyed.
“That’s all those idiots do. Should fucking start to understand the message!”
“That you wish to kill your dad because you’re feeling abandoned and lonely; seeking the attention of your parents who are busy with the family business; looking for acknowledgement and loooove? That message?”
“FUCK YOU I’M NOT!! It’s about fucking capitalism and materialism! Instead of wasting their fucking money on stupid presents-”
“KATSUKI! IF YOUR DAMN ASS IS NOT DOWN HERE IN FIVE I’M TAKING YOU WITHOUT YOUR STUFF!! IT WILL STAY HERE AND YOU’RE NOT GONNA GET IT BACK EVER AGAIN!!!”
“Fuck.” The blond boy groaned and got up to pack hastily the necessities.
“So, Aunt Mitsuki is taking you back to the North Pole? Do they have Wi-Fi up there?”
“Of course they have, they steal it from the research stations up there.”
Yu chuckled and blew her gum. “You should definitely make some murals for the reindeer barn.” Katsuki ignored her to raid his wardrobe for the warmest sweaters and hoodies, scarves, and jackets. Everything that would keep him warm went in his backpack. He fucking hated the cold. Then his laptop, his switch, his camera and artbook, headphones also went in… Where was his phone? He found it abandoned on his bed and when he check it, a new message from Eijirou came through.
‘Dude where are you? Mina gets really worried!’ He frowned. Shit he had to leave this bunch of idiots who called themselves his friends behind. He would never admit it, but he had started to like the so called bakusquad. School was most time better with them.
‘I’m not gonna make it. The old hag came back and takes me with her. This sucks.’
‘Bro what?! We’re coming over! Run away! You can crash at my place or Mina’s and after graduation we’re getting something together, we find a way!’
“KATSUKI!” The old hag shouted from downstairs and was threating to make her way up.
‘Nah, too fucking late shitty hair. Cya later.’ He shouldered his backpack and then left without another glance to his room, followed by Yu.
When Katsuki said goodbye to his aunt who was more a mother to him than his biological, he was embraced in a warm hug which he actually returned. Promising to come visit one day.
“Tell uncle Masaru that I expect a bigger present this year, will ya?” Yu squished him into her chest and petted his hair. With a low growl he shoved her away.
“You think you will get a present? I’ll make sure your sock is filled with coal!”
“Aw kitty kat! I was a good girl, you’re the one on the naughty list~”
“Alright, that’s enough of you two, we have a tight schedule brat, let’s get going.” Mitsuki shortly said goodbye to her sister and niece and then grabbed Katsuki at his shoulder to take him with another snip of her finger to the North Pole. Home of Santa Claus, his helping elves and reindeers and the place where Katsuki was born.
Mitsuki dropped them in front of Santa Claus’ house. It was just up the snowy hill from where you could see a small and cozy village at the foot. The elves lived there and most of Santa Claus’ different workshops and factories where right between their houses.
“Keep up brat! We don’t have all day!” She stomped through the snow and up the big stairs leading to the entrance of Santa’s house. Said house was in its size more like a mansion, way too big for only a single family living there. But occasional it could house the whole village for different holidays and festivities with its grand hall and gigantic kitchen. In its design the house resembled more a log cabin or an expensive chalet. Build from wood, it spread warmth, kindness, and comfort. It was the house where Katsuki grew up as son of Masaru and Mitsuki, or as they are known to the world: Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. Katsuki was not looking forward to being back here. Tiredly he sighed and followed his mom inside.
Katsuki was given time to unpack his stuff while Mitsuki was needed for an unexpected pre-birth at the reindeer barn. At least he got some time for himself before his parents would put him through the wringer as he suspected. And indeed a couple hours later when it had gotten dark outside and had begun to snow, he was called to dinner in the kitchen. Katsuki remembered that back in his childhood they would always eat in the kitchen at one of the many kitchen islands when it was just the three of them.
When he entered the grand kitchen his mom stood at one of the stoves while his dad laid the table. Feeling like an outsider he wasn’t sure what to do but as soon as Masaru noticed him, he let everything fall and embraced him in a tight hug. “Katsuki. I missed you son!” The hug was warm and stirred something in Katsuki he didn’t expect. Reluctantly he returned the hug. His dad was always the best at things like these.
