The Disaster

As the class representative, it was Iida's job, his duty to ensure that the entire class was engaged and doing the best they possibly could. That meant keeping them on track during class, ensuring that his classmates were studying for exams, and advocating for all of their success.

It also meant that he was responsible for keeping everyone at a normal level of stress. The hero course was no easy thing to go through, and everyone was bound to have some pent-up frustrations that they needed to let loose every once in a while. So, Iida decided, since it was approaching the holidays, he'd put on an event for the class to help everyone calm down.

"Attention everyone!" Iida yelled from the lectern at the front of the room, after Aizawa gave him the floor. The class, who had previously been whispering amongst each other, quickly quieted down, looking to Iida.

"As students in the hero course, we undoubtedly have a lot of pressure on our backs to succeed, but that also means that we need to have something to calm down every once in a while! Since the holidays are approaching, I decided that I would start a class event!" Iida reached behind the lecturn, picking out the bowl that he'd prepared before class. On the inside were twenty slips of paper, each folded neatly in half, concealing what was written on it.

"We shall be doing a secret exchange of gifts to celebrate the holiday season! Everyone will pick out a slip of paper, and must buy a gift for the person that they choose! Please, come up to the front and get in a single file line!"

Mina was the first one to stand up, though it was more of a jump. Iida almost reprimanded her for running in the classroom, but she seemed to keep her speed in check as to not set him off. "I can't believe we're doing a secret santa! I wonder who I'll get…" She reached into the cup, taking a slip of paper, before smiling and walking away.

The rest of the class went through the line, grabbing a paper and walking away, some making comments about the activity.

"This is stupid." Bakugo said as he got to the front of the line, but at least he chose a paper. Iida didn't want to have to give a lecture on the importance of participation, but he would if he needed to.

"I hope I get Yaoyorozu…" Mineta snarled as he grabbed his piece of paper. Iida sighed.

"All gifts must be appropriate." Iida added, much to Mineta's dismay.

The rest of the class grabbed their slips of paper and returned to their seats. Some people were smiling widely, while others had neutral expressions. Bakugo held his ever present scowl.

"We will exchange gifts in two weeks!" Iida said, the last slip of paper, his assignment, out of the bowl. Feeling like the entire operation was a success so far, Iida walked back to his seat. Only then did he peek at the name scribbled on the paper in his own, neat handwriting.

Midoriya Izuku

Iida smiled, knowing that it was going to be easy to find a gift for the boy.

Turns out, Iida was mistaken. Sitting in his dorm room at the end of the day, Iida couldn't help but feel a little bummed out. He'd thought that a gift for Izuku would've been the easiest thing in the world to come up with an idea for, but it turns out that couldn't be further from the truth.

At first, Iida had thought of giving Izuku some All Might-related memorabilia, before quickly realizing that Izuku probably owned at least one of every single reasonably-priced piece of merchandise related to the former number one hero. It wasn't like he could ask Izuku either, since that would make it obvious that Iida was his gifter.

Other than All Might merchandise, nothing came to mind for a gift. Izuku wasn't exactly the most...outgoing of people. Iida probably knew him best out of most of his classmates, and even he had no idea what Izuku would like. He didn't talk much about himself, and when he did, it was few and far between.

Finally, there was the problem of guilt. Izuku was in Iida's group of close friends, consisting of himself, Izuku, and Uraraka. While Iida tried to remain partial to all of his classmates, as was his duty as class representative, he did consider those two his closest friends. If he got a present for one of them, even if they were his assigned person, he couldn't help but feel bad for not getting the other one a present as well.

It was quite the precarious position to be in. He didn't know what to get for Izuku, and when he finally decided on something, he'd feel bad that he only got a gift for one person in his close friend group.

With a sigh, Iida pulled himself out of his chair, getting ready to head to the kitchen. There were usually at least a few people in there, and perhaps he could get a few ideas by listening to them. Not to mention keeping them out of trouble, as was his duty as class representative.

