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The sound of snow crunching beneath their feet could be heard for hours, along with the mix of the green reindeer and blonde wolf conversing in between.

It wasn't quite a blizzard, but the wind was harsh, causing even the delicate snowflakes to feel sharp against their visible skin.

Though it was tolerable, Katsuki couldn't help but worry for Izuku. He figured from the information he could gather, Izuku mostly stayed indoors. If he's never flown Santa's sleigh, then this weather might be cruel to the poor, fragile deer.

"Hey, Izuku, are you sure about this? We could always go back to shelter and wait out this wind." Katsuki suggested.

"No, it's alright! It's a lot colder than I'm used to but I'll manage!" Izuku let out a soft laugh to assure the other male, "I need to get home as soon as possible. Nothing will keep me from getting there!"

Katsuki's mood became somewhat serious, "I never did ask you last night while we talked... If everyone in Wonderland is so harsh towards you, why go back?"

Izuku looked towards Katsuki's back in front of him, then towards the ground, "I started to question that too... But it's not like I have anywhere else to go. I wouldn't be able to survive out in the wild like you, Kacchan. I'm too domesticated. Plus, there are people out there that I'm sure are worried about me. Mom, Santa, and my friend Ochaco might be wondering where I am. I wouldn't want to make them worry much longer."

"Santa, huh?" Katsuki huffed, "If he can travel across the world giving gifts to billions of children, he should've been able to come pick you up just like that." Katsuki snapped his fingers for effect.

"I told you he's busy, Kacchan. Even if he wanted to, he has a job to do."

"I don't give a shit. If that old man really cared, he'd drop everything to come and get you. If he cared, he'd know you have no way of getting home by yourself."

"That's true, but you're helping me go home so I'm not alone!" Izuku assured.

"How the hell would he know that?" Katsuki barked.

"He's Santa Claus, he knows everything! I know you're worried for me and I really appreciate it, but just trust me on this. I've known Santa my entire life."

Katsuki wanted to argue on Izuku's behalf, but it didn't seem reasonable to press on it. It still bothers the blonde to know how this sweet reindeer has been treated all of his life, of course, he'd be pissed. But, he felt it was only right to drop it and let Izuku believe what he wants. After all, it was better to keep him happy.

"How much farther do you think we need to go, Kacchan?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but from what I can recall and how far we've gotten, I'd say we might get there by tonight."

"Tonight?" Izuku should be happy, but he couldn't help but feel sad at the possibility that their journey was almost close to ending, "Y-You're positive about that?"

"Not exactly positive, just going off of memory. Either tonight or tomorrow, you'll be back home."

That still didn't seem long enough for Izuku's liking. These past few days have been some of his best despite the circumstances. It's not like he's never been happy before, but Katsuki made him feel as though it was Christmas every single day. That was saying something considering Wonderland was quite literally Christmas every day.

But this felt more like Christmas out of a movie, the cheesy ones Izuku always liked to watch. Sure they were the same exact movies over and over again, but he loved the idea of two strangers accidentally meeting and realizing they're each other's person.

Now that he thinks about it, he and Katsuki were two strangers that accidentally met. But, Izuku wasn't sure about how the blonde felt about him. Sure, he was friendly toward him, but could that be how he really feels?

And even if it was, it wasn't like Katsuki was in love with him the same way he was, at least from what he could tell.

Despite the sun starting to set, the weather stayed the same, getting colder as the bright big star disappeared and was replaced with the moon in a matter of hours.

But this time, they would want to look for food and shelter, but Katsuki felt determined they were close. If they were still out for a couple of hours with no sign of the signature gingerbread scent, they would call it a night.

"Are you picking up anything yet, Kacchan?"

Katsuki sniffed the air, "No, not yet."

The blonde continued to try and focus on smelling his surroundings, hoping to finally find Izuku's home.

Eventually, he got a whiff of something, but nothing as sweet as gumdrops or cookies. It was familiar, but not in a good way.

Katsuki stopped in his tracks, holding out his arm to halt Izuku behind him.

"What's wrong, Kacchan?" Izuku asked.

Katsuki didn't reply right away. His red eyes became sharp and his wolf ears twitched in various directions.

"We're not alone." He whispered.