“Old man, fucking missed you too.” He only whispered it, but his mom still heard and huffed at the stove, bringing a pot with meatballs over.
“You say that just a few hours after you painted him on the Guggenheim, hanging on the gallows.” Masaru laughed and petted him with a kind smile on the shoulder.
“Let’s eat and then we talk about that. I’m really glad you’re back.” Something heavy which could be guilt but would never be acknowledged by him, sat in Katsuki’s stomach. His dad was the nicest person he knew and didn’t deserve his behavior. Unfortunately, it didn’t change anything.
During dinner, his dad asked him a lot about his life in New York, about his friends, how school had been going, if Katsuki was interested in college and stuff like that. Like it was still an option for him.
“That depends on you brat”, his mother took the lead as she put the used plates in the dishwasher and crossed her arms over her chest, getting to the serious part of this evening.
“What do you fucking mean?” Katsuki scoffed and returned the glare.
“Your dad and I know exactly what you’ve been up to the last years. Vandalizing Christmas in every possibly way. But we have enough of your rebellion, we’re gonna put you in the right direction again – so if you follow through with the plan we came up with and stay on your best behavior we might let you go back to your aunt’s place.”
“You fucking mean it?” Katsuki was not stupid, on the contrary he had a really sharp mind and saw a way out from this fake place his mom had brought him back to. If he only had to play along then he would be gone sooner than he thought.
“Yes brat. You do as we say the next five weeks till Christmas and deliver this year’s share of coal while your father does his part, then you’re allowed to go back to New York. Do we have a deal?” Fuck. Delivering the coal was the shittiest move his parents could have pulled because Katsuki always been one of the kids receiving coal since living in New York. The naughty list kids were like him. And now he has to be the one who had to punish them. Fucking cunning parents. Well it didn’t matter, he would do it. The important thing was to get out of here.
“Fuck yeah. Nothing easier than that.” His mother began to smirk like the devil and reached her hand out to seal the deal. He shook it and his dad put his hand over them, sighing relieved and smiling.
“I’m glad. Everything will be fine, you’ll see.” Katsuki hated that he would disappoint his dad again but nodded along. This was his way out. He had to think about himself.
“So what’s this fucking plan of yours? What should I do?” His mom laughed out and pinned him with a treacherous smirk.
“FIRST you’re getting your punishment, and THEN we’re starting with your reeducation. Tomorrow and for the next week, you’ll start at 6am in the post office; sorting and reading through the incoming letters. If you won’t reach the same numbers of letters as the elves your redemption arc will be postponed, and you won’t make the three-steps-plan we built for you till Christmas. And that means you’ll stay here at the North Pole with us. Do you get it? Give it your all or else you stay. It’s that simple.” The old hag was dead serious and Katsuki expected some hard work because it would be still better than staying here. But really, the fucking post office?! Are they trying to kill him?? It would be hell. Mad chaos. Millions and billions of letters. Only the fastest elves worked there. It was going to fuck him over.
*.*.*.*
From morning till evening the next week Katsuki was locked in the post office. He was assigned his own small working niche and each day started with him getting three gigantic bags of letters. First he had to sort them by countries before he started to read through them. After that he had to collect the children’s wishes on a list which would later be sent to Santa’s toy workshops.
The first two days Katsuki lagged behind and Tenya, one of the elves working in the post office offered to help him out so Katsuki wouldn’t get in trouble. They knew each other from growing up together, but back then they weren’t really friends, not that anything changed since then. Katsuki still thought that the elf had a stick up his ass. Actually Tenya had been a friend of a friend but when Katsuki had left for New York and only came back every other year for a few weeks, he didn’t care to keep up with old friends and slowly lost all of them. There had only been one persistent one but not for long, Katsuki had got rid of him as well.
So when Tenya helped him the first two days out, he got interrogated by the taller elf about his life with humans and almost everything else. Every evening Tenya asked him if he wanted to join him and the other elves for their after-work drinking. The elves had a habit to meet at the small pub of the village where they drank hot apple juice together to wind down. Katsuki denied or ignored him every time. There was no use to befriend some extras if he only were here to work and get back to New York as fast as he could. So irritatingly, at one of his last evenings in the post office when Katsuki still finished up his share of letters and the other elves had gone to get some hot apple juice, he heard a heavy and dull crash just a few shelves over.
