The selection ceremony
If you’d ask Izuku what his favorite thing in Santa’s headquarters was, he’d take a while to think about it. Maybe the colors and the delicious scents following him everywhere he went. Or perhaps the warm and fuzzy feeling he gets when he makes a new present and thinks about the happy face, of whoever it’ll belong to, when they open it. Or the adorable reindeers who he visits from time to time. But no…no matter how enchanting and beautiful all these things were, his favorite of them all had to be the mesmerizing view he sees every time he looks out of the window or when he walks home from work. The sea of countless stars and the ethereal northern lights painting the night sky—those were his favorite things in the whole world.
Izuku is well known at the headquarters for his kind and helpful nature. Despite starting only two months ago, he had already made a name for himself. Everyone adored him, and he quickly found himself surrounded by great friends. One of these friends was currently knocking furiously on the wooden door of his hut. Most elves live in huts not far from the headquarters. His home was decorated with human-superhero figurines, fuzzy blankets, and scented candles that made the space smell perpetually like freshly baked cookies. That was ironic, considering Izuku couldn’t cook to save his life—he was the type to burn pasta. But all in all, his place was really cozy, and he was very proud of what he made out of it.
Only Santa’s most trusted elves live in the headquarters building in a separate area. So far, Izuku had met just three of them: the couple Kirishima Eijiro and Mina Ashido, and the brilliant inventor Mei Hatsume. Mina had shown him around on his first day, and she’d introduced him to Kirishima a week later. Mei, on the other hand, he had met during work, quickly discovering how much he could learn from her. She was always helpful and eager to share her knowledge.
The by now hysterical knocking snapped him back out of his thoughts. Groaning, he set down his toothbrush, spat into the sink, and rinsed his mouth before heading to the door and swinging it open. The brunette girl standing in front of him jumped with surprise before a light scowl set on her face. “What took you so long, Izuku? I was knocking on your door for 2 whole minutes.” Ochako Uraraka, one of Izuku’s first and best friends, has round rosy cheeks and large brown eyes, which were currently glaring at him. “I’m really sorry, I got lost in thought.” He said, while scratching his head sheepishly and giving her an apologetic smile. “Right, well hurry up or we’ll be late.” The scowl left her face as quickly as it came, and she gave him a strict yet gentle smile. Izuku nodded and hurried to quickly grab his jacket, scarf, and keys before following her out into the crisp, cold air.
The winter on North Pole was as icy as ever, but personally Izuku loved it. Snow always reminded him of thousands of tiny diamonds glittering in the light. During the short walk to the headquarters, they joked around about what Iida might complain about today and who would be the today’s victim of his anti-rule-breaking lecture.
Upon arrival, Izuku waved goodbye to Ochako and headed to the boys’ changing room while she head off to the girls’. He stowed his coat in his locker and changed into his uniform: dark green baggy pants, a matching vest with a small red “Santa’s Headquarters” logo, red work gloves, and his own dark red shoes.
Outside he met Ochako again to walk to their work department. The headquarters consist of 5 departments: the inventing and engineering department (IED), the marketing and planning department (MPD), the craft and building department (CBD), the packaging department (PD) and Santa’s inner circle (SIC). Each elf could choose up to three departments. When Izuku joined two months ago, he chose the Inventing and Engineering Department and the Craft and Building Department. He had a lot of fun making presents, repairing things, and helping to improve Santa’s sleigh.
“Do you know who’s on reindeer duty today?” Ochako suddenly asked. Izuku shrugged. “No idea.” He responded. Every day, someone was assigned to care for the reindeers. This included feeding, entertaining, brushing, washing, and generally looking after them. Whoever was assigned to reindeer duty was exempt from their usual department work for the day. A list detailing the schedule was posted near the entrance.
When they arrived at the Craft and Building Department, they spotted their friends, who waved at them with genuine smiles. “Good morning Izuku and Ochako.” Tsuyu Asui, a short girl with big froglike eyes and long green hair, greeted them calmly. They both smiled brightly at her and greeted the rest of their friends as well. Izuku’s friend group consisted of Ochako, Tsuyu, Tenya Iida and Shoto Todoroki. The latter just gave them a polite nod before returning back to whatever he was doing. He was a rather calm and preserved person with half red half white hair and a handsome face. In contrast Iida greeted them with his usual loud and composed demeanor, he had dark blue hair and sharp features.
“How are you on this beautiful morning? I’m looking forward to a productive and hardworking day.” Iida declared, moving his outstretched hand up and down in his signature stiff gesture. It took Izuku a while to get used to this funny habit of his, but he didn’t really mind. Izuku gave him a tired but cheerful smile. “It’s still a bit early, but I’m great, Iida. Hoping to get a lot done today!”