The two stayed silent, Izuku was scared at what that could possibly mean, but he felt safe knowing Katsuki was there and on the lookout.

As he searched with all of his senses, a figure came out from the shadows behind the two, its sharp eyes pointed towards the deer as its fangs barred out with saliva dripping from them.

It was another wolf, only this one wasn't half-human.

It carefully approached and when it was sure the two haven't noticed him, he lunged toward Izuku.

Katsuki's eyes quickly shifted towards the wolf in the air, pushing Izuku out of the way and transforming himself to attack back. He pounced on the gray wolf, tackling him to the ground.

The wolf struggled out of Katsuki's grasp and made his way back to his feet. The two growled at one another as they started walking slowly in a circle, waiting for the next one's move.

Katsuki didn't plan on doing anything too rash unless the wild wolf decided to take his eyes off him and back to the deer.

The wolf slightly moved his head in Izuku's direction, which made Katsuki strike right away before the other could even think about attacking.

He clawed and bit at the other wolf, trying to keep him as far from Izuku as possible. Katsuki kept his jaw around the other's neck. He was too focused on keeping the wolf away from Izuku that he didn't realize he had an opening for the other wolf to attack, and he took that opportunity to clamp his jaw down on Katsuki's front leg, causing his to let go of its neck and whine in pain.

This gave the other wolf an advantage to change the positions they were in. He clawed at Katsuki's chest before sinking his teeth into his torso.

Katsuki tried to think of the best route of action, but the blood loss in various areas of his body caused him to lose focus. He had to keep himself conscious to protect Izuku, but he didn't know how long he could go on like this.

He had himself in a bad position where he couldn't turn his body to claw or bite the other.

But luckily for him, he hadn't noticed but Izuku transformed into his deer form and rammed his antlers right into the other wolf's side, causing him to let go of Katsuki as Izuku's antlers sunk deeper, allowing him to pick up and throw the wolf aside.

The wolf got up, shaking as he did, he looked back at the two, and just with one look of the angered deer, he quickly ran off from the scene.

When the coast was clear, Izuku looked back to Katsuki, who was losing his balance.

He ran over to him, worried for his life, "Kacchan! Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." He heavily breathed out, "I'm fine... We gotta... Keep moving... Before it gets too... Too dark..." Katsuki fell over, causing Izuku to gasp.

"We can't go anywhere. You're too injured!" Izuku started to tear up. It happened so fast, he didn't even realize what was going on. He could've died if it wasn't for Katsuki, but now he was hurt because of him.

Izuku leaned down, carefully lifting Katsuki's body over his back. Once he stood up straight, he could start to feel the wolf's body starting to weigh down on him. After all, Katsuki's body was a lot bigger than his.

Despite his shaky legs, he moved as swiftly as possible, using his green nose to try and find shelter as fast as possible.

But after what felt like miles of walking, there wasn't anything in sight, and eventually, Izuku's body collapsed from how heavy Katsuki was.

"S-Sorry Kacchan." Izuku carefully moved Katsuki off him, transformed back to his human form, and picked up Katsuki into his arms. He was still heavy, but this would be easier. But now, he couldn't see much. But no matter. He needed to find a den and fast.

He ran through the woods, not letting the snow or the cold bother him as he was in a desperate search for shelter.

It may have taken about half an hour, but Izuku finally found a cave to stay in. His tears rolled down more, relieved he finally found a place to care for Katsuki.

He carefully set the male down, taking off the backpack from the wolf's back and opening it for firewood and bandages.

He rushed to build a fire, knowing Katsuki had to be freezing as well as in pain. He struggled to make sparks from the two rocks Katsuki had and started banging them together in frustration in hopes of it finally starting.

Since his energy was gone, Katsuki couldn't hold his wolf shape anymore and his body went back to its human self. His eyes slowly opened, squinting towards Izuku. He saw how worried he was and tried to reach out to him, only to strain a part of his body in the process, making him let out a sharp groan.

"Kacchan!" Izuku turned around, the last hit from the rocks starting a fire behind him the moment he realized Katsuki was okay. After he passed out, he didn't know whether he was still alive or not.

He rushed over to him, wanting to hug him so badly but stopping himself so as to not hurt him any more than he already was.