With a frown and attention on high alert he left his work spot and followed the quiet groaning. A soft light illuminated another work spot and when Katsuki came to a rest he found letters over letters scattered on the floor. The groaning came directly from a mountain of letters and some movement let Katsuki guess that someone was actually buried by the hundreds of envelops.
“Hey! You alright in there?” He leaned down to shove the letters aside only for a head with pointy ears to break through first. That head seemed awfully familiar. A mop of curly green hair accompanied by cheeks dusted with freckles, and big, round, green eyes widened by surprise.
“Kacchan?”
“Deku!?” Time seemed to freeze and both boys stared shocked at each other. It had been years since they last met and even longer since it had been on friendly terms. The elf was the first to break free from the eye contact and slowly rose up from the mountain of letters. The green haired boy was now only half a head shorter than Katsuki and didn’t resemble the scrawny crybaby Deku used to be anymore. In fact he had gained some build as far as he could make out under the white shirt, green vest, and blue pants he wore.
“What are you doing here Kacchan? Aren’t you supposed to be in fancy New York living your best life?” The dismissive tone of Deku pulled him out of his thoughts and took him directly the wrong way. Feeling challenged he stepped up and scowled down on him.
“Ha?! Why do you fucking care? What’s it to you, you sassy little shit?”
“Sassy?! I’m not sassy! And I don’t care! You don’t interest me in the least.”
“Then why did you fucking ask shit head?!” Deku huffed annoyed and put his hands on his hips.
“Oh sorry if I ask after the last thing you had said to me was that you hate Christmas and never ever want to be the next Santa Claus! It’s not confusing at all!” With another angry huff Deku turned around and started to collect some envelopes while the others started to float back into the shelves with the help of his elves’ magic.
“Update for you: nothing fucking changed! And besides, what are you even doing here?! Didn’t you always wanted to be a toy mechanic? Hypocrite.” Deku gasped and turned shocked around.
“I’m the hypocrite?! Well, update for you: I AM A TOY MECHANIC! Just because Mei and I got punished to work in the post office for a few days doesn’t mean I failed like a weakling. I’m not that useless elf anymore everyone thought I was! But why do I even try? You wouldn’t understand! You are perfect little Kacchan. Talented. Always the best. You never make mistakes and always get what you want! But that doesn’t apply to the rest of us! We have to work for what we want and sometimes still can’t get it because we are born the way we are! As stupid elves! Never gonna be more than hot chocolate addicted creatures helping Santa Claus out!!!” Tears appeared in Deku’s eyes and were angrily wiped away by him before they got the chance to shed. Frustrated the green haired elf turned to his work again and angrily mumbled to himself. Katsuki was startled by Deku’s fury and how apparently he had pushed all of his buttons with his insult. Maybe going a bit overboard with it. Though Katsuki wasn’t sure if he understood what Deku was actually talking about. This was not about being a toy mechanic anymore, was it?
“The hell Deku? What the fuck are you talking about?” Instead of answering Deku sorted angrily letters and pushed them in different shelves.
“Just leave me alone”, he mumbled and Katsuki felt his blood pressure rise again.
“The fuck is wrong with you?? I just came over to fucking help out after I heard you crash but the first thing you did was to sass me you little shit! And then you fucking insinuated shit about me. You think you’re so much better because you got to be a toy mechanic, the thing you always wanted to be? Well fuck you! You know shit! Go look down on me from your high pedestal, this is the last time you think that you’re so much better than me!” This time Izuku was the one confused by the other.
“What? Kacchan, that’s not what I-“ He only saw the blond boy with the broad shoulders leave and when he stepped out of his work spot he saw him walk down a few shelves and return to another lightened up shelf. “That’s not what I was talking about Kacchan.” Izuku mumbled winded down of his anger and returned reluctantly to his own work again. Not sure of letting his childhood best friend go once more.
In the last few days of Katsuki’s punishment in the post office, Deku and he tried to avoid each other and didn’t talk again. At the end of the week he was exhausted and couldn’t wait to leave Deku behind in that hellhole. However little did he know what the first step in his parent’s plan actually was and what it, or better who it included.