If an elf worked in more than one department, they worked half of the week in one department and then switched. It was Tuesday so tomorrow Izuku would be working in the IED. Oh yeah, they have shorter versions because who’d bother to always spell the whole thing out.
Izuku’s job today consisted of crafting and building toys from a prepared list. Occasionally he even got to help out in the bakery, which was part of the CBD. But the other elves didn’t really like to have him there because of his…peculiar baking skills. Somehow, whenever he set foot in the bakery something inevitably went wrong. Either something broke, came out wrong or simply caught fire. Baking clearly wasn’t one of his strong suites. But despite his lack of talent, he still found joy in it.
The hours until lunch flew by, filled with lighthearted chatter. He and his friends talked about all sorts of things related and unrelated to what they were doing. As they walked to the cafeteria, his stomach grumbled loudly. He got himself a large portion of pasta carbonara and joined his friends at their usual table. Izuku silently listened while inhaling his pasta. His friends’ conversation caught his attention as he heard them talking about upcoming Christmas and Santa.
Ochako leaned back while shaking her head. “I wouldn’t want to do that. I mean come on, that long alone with him? There’s no way I’d survive that and don’t even get me started on the pressure of the expectations of the whole world lying upon your shoulders. Yeah, no thank you.” “I must disagree with you there, Ochako.” Iida countered, adjusting his glasses. “It’s an incredible honor to be selected for a mission of that importance. Refusing would be unthinkable!” Shoto shrugged. “He can’t force anyone though, can he?” “Of course not! But it would be outrageous and incredibly disrespectful to refuse!” Iida huffed, his ears turning slightly red.
Tsuyu smirked at her food, clearly amused. Meanwhile, Izuku didn’t understand one thing. What were they talking about? He cleared his throat, making everyone look at him. “Uh, what are you talking about?” Ochako’s expression brightened. “Oh right, you wouldn’t know – it’s your first Christmas here after all. Well, it’s kind of a tradition Santa does every year. 1 week before Christmas he- no his weird crystal ball chooses one elf to help him on Christmas. This elf has to set off with him exactly 24 hours before Christmas eve and fly with him around the world to help him deliver the presents. Till this day no one, except his inner circle, knows how he does it. That’s why they’re so close to him, the elves of the inner circle are the ones who had to do that the last years.”
Izuku’s jaw dropped. “Wha- But that’s insane! That’s so cool, why wouldn’t you want to do that!?” Okay, he kind of was a Santa Clause fan, he’ll admit that much. But still this was a great opportunity, right? Why do they look so skeptical? His friends exchanged knowing looks and Tsuyu frowned. “It’s kind of complicated, you haven’t met him yet. You’ll know what we mean once you’ve meet him, he can be…uh…” “-loud? Annoying? Arrogant?” Shoto interrupted her with an amused look. “Anyways, he’s not the most pleasant person to be around. At least from what we’ve seen and heard of him.” Ochako turned to him and gave him a somewhat reassuring smile.
After lunch, they returned to work, and the rest of the day passed uneventfully. That night, as Izuku lay in bed, he couldn’t stop thinking about what his friends had said. Why didn’t they like Santa? Since he was a little elf, Izuku dreamed of meeting him. He always imagined a big, white-bearded man, but apparently what he imagined all those years was wrong. Before he felt himself starting to drift off, he hoped that he would meet Santa soon.
The next day there was an announcement that in the afternoon there’ll be an assembly of the whole headquarters…including Santa. Well, the universe sure did hear him out last night.
After his morning shift, he and his friends made their way to the big dining hall. There must’ve been around 150 elves and he looked around in awe. The room buzzed with lively chatter, and the tables had been pushed aside to create an open area large enough to accommodate everyone. What was all this for? Suddenly a thought creeped its way into Izuku’s brain, and he turned towards Ochako. “Ochako, what day is it?” The room buzzed with lively chatter, and the tables had been pushed aside to create an open area large enough to accommodate everyone. “Oh! It’s December 17th. Today must be the selection ceremony. How silly of me to forget! I’ll go tell Iida, be right back.” Before Izuku could say another word, Ochako disappeared into the crowd, leaving him standing alone amidst the large crowd. At least he had a decent view of the stage. How come he never noticed that there was a stage in the dining hall?
As the minutes ticked by, Izuku found himself nervously fidgeting and mumbling under his breath. The anticipation was almost too much to bear. Ten minutes later, the lights abruptly dimmed, silencing the chatter of the elves around him. The room was silent, replaced by an almost palpable tension that hung in the air. Just as his eyes were getting used to the dark, the stage lights switched on, illuminating the 7 elves, which were now standing on the platform.
Izuku recognized three of them—Kirishima, Mina, and Mei—standing alongside the other members of the inner circle. Unlike the rest of the elves, who wore standard uniforms, the inner circle wore distinctive red baggy pants and matching vests adorned with a golden, sewn-in logo that read Santa’s Inner Circle. Black belts with golden buckles engraved with “HQ” completed their outfits.