He say next to him and grabbed the bandages. He noticed blood on Katsuki's left arm and his torso, his clothes ripped up in said areas.

"Sorry, Kacchan, this will probably make you colder than you already are but I have to get your wounds wrapped up!" Izuku apologized before taking Katsuki's coat and shirt off his person, revealing his fit body and his terrible wounds from the savage wolf.

Izuku blushed at the sight, but he couldn't distract himself from the important matter, so he pushed those thoughts aside and began wrapping Katsuki's arm with the bandages.

The blonde looked over to him, seeing the deer's worried expression, then down to where he was holding his arm and carefully mending his wound.

"Izuku... Don't worry about me... You gotta... Get home..." He breathed out.

"That's not important right now, Kacchan! You're hurt and it's all my fault!"

"Heh, it's not your fault... I promised I'd get you home... And I can't take you back if you're dead..."

"But, you could've died, Kacchan!" Izuku teared up more, causing Katsuki to look somewhat surprised. He's never had someone worry for him, let alone cry over him.

"I'm sorry... For worrying you..." Katsuki softly said, reaching over with his good arm to carefully wipe away Izuku's tears with his thumb.

"You don't have to apologize, Kacchan. You saved me. Thank you." Izuku softly smiled.

"You're welcome..." Katsuki softly smiled back, "Thanks for caring for me..."

"Of course. I owe you for caring for my leg when we first met."

"You don't owe me anything..." Katsuki looked back down to his arm, keeping his eye on Izuku's hands as his soft skin made contact with his own.

He then noticed the scars on Izuku's right hand, "How did you get those?" He asked, softly taking hold of the other's hand as he rubbed Izuku's scars with his thumb.

Izuku blushed, "O-Oh, those? I got them while I was practicing flying. My first time trying, not recently."

Katsuki felt relieved to hear that. He didn't like seeing the other with such wounds, but as long as it wasn't from the scum in Wonderland, he was okay with it.

Izuku let go of Katsuki's arm and shifted over to face Katsuki to better reach the other's abdomen. He carefully started to wrap the bandaging around his waist, trying to keep his focus on tending to the wound than getting distracted by how nice the other's chiseled abs were.

Meanwhile, Katsuki's eyes never left Izuku's face. He noticed his worried expression faded, as well as the disappearance of his tears. Instead, he seemed laser-focused on caring for him, which Katsuki couldn't help but slightly smile at.

Izuku looked up at Katsuki's face, noticing the other looking back at him. But it didn't bother him knowing that. He ended up getting mesmerized himself.

"Is something wrong? Did I get a wound on my face?"

"No, it's just... Your eyes... They're really beautiful. Red has always been my favorite color." Izuku lightly blushed, which caused Katsuki to blush in return.

Izuku finished up tending to his wounds, then helped Katsuki into new clothes he found in Katsuki's backpack.

Once he got him dressed, Izuku helped Katsuki get closer to the fire to warm him up, sitting next to him to keep him steady.

The blonde was slowly getting tired. He usually didn't fall asleep this early, but the fight with the other wolf took a lot out of him. His eyes eventually closed and his head leaned against Izuku's shoulder, surprising the other male.

He looked down to see Katsuki fast asleep against him, making him anxious as he didn't want to make any sudden movements to wake him. He carefully wrapped his arm around him to keep him close, and laid his head against the others, being cautious so as to not poke him with his antlers.

But once Izuku started to feel tired himself, he carefully laid Katsuki down, grabbing the pillow and blanket Katsuki gave to him the first night they met and wrapping Katsuki up to keep him warm.

He walked over to the other side of the fire, transforming into his deer form and laying down to fall asleep.

After an hour had passed, Katsuki opened his eyes and looked over to Izuku, seeing the deer shivering badly in his sleep.

He picked up his pillow and blanket, bringing them over to Izuku to warm him up, yet the deer was still shaking. It was a colder night than the previous ones.

Katsuki got into his wolf form, going under the blanket and wrapping his bigger body around the deer, hoping his fur would help keep the other warm.

Once Katsuki could feel Izuku snuggle closer to him, as well as letting out a satisfied breath, he allowed himself to fall back asleep.

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