Straightening his back, Iida grabbed the door handle and twisted.

Kirishima and Kaminari were sitting in the kitchen when Iida walked in. Kirishima was looking for food in the fridge, while Kaminari was sitting on the back of the couch. They seemed to be engaged in a conversation.

"Hey, Iida." Kirishima said, shutting the fridge, having pulled out a half gallon of orange juice. Iida nodded back to his classmate before proceeding to walk over to the sink.

"So, yeah, I don't really know what to do. I already had plans to get a present for the person I drew from the bowl. Should I just make my Secret Santa gift the same as my Christmas gift? Or would I seem cheap if I do that?" Kaminari threw his arms into the air in exasperation. Kirishima finished pouring his glass and turned around. Iida, meanwhile, grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and began filling it with water.

I didn't think about that part. I need to think these things through next time. How might official class activities interfere with preconceived plans? Iida chided himself silently. He shut off the tap, walking over to a coffee table to sit down and listen in on the rest of the conversation.

"Well, you could always do both…" Kirishima suggested, "It might make you seem a little over caring, but from what I know about you two, I don't think that'll matter."

Suddenly, an idea popped into Iida's mind. If he was worrying about getting only one of his friends a present, then he should just get both of them a gift.

"That's it!" Iida said, jumping out of his chair and heading straight towards the door of the dorm building, storming out in a speed-walk.

Kirishima and Kaminari just looked at the door as it swung shut, confused as to what had just happened. "Did he take the glass with him?"

"He totally took the glass with him."

Iida was sitting on the train as it took him to his destination. Turns out he'd taken the class from the kitchen with him, so he'd drawn a few gazes from other passengers, but that didn't bother him much. He still needed to return the glas when he got back to the dorm building.

The plan was flawless. He wouldn't get two seperate gifts, no, he had to follow his own rules. For the event, he'd only get a present for the person that he'd drawn from the bowl. Instead, he'd be giving Izuku a gift that both he and Uraraka could share and appreciate.

In fact, with the idea he had in mind, he could hit two birds with one stone. He could get the Secret Santa gift for Izuku, while also getting a gift to congratulate Izuku and Ochako on their recent development from friends to being in a relationship.

Iida had been surprised originally when Izuku and Ochako hadn't told him about their relationship. Perhaps they'd been trying to keep it under the radar, so naturally, he hadn't made a big deal about it once he'd figured out. He'd just thought that since they were so close as friends that they'd at least let him know. Being engaged in romantic relations was a big change within a friend group, afterall.

Iida was over it, though. He'd figured out about their relationship from his own impeccable observation skills. Over the last few weeks, they'd spent even more time together than normal, and Iida caught the happy smiles they sent each other every once in a while. The biggest evidence, though, had been when Iida had walked in on them, leaned up against each other in the corner of a room, both fast asleep. That was evidence enough to suggest a relationship had developed, they'd even been holding hands while sleeping.

The sound of the train pulling into the station filled Iida's ears, so he shot up, preparing to disembark from the train. His destination wasn't very far away, even without the use of his quirk. Looking up at the big sign outside the door, Iida went inside.

Jewelry the sign read.

The commission was projected to only take a week, which was good, since the gift exchange was scheduled for two weeks. The time flew by faster than Iida anticipated.

With all the excitement regarding the holidays, classes flew by and there wasn't much behavior to moderate in the dorms, especially with how busy everyone was with preparing for the holidays. Some people set up a christmas tree on the main floor, and the area quickly started to fill up with presents.

Some were labelled from one person to another, while some were labelled to one person from a "secret santa". The presents started to stack even more, and it eventually got to the point where the stack of boxes was as tall as the tree. No problem is unsolvable, though.

Iida asked Yui Kodai from class 1-b to come in enlarge the tree so that the presents fit under it once more. Or that would have been the plan, until he realized that her quirk did not work on organic objects. So, he had to go with the second best option: another, bigger tree.