Mina stepped forward, her voice clear and commanding despite the vastness of the hall. She was a rather odd looking elf with her pink skin tone. Her curly hair perfectly matched her skin and if you looked closely enough, you could see the two yellow horns emerging out of it. “Hello, fellow workers of Santa’s Headquarters! We are the Inner Circle of Santa Claus, and as some of you may or may not know, today is the Selection Ceremony. For the newer elves among us, let me explain what this means.” Izuku leaned forward, hanging on her every word.
“Each year, exactly one week before Christmas, the magical crystal ball, which has been passed down through generations of the Santa family, chooses one lucky elf among us to travel around the world together with the infamous Santa Claus successor to deliver presents to each and every human on Earth. Please respect the decision of the higher being within the crystal ball and accept it without complaint. We, the Inner Circle, are the elves, which have been chosen in previous years to complete this task with the current Santa successor. And now, without further ado, please welcome the one and only… Santa Claus successor!”
The crowd erupted into cheers as a figure emerged from the right side of the stage. Izuku’s eyes widened as he took in the sight of the man walking confidently to the center of the stage. He was tall, with spiky blonde hair and piercing red eyes that seemed to shine even brighter under the stage lights. This was probably the most beautiful and handsome man he’d ever seen. The man’s uniform was similar to the inner circle’s but featured luxurious white fur trimming the ends of his sleeves and vest. Black combat boots and a belt identical to the others completed his outfit, though his vest bore an additional detail: a small golden inscription that read Katsuki Bakugo.
For a moment, Izuku genuinely believed that this was all a joke and the real Santa Claus would come out to laugh at him for making a stupid face. But as the seconds passed and no one else around him looked surprised, he realized with a sinking feeling that this blonde, scowling man was indeed Santa Claus. Or his successor at least. Dozens of new questions flooded Izuku’s mind that needed to be answered.
Mina shot the blonde a warning glance, prompting him to sigh dramatically before speaking.
“Hey, you little shits, let’s get this over with. I’ve got stuff to do, so don’t make this harder than it needs to be. My name’s Katsuki Bakugo, and I’m the fucking Santa Claus successor. If anyone calls me Santa or something like that, I’ll kick you out faster than you can say ‘Merry Christmas,’ so don’t try me.”
Oh. Well, his friends did warn him after all. But still this was kind of a shock.
Bakugo pulled out a crystal ball about the size of his fist, holding it up for everyone to see. After a few seconds, his scowl deepened, and he groaned in frustration.
“Hurry up you stupid genie I don’t have all day.” A weird noise, that kind of sounded like an offended huff, came out of the ball before it began to glow. “Spit it out, who is it this year!?” Letters materialized on its surface, though Izuku couldn’t make them out from his position. The whole hall watched in anticipation as Bakugo’s eyes scanned the writing, his expression shifting from irritation to… well, still irritation.
“Who of you fuckers is…De- Deku?” A wave of silence washed over the hall. Who’s Deku? Whispers rippled through the crowd as elves exchanged confused glances. Mina walked up to the blonde and peeked over his shoulder. Her eyes widened and she let out a hearty laugh.
“Bakugo, that doesn’t say Deku. Please come up to the stage Izuku Midoriya.” Izuku froze. Wait, he must’ve misheard. There’s no way she just said his name. But then Mina’s eyes found him in the crowd and she gave him a reassuring smile. “Come on Izuku sweetie.” His body moved on its own and he began walking towards the stage. The crowd parted to make way for him, and he could feel dozens of eyes following his every step. He caught brief glimpses of the concerned faces of Ochako and Shoto, offering them a nervous smile before he reached the stage. Mina extended her hand, and he took it gratefully, climbing up beside her. Up close, Bakugo was even more intimidating—and breathtaking. His crimson eyes studied Izuku intently, making his cheeks burn with embarrassment.
“Then that’s that, thank you for your time and now please get back to work.” Mina turned towards the Greenette as the crowd of elves began dissolving and everyone went back to their workplaces. “You, Izuku, will come with us now, there’s a lot of stuff to discuss. And yes, Bakugo, you need to come too.” The blonde groaned but didn’t argue, stomping off the stage. Kirishima approached Izuku with a broad smile, that showed his sharp teeth. He had red spiky hair, which were styled upwards. His features were rather manly and a small scar adorned his left eye.
“Congrats Midoriya! Glad to have you on our team.” “Thanks Kirishima, that’s really nice of you! I hope that I will do everything right.” “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Mina reassured him with a pat on the arm. “Don’t let Bakugo get under your skin. He can be a bit of an ass, but he doesn’t mean it. Anyway, this is going to be fun! Follow us.”
At least it will only be a day. What could go wrong?