That plan blew up in his face when Bakugo was the one to go select the new tree. He'd come back with a pine tree so tall that the top three feet had to get cut off in order for it to stand upright and not hit the ceiling. At least the presents all fit under it now.

Later that week, Iida got the call from the jeweler that his present had been completed. He retrieved it, wrapping the small velvet box in wrapping paper neatly before placing it under the tree.

Eventually, the day that they were all to exchange gifts came along. Everyone got up before class like kids on Christmas morning, banging on doors to get everyone to come downstairs. Naturally, Iida had already been awake when Mina came pounding on his door. When he got downstairs, there were only a few people that they had to wait on before getting started.

Many of the gifts were thought out and seemed genuine, which had been the idea Iida had been going for. Kaminari got Jirou a new headphone amplifier, which had earned him a jab in the side for overlooking the fact that her quirk worked like a headphone amplifier anyways, so the appliance was useless. In the end, however, she'd kept the gift, saying "It's the thought that counts."

Mina got Momo an entire new outfit, Kirishima got Kaminari a brand new leather jacket, Bakugo surprisingly didn't half-ass the event and got Kirishima a silver age Crimson Riot shirt, Momo got Uraraka a brand new smartphone, which had seemed to almost make the poor girl cry. Uraraka gave Tsuyu a souvenir from Ryuuku's agency that apparently held special value, and Izuku got Bakugo a limited edition All Might figurine. Bakugo had grumbled at first, before putting it on the inside of his jacket delicately.

It came time for Izuku to open his gift next. Iida went to the tree, retrieving the small box with delicate hands. Walking over to Izuku, he held the present out.

"This is my present to you, Midoriya, I hope it suits your liking." Izuku took the box and started to unwrap it. Eventually, he got to the red velvet and opened the box to reveal what was on the inside.

It was a simple necklace with two parts to it. The charm was a heart that could be split in half. One side was Pink with the simple letter "U" while the other side was green with a "D". Each side could split off into its own bracelet.

"Allow me to explain, " Iida said after noticing everyone's perplexed expressions. "I'll admit, I was a bit confused when I learned of Midoriya and Uraraka's relationship and their choice to not let me know, but this gift is a way of me saying that I'm happy for you and hope you both find happiness."

Iida looked around the room, becoming slowly confused. Some people were looking at him with big smiles on their faces, while others had horrified expressions. Uraraka was hiding her face in her hands, and Izuku looked like a strawberry with how red his face was.

"Is something wrong?"

Mina was the one to speak up, "Iida, I-I don't know how to say this but-" she cut back a laugh, "Midoriya and Uraraka aren't dating. They're just really close friends."

What?

"That can't be right! The amount of time they spend together is comparable to that of a couple engaged in romantic interactions. Furthermore, I walked in on them sleeping on each other in a conference room after class one day!" Iida said. That last part could have come out better, He realized.

That statement elicited a squeal from Uraraka, who scrambled behind the tree, as if she were trying to hide from the group. Izuku was just staring at the necklace, expression flat, almost like he'd just froze up out of sheer embarrassment. Mina couldn't stop laughing, causing her to be unable to continue her explanation..

"Look, four eyes, they're not dating!" Bakugo interjected, "They just can't get their shitty feelings in check!"

Iida was genuinely surprised. Not only that, but a little...disappointed. His entire gift idea had revolved around their relationship status. The rest of the gift exchange went on as normal, but a certain awkwardness was left in the air the entire time.

Turns out, Izuku and Ochako actually started dating not even a week later. Apparently they'd been dancing around their own feelings for a long time, and Iida's publicising of everything was the feather that broke the camel's back.

Now, walking a few feet behind his two friends, Iida admired the jeweler's work for the first time. With them holding hands, the who halves of the heart clicket together nicely from each of their respective bracelets. Iida smiled at the two of them. He might be the third wheel now, but he could confidently say that he was the reason for his friends getting together.

Whether it was intentional